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A survey of 114 business schools found that, in response to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' membership requirement of 150 semester hours and a bachelor's degree, most schools encourage students to obtain master's degrees. Accounting education has increased in cost, but has not become broader and more liberal, as was intended. (Contains 21 references.) (SK)

Comparison of responses of 119 Asian, 51 Caucasian, and 32 Hispanic accounting students to ethical vignettes showed significant differences in the ethical judgments and intentions of Asian and Caucasian students. Hispanic and Caucasian students did not differ significantly. There were some gender differences. (SK)

This study investigates the relations among Machiavellianism, the stakeholder orientation, and Italian managers' support for corporate social and environmental reporting (SER). These relationships have not previously been investigated among a sample of experienced managers but have important implications. As anticipated, Machiavellianism had a strong negative association with the support for SER. Machiavellianism was also negatively related to the stakeholder orientation, which in turn was positively correlated with the support for SER. Support for the stakeholder orientation partially mediated the association between Machiavellianism and SER. The findings advance our understanding of the motivations for sustainability reporting by documenting that managers' fundamental personality traits and economic ideologies are closely associated and are important determinants of normative support for social and environmental disclosures. We further suggest that the results support the case for mandated compliance‐with‐standard sustainability reports coupled with a requirement that such reports be independently audited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is the first to examine the relationships among Machiavellianism, social norms and taxpayer intentions to fraudulently overstate their deductions. We theorize and empirically document that (a) high Machiavellian taxpayers report significantly less ethical social norms, suggesting that reported social norms are influenced by cognitive biases such as social projection and Machiavellian cynicism; (b) reported social norms are, in general, significantly associated with tax evasion intentions; (c) social norms partially mediate the relationship between Machiavellianism and evasion intentions. Our findings imply that experimental research that controls for key personality traits such as Machiavellianism will be necessary to test the effectiveness of potential interventions designed to enhance social norms and tax compliance. Our findings also raise questions regarding the validity of certain social norm measures used in recent studies, particularly in the case of high Machiavellians. In contrast to much prior research, gender was not associated with the likelihood of committing tax fraud in our multivariate models, suggesting that the higher levels of tax compliance often associated with females may be eroding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to document relationships between accountants’ socioeconomic beliefs and attitudes and their professional commitment and ethical decisions in a domain-specific context. Specifically, it investigates the relationships among Chinese tax accountants’ level of belief in the importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility, affective/normative professional commitment and ethical judgements/intentions in a case involving client pressure to commit tax fraud. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs a survey of tax practitioners employed by public accounting firms in China. The data are analyzed using linear regression and structural equation modelling. Findings – The stakeholder view, representing both normative and practical support for the importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility, was strongly and positively associated with professional commitment among tax practitioners. The stakeholder view also exhibited a strong negative association with intentions to engage in tax fraud. Tax accountants who possessed higher levels of professional commitment judged tax fraud as more unethical, and such ethical judgements were associated with a lower likelihood of intending to engage in fraud. Originality/value – The associations between: first, professional accountants’ beliefs in the importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility and their level of professional commitment; and second, professional commitment and tax professionals’ ethical judgements have received little attention in the prior literature. The findings of this study suggest that the integrity of public accounting services may be influenced by relatively broad socioeconomic attitudes, and that this effect may operate partially through commitment to professional values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of a business ethics course on undergraduates’ attitudes toward the importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility, as measured by the PRESOR scale. It employs a survey approach, adopting a pretest/posttest methodology in the data collection. A total of 132 undergraduate students were surveyed over a period of four semesters during 2006 and 2007. To test the effects of individual personality characteristics and examine their potential interaction with ethical education, participants’ personal values and degree of Machiavellianism were also assessed. The business ethics course resulted in significantly less support for the traditional “stockholder view” of business, providing backing for the inclusion of a stand-alone business ethics course in the business studies curriculum. In addition, among nonbusiness majors, the course resulted in significantly greater support for the “stakeholder view,” suggesting that it would be especially beneficial to open such a course to nonbusiness students. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to focus on the effects of the ethical climate in Chinese certified public accounting (CPA) firms on auditors' perceptions of organizational-professional conflict (OPC) and affective organizational commitment (OC). We also test for differences in the perceived ethical climates of local and international CPA firms. Design/methodology/approach - The study is based on a survey of 167 professional auditors (seniors and managers) employed by local and international CPA firms operating in the People's Republic of China. Findings - Certain dimensions of the perceived ethical climate are significantly related to OPC, and to affective OC. As anticipated, there was also a strong negative relationship between OPC and OC. There was no clear pattern of differences in the perceived ethical climates in local and international CPA firms. Impression management was highly correlated with OPC, OC, and three of four ethical climate dimensions, suggesting that Chinese auditors bias their reports of these variables in a socially desirable fashion. Originality/value - To our knowledge, this is the first study to address the relationship between ethical climate and OPC, and the first to examine OPC and OC among auditors in Mainland China. The findings support our contention that the perceived ethical climate is a key determinant of OPC, suggesting that future research on OPC should place more emphasis on organizational characteristics. In addition, the apparent tendency of auditors to bias their reports of OPC, OC, and ethical climate stresses the importance of controlling for social desirability response bias in surveys of professional accountants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current trend toward corporate acquisitions of CPA firms poses potential threats to the autonomy and ethical standards of public accounting professionals. This recent consolidation movement suggests that for the first time a significant number of public accounting professionals are subject to the supervision and control of nonprofessionals. In addition to acknowledging the potential threats to auditor independence and objectivity, this paper suggests that these new organizational arrangements for the provision of public accounting services have other negative effects on professionalism and ethics such as desensitizing CPAs to traditional professional values, and subverting professional institutions to the goals of corporate employers. This paper develops a framework that identifies several specific research questions related to the effects of corporate ownership on professionalism and ethics in public accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationships among professionalism, organizational- professional conflict and various work outcomes for a sample of Certified Management Accountants. We assessed professionalism using Hall's Professionalism Scale, and tested the relationships among professionalism, organizational-professional conflict, organizational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions using a structural equations model The results indicate that two dimensions of professionalism (dedication to the profession and autonomy demands) were positively associated with perceptions of organizational-professional conflict As hypothesized, individuals who perceived higher levels of organizational-professional conflict were less committed to the organization, had lower levels of job satisfaction and also had higher turnover intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates auditors' perceptions of the effectiveness of formal sanctions as incentives for maintaining independence. A model of the effects of formal sanctions on auditors' ethical judgments and behavioral intentions was developed and tested using structural equations. A sample of practicing auditors responded to a case involving audit client pressure for the use of aggressive reporting. The moral intensity of the ethical dilemma was manipulated on a between-subjects basis. The results indicate that litigation risk and peer-review risk were perceived as significant deterrents to aggressive reporting decisions, but the risk of disciplinary actions by professional organizations was not. In addition, situational factors that influence moral intensity, such as the intended use of the audited financial statements and the dollar amount of the misstatement, significantly affected the perceived likelihood of sanctions occurring, as well as the perceived acceptability of aggressive reporting. The findings of this study also raise concerns regarding auditors' willingness to acquiesce in aggressive financial-reporting decisions. For example, participants estimated a 51 percent chance that the average auditor would issue an unqualified opinion on a set of financial statements that contained an apparent misstatement equal to 40 percent of net earnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the effects of internal audit outsourcing on perceived external auditor independence. This article also addresses financial statement users' perceptions related to public accounting firms performing internal auditing outsourcing activities--an area in which CPAs are becoming increasingly involved. Loan officers were provided with a realistic loan application for a medium-sized retail grocery company and asked to evaluate auditor independence, assess the reliability of financial statements, and make a loan decision. Loan officers receive the case where the internal audit was outsourced to their external audit firm using different personnel not only had significantly higher ratings than when using the same personnel, but also had uniformly the highest perceptions of auditor independence, financial statement reliability, and loan approval rate. However, the results also indicate that the image of auditor independence and the resultant perception of financial statement reliability could be enhanced by requiring CPA firms that perform internal audit services for audit clients to perform those services with different personnel.

The primary focus of this paper is on the relationship between taxpayers' ideological support for economic inequality and the likelihood they will commit tax evasion. We also propose that Machiavellianism will mediate the relationship between support for inequality and tax evasion. The results, based on a survey of experienced taxpayers, partially support our expectations. Ideological support for economic inequality had a significant positive association with Machiavellianism, which in turn had a strong positive association with tax evasion intentions. Machiavellianism fully mediated the relationship between support for inequality and tax evasion. This is the first study to investigate the potential influence of support for economic inequality on taxpayers' evasion decisions. In light of the findings, we suggest that support for the persistence of economic inequality and related ideological beliefs may pose fundamental threats to governments' ability to sustain just and fair socioeconomic systems. We also argue that such ideologies are likely to be associated with the ethical decisions of corporate managers, business owners and professionals across a variety of decision contexts, but their influence has largely been ignored in the business and society and sustainability literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author replies to an article by D.E. Hirst on the effects of formal sanctions on auditor independence. Although the article purports to provide data on the effectiveness of formal sanction threats as deterrents to aggressive auditor behavior, the data were cross-sectional in nature. Rather than ask subjects their perception of the likelihood of various sanctions and test for subsequent violations of professional or legal standards, the likelihood of sanctions and the likelihood of engaging in questionable behavior were assessed at the same point in time. Specifically, given an example of aggressive reporting by a hypothetical auditor, subjects were asked to estimate the likelihood of sanctions occurring. Subjects were then asked to estimate the probability of (the average auditor) engaging in similar behavior, which provided a basis for assessing the relationship between the perceived likelihood of sanctions and the likelihood of aggressive reporting. This approach assumes that responses regarding the behavior of the average auditor provide a more accurate measure of what the participant would do personally, due to the effects of social desirability bias on self-reported behavior.