Mohammad J. Abdolmohammadi

Bentley University · Department of Accountancy

Purpose This study investigates whether XBRL disclosure management solution improves public companies’ earnings release efficiency and mitigates earnings management. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a unique survey dataset from the Financial Executive Research Foundation (FERF2013) to identify companies’ XBRL implementation strategi...

We examine the relationships of national legal system, company size, and corporate governance quality with internal audit function (IAF) involvement with eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) implementation in public companies. Our data source is The Institute of Internal Auditors' Global Internal Audit Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) datab...

I use responses from 1,059 chief audit executives (CAEs) of organizations located in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the U.K./Ireland, and the U.S. to investigate several correlates of co-sourcing and/or outsourcing (hereafter, simply “outsourcing”) of internal audit activities. An important finding of the study is that audit committe...

This paper examines whether certain provisions of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX, 2002) should be expanded to include state and local governmental entities. Surveying governmental financial officials (GFOs) and their external auditors to gauge support for SOX-like legislation for governmental entities, we find the strongest support for auditor indepen...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate several variables that are theoretically associated with the internal audit function (IAF) having an active role in corporate governance. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses responses from 782 US Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) in the CBOK (2006) database for the investigation. The paper mak...

Using a sample of 304 Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), this paper investigates gender differences in moral development and personal value preferences of CPAs. We used the Defining Issues Test (DIT) to measure moral development, the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS) (Rokeach, 1973) to determine value preferences, and the Musser and Orke (1992) typology...

We use data from a survey of 215 experienced practicing accountants to provide their level of agreement with various content categories of accounting ethics courses. Our results indicate that top choices of content include current ethical issues, professional codes of conduct, ethical judgment and decision-making processes and models, corporate cod...

Professional standards require that auditors develop an understanding of their clients' control structure forjudging how heavily the controls can be relied upon and for the determining of the type and extent of the subsequent tests to be undertaken. The auditor's judgment in this situation involves identifying and analyzing a complicated set of con...

We use a unique database on family relationships between CEOs, board members and owners of private Norwegian firms to examine earnings management priorities of private family firms. Consistent with agency theory we find that private family firms generally manage earnings downward compared with non-family firms. However, tendencies to inflate earnin...

Increasing attention to faculty research productivity suggests a need for reliable benchmarks, which the literature has provided. We add to this literature by providing alternative benchmarks based on records of 5,607 accounting doctoral graduates from 1971–2005. We measure research productivity in four ways: (1) unadjusted number of published arti...

This study explores chief audit executives' perceptions of the most important performance attributes of internal auditors by professional rank and cultural cluster. A large sample of chief audit executives (CAEs) from 19 countries located in five different cultural clusters was surveyed by the Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation (CBO...

Using a large sample of chief audit executives and internal audit managers from 19 countries, we investigate potential associations between cultural dimensions and variations in perceived use/compliance with the internal auditing standards. We find uncertainty avoidance to be inversely related to both use and compliance. We also find assertiveness...

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate a number of factors that are theoretically associated with convergence toward best practices in internal auditing. Design/methodology/approach – The paper defines best practices as internal audit tools and techniques that are used by at least 67 percent of the internal audit functions (IAFs) in the...

This study investigates (1) whether agency variables are associated with the relative size of the internal audit function (IAF); (2) whether the IAF is complementary to other monitoring mechanisms such as independent board members and an active audit committee; and (3) the impact of the control environment on the relative size of the IAF. We use da...

Responses from a large sample of 1029 chief audit executives (CAEs) from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK/Ireland, and the US are used to estimate the proportion of time spent by the internal audit functions (IAFs) on information technology (IT) audits. The sample is also used to investigate explanatory and control variables that are associat...

The Bayesian statistical inference model has been advocated by auditing researchers over the past two decades as a useful judgment aid to auditors. To quantify judgment, the Bayesian-related audit research has completely relied on the elicitation techniques (ETs) and methodology used and recommended by Winkler (1967a). What have we learned from thi...

Forty-nine audit partners and managers were provided with a comprehensive list of audit tasks. Having been provided with definitions and instructions, the auditors were asked to identify the primary decision aid (automation, decision support systems, knowledge-based expert systems, and strictly human processing) applicable for each of the audit tas...

Sixty-two practising auditors participated in an account balance estimation experiment. Having been provided with written and oral training material, they used four elicitation techniques (CDF, PDF, EPS, and HFS) to quantify their subjective beliefs regarding the accounts receivable balance of an audit case study. Their responses were compared to t...

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA) of 2002 has been credited with having substantial benefits regarding enhanced credibility of corporate financial reporting. Moore et al. (2006) argue that due to the auditors’ “moral seduction” and corporate “strategic issue cycling” (lobbying), SOA must be strengthened through additional legislation. We use Moore et al...

A sample of 1,497 chief audit executives (CAEs) from 19 countries selected the most important performance attributes from a list of 43 for the practice of internal auditing at various professional ranks. The performance attributes identified as most important are generally similar to those in external auditing, indicating that while some attributes...

A global survey of 203 E-commerce auditors was conducted to investigate the perceptions about the potential determinants of expertise in E-commerce audits. We hypothesize and find evidence indicating that information technology and communication expertise are positively related to expertise in E-commerce audit judgment. We also find that system cha...

In this paper, we investigate a number of factors that are theoretically associated with convergence towards best practices in internal auditing in a sample of 14 emerging and 21 developed countries. We define best practices as internal audit tools and techniques that are used by at least 75 percent of the internal audit functions (IAFs) in the U.S...

Recent attention to accountants’ ethics in the news, in professional practice, and by academia leads to questions about the ethical and cognitive characterization of students selecting accounting careers. We employ the Myers/Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for assessing cognitive styles, and the Defining Issues Test (DIT) for assessing ethical reasoni...

This study extends the literature on the impact of culture on the accounting and auditing professions by investigating the relationship between cultural dimensions and (1) professionalism of the internal auditing community in 45 countries; and (2) uniformity of internal auditing practice in 32 countries. More specially, the hypotheses suggested by...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate differences in the degree of usage and compliance with the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) International Standards for the Professional Practices of Internal Auditing (Standards) by organizations' internal audit activities (IAA) located in the USA and a sample of European countries which ha...

This paper investigates the Selection-Socialization Theory (SST) and its related Inverted-U Phenomenon (IUP) in the moral reasoning of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in industry and public practice. This is an extension of the literature that has primarily focused on CPAs in public practice and has reported mixed results. We do not find signif...

Chief audit executives (CAEs) are required to use and comply with The International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards). However, this study finds that 13.5 percent of CAEs in Anglo-culture countries do not use the Standards. Furthermore, of those who use the Standards a significant number fail to comply with sp...

We examine post-restatement audit fees and executive turnover for a sample of firms that restated their 2003 financial statements. We investigate and find evidence that audit fees are higher for restatement firms compared with a matched-pair control group of non-restatement firms. We propose that the higher audit fees reflect a cost of both an incr...

Chief audit executives (CAEs) and internal audit managers (IAMs) are responsible for the use and compliance with the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards) issued by The Institute of Internal Auditors (The IIA, 2008). However, significant deviations in use and compliance with Standards have been repor...

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy's most recent proposal (NASBA 2007) requires all students sitting for the Uniform CPA examination to have completed a curriculum that includes a three-semester-hour (SCH) ethics course or one that integrates the study of ethics into all accounting courses at the equivalent of the three SCH min...

Data were collected from samples of accounting faculty (n = 45), professionals (n = 87) and graduate students (n = 68) on issues related to ethics education in business and accounting programs. There was a high convergence in the perceptions of the three subject groups indicating that at least one stand alone course should be taught in each of grad...

In this study 43 auditors of varying rank (staff/assistant, senior/supervisors, and managers/partners) and expertise level (candidates for specialty, competent specialists, and expert specialists) assessed the degree to which they believed themselves and their colleagues possessed detailed expert attributes. Definitions of 11 attributes that were f...

Numerous studies have reported a significant negative relation between moral reasoning (as measured by the Defining Issues Test) and political conservatism. However, recent studies with accounting subjects (Bailey et al. 2004, Bernardi et al. 2004) and other subjects (Bailey 2007) have found little or no relation and have called for more research....

Information technology (IT) professionals are entrusted with the design, implementation, and operation of the information systems that support key business processes within organizations. Many organizational stakeholders such as management, investors, and regulators expect these professionals to act ethically, as these systems must accurately refle...

IntroductionPublic accounting servicesAICPA's code of professional conductEnforcement of the Code of ConductIllustrative disciplinary actionsControversial ethical issues in the accounting professionConclusion

A global survey of 203 E-commerce auditors was conducted to investigate the perceived determinants of expertise in E-commerce audits. We hypothesize and find evidence indicating that information technology and communication expertise are positively related to expertise in E-commerce audit judgment. We also find that system change management experti...

We investigate the relationship between moral reasoning and plagiarism by students in accounting courses. Using the Internet tool, turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com), we define plagiarism as the percentage of words copied from the Internet without proper acknowledgement of the source. We use writing assignments at the beginning and the end of t...

This study explores the nature of the information (financial, nonfinancial, and other) that is disseminated by quarterly recommendation reports of sell-side financial analysts. We content-analyzed nearly 7,000 elements contained in 64 analysts' quarterly recommendation reports for companies in four different industries: two intangible-asset-intensi...

Purpose The 2006 global common body of knowledge (CBOK) study is part of an ongoing research program that will broaden the understanding of how internal auditing is practised throughout the world. At the core of the 2006 CBOK study are three surveys of internal auditors worldwide regarding their professional activities. This paper reviews past CBOK...

Purpose – By conducting the 2006 global Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) study, The Institute of Internal Auditors (The IIA) attempts to better understand the expanding scope of internal auditing practice throughout the world. The purpose of this review of recent internal auditing literature in The Americas is to document how the internal audit func...

Purpose To present the results of a survey of internal auditors worldwide to determine the scope of the topics to be included in The IIA's Global Common Body of Knowledge Study (CBOK) 2006. Design/methodology/approach The researchers developed a prescope questionnaire and surveyed a small sample of experienced internal auditors worldwide. All thre...

This paper examines relationships between accountants’ personal values and their moral reasoning. In particular, we hypothesize that there is an inverse relationship between accountants’ “Conformityâ€\x9D values and principled moral reasoning. This investigation is important because the literature suggests that conformity with rule-based stan...

Purpose This paper aims to develop a descriptive framework of the components of intellectual capital in annual reports. The paper also aims to investigate the effects of disclosure of intellectual capital on market capitalization. Design/methodology/approach The components of intellectual capital are used as units of analysis to content analyze th...

Forty three auditors were asked to assess the degree to which they believed themselves, their peers, superiors, and subordinates possessed each of 25 attributes of expertise in auditing. Analyses of the data render four major findings. First, 16 attributes (e.g., current knowledge, problem solver) are increasingly more important for higher professi...

This paper examines relationships between accountants’ personal values and their moral reasoning. In particular, we hypothesize that there is an inverse relationship between accountants’ “Conformity” values and principled moral reasoning. This investigation is important because the literature suggests that conformity with rule-based standards may b...

This study investigates the effect of the risk of material misstatement at the financial statement level on audit program planning. Using an inventory-production cycle case study, we engaged forty-eight auditors to assess the risk of material misstatement at the financial statement level. The auditors incorporated their assessments in planning the...

Prior research in psychology and auditing has established that in addition to ability, experience, and knowledge, many other attributes such as confidence and communication skills are also important to expertise. The literature also suggests that the importance of various expert attributes differ by professional rank. This study extends this litera...

No abstract available.

The Jenkins Committee (AICPA 1994) concluded that the current financial reporting model was not adequate to meet the informational needs of investors. Central among the committee's findings was that investors needed more information to assess the future prospects of a firm, such as information about key non-financial performance measures and strate...

Recent business headlines, particularly those related to the collapsed energy-trading giant, Enron and its auditor, Arthur Andersen raise concerns about accountants'' ethical reasoning. We propose, and provide evidence from 90 new auditors from Big-Five accounting firms, that a selection-socialization effect exists in the accounting profession that...

Prior studies have identified several factors associated with economic growth including a country's: legal system, banking system, stock markets, and accounting standards. This research examines cross-country differences in accounting and auditing to assess their role in a country's economic development. We investigate the effects of the per capita...

The cognitive developmental theory of ethics suggests that there is a positive relationship between ethical reasoning and ethical behavior. In this study, we trained a sample of accounting and finance students in performing competitive stock trading in our state-of-the-art trading room. The subjects then performed trading of stocks under two experi...

Abstract This paper reports on the changes in the extent to which decision aids are perceived to be useful for performing detailed financial audit tasks. The decision aids investigated were automation (AU), decision support systems (DSS), and knowledge based expert systems (KES). Data were collected from highly experienced mangers and partners from...

In this study, we present evidence on the changes inethical cognition of business students over afour-year period. We use the Principled Score(P-score) of the Defining Issues Test to measure thischange. Specifically, we first compare the P-scores ofstudents at the entry to, halfway through, and shortlyafter graduation from a business school to anal...

This study provides evidence regarding the level of ethical cognition of business students at the entry to college as compared to a national norm. It also provides comparative evidence on the effects of group versus individual ethical cognition upon completion of a business ethics course. The Principled Score (P-score) from the Defining Issues Test...

This paper discusses the major legislative laws in the United States that deal with environmental issues. These laws are divided into two categories: Control and Prevention laws and Remediation laws. The requirements for identifying Principal Responsible Parties (PRPs) are also described. Next, the accounting guidance for disclosure of environmenta...

Simon [1960] classified tasks as either programmable or non-programmable. Management scientists interpreted Simon's classification as structured or unstructured. Based on this classification, decision aid theorists have developed a contingency model between task structure and decision aid type where automation is suggested for structured tasks, dec...

Cost-volume-profit analysis has focused on the firm's short-run output decision assuming that the manager maximizes the firm's objective function rather than his or her own. This study argues that the decision problem facing the manager is to determine not only the level of output, but also the level of investment in risky assets in such a way that...

Considerable effort has been expended on the development of systems which depend on the identification of experts. Some examples include the development of expert systems, as well as personnel selection, training, and promotion procedures. In each case, a key step is to select and analyze experts. However, little is known about the pattern of perso...

Interest in the use of the Bayesian statistical method in auditing has been increasing over the past few years. To use this method, however, appropriate prior probability assessment techniques (PPAT) need to be identified. This study uses three evaluation criteria, acceptability, accuracy and concordance, to compare four PPATs in auditing. The four...

Résumé. Soixante-deux vérificateurs/praticiens ont pris part à une expérience d'estimation du solde d'un compte. Ayant reçu au préalable un matériel d'apprentissage à la fois écrit et oral, ils ont utilisé quatre techniques de déduction (FDC, FDP, EPE, et EFH) afin de quantifier leurs croyances subjectives ayant trait au solde de comptes clients d'...

We examine the frequency and type of audit opinion modifications (e.g., going concern, GAAP consistency) in a sample of 180 companies that restated their financial statements for the reporting periods 1998-2001 compared with a control sample matched on the basis of industry, size, reporting period, and audit firm. The literature suggests that resta...