An institutional perspective on corruption in transition economies

Submitted version (preprint). This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Alon, A. & Hageman, A. (2017). An institutional perspective on corruption in transition economies. Corporate governance: An International Review, 25(3), 155-166, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/corg.12199. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. Manuscript Type: Empirical Research Question/Issue: Companies operating in transition economies encounter a broad range of potential challenges. In the area of tax, firms make direct tax payments but may also encounter unofficial t…

Dynamics and Limits of Regulatory Privatization: Reorganizing audit oversight in Russia

Accounting and auditing are often cited as key sites where business regulation has been privatized, globalized and neoliberalized. Yet, these sites have also undergone a legitimacy crisis in recent years, marked by a shift from self-regulation to increased public oversight. This paper investigates these developments by reference to the evolution of a public/private audit oversight regime (audit of the auditors) in Russia. We show how, in the early stages of post-Soviet reforms, old state-administered forms of financial oversight were replaced with market-oriented arrangements (peer reviews) offered by newly founded private professional accountancy associations as a service to their members.…

Cash pooling: An organizational response to institutional complexity

The paper aims to explain how new cash management practices can be used to address institutional complexity in Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and which are the effects on the organizational form....

Layering of IFRS and Dual Institutionality of Accounting Standards in Belarus

Submitted version of an article published in the journal Accounting in Europe. There is an ongoing debate about the applicability and efficacy of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption in countries with diverse institutional infrastructures. We examine financial reporting in Belarus and factors that are shaping its development. In Belarus, IFRS has been adopted through layering where it is an additional requirement to the existing reporting specified by the national accounting regulations. We explore how global standards were transposed and function in a highly specific institutional context. Based on an examination of reporting in the banking sector, we conclude that d…

Sustainability performance and assurance: Influence on reputation

- The positive impact of sustainability on reputation has been assumed but not sufficiently examined. This study probes the veracity of these claims by applying legitimacy and signaling perspectives to examine whether sustainability performance and assurance contribute to corporate reputation. We find superior sustainability performance has a positive association with sustainability reputation. Companies with better performance are also more likely to obtain external assurance of their sustainability disclosure, but assurance does not directly affect reputation. Assurance appears to be a managerial tool associated with the congruence of internal processes rather than a differentiating signa…

Book Review

Protectionism through legislative layering: Implications for auditors and investors

AbstractProtectionism is on the rise. Although it tends to be associated with tariffs on imports, governments are increasingly applying other mechanisms to influence international business. Import substitution initiatives have been used to replace purchases from foreign producers with local alternatives. Russia implemented import substitution through legislative layering where layers of regulation created requirements targeting different industries and companies. Following sanctions imposed in 2014 on Russia, the government responded with additional import substitution efforts. We are interested in effects of such measures on the Big 4, global professional service firms, and the choice of a…

SEC's acceptance of IFRS-based financial reporting: An examination based in institutional theory

In 2007 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made an historic ruling allowing foreign registrants to file IFRS-based financial statements without reconciling to U.S. GAAP. With that decision, the SEC changed its longstanding practice of adhering to a single set of accounting standards in the U.S. The decision diminishes the standing of two previously powerful institutions: U.S. GAAP and the SEC itself. We examine this important change drawing generally on institutional theory. We draw on several models to obtain insights into the likely roles of both regulator and regulatees, into the reasons the particular type of incremental change mechanism was observed, and into the influence of…