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Considering the importance of environmental lawsuits in the capital market specifically and society more generally, the authors examine whether environmental lawsuits are related to the cost of bank loans for the first time.

This study uses a US sample of 7,684 loans from 1,409 individual borrowing firms over the 1995–2015 period. The hypothesis is tested using lagged data from the year before the start of a bank loan, and firm fixed effects panel regression analysis is applied to control for correlated omitted variable bias. To further address endogeneity concerns, the authors use a difference in differences analysis that exploits the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on April 20, 2010, to establish causality. Finally, the authors use the entropy balancing method as an additional endogeneity check.

The authors find a positive relationship between environmental lawsuits and firms' bank loan costs. The results are economically significant. In particular, a one standard deviation increase in environmental lawsuits is related to a 2.07 basis point increase in bank loan costs. The results are robust to various endogeneity checks. Cross-sectional analyses indicate that a poor information environment, weak corporate governance, and low corporate social responsibility (CSR) levels strengthen the positive relationship between environmental lawsuits and bank loan costs. Finally, additional analyses show that environmental lawsuits are significantly negatively related to the loan amount and maturity contract provisions.

The authors provide new empirical evidence that increasing understanding of the economic consequences of environmental lawsuits on bank loan costs.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of women on the board of directors on corporate tax avoidance in Australia.

The authors use multivariate regression analysis to test the association between the presence of female directors on the board and tax aggressiveness. They also test for self-selection bias in the regression model by using the two-stage Heckman procedure.

This paper finds that relative to there being one female board member, high (i.e. greater than one member) female presence on the board of directors reduces the likelihood of tax aggressiveness. The results are robust after controlling for self-selection bias and using several alternative measures of tax aggressiveness.

This study extends the extant literature on corporate governance and tax aggressiveness. This study is subject to several caveats. First, the sample is restricted to publicly listed Australian firms. Second, this study only examines the issue of women on the board of directors and tax aggressiveness in the context of Australia.

This research is timely, as there has been increased pressure by government bodies in Australia and globally to develop policies to increase female representation on the board of directors.

This study is the first to provide empirical evidence concerning the association between the presence of women on the board of directors and tax aggressiveness.

We examine the association between conditional conservatism in initial public offering (IPO) underpricing and post-issue stock market survival in the U.S.

We adopt an archival approach by collecting data for 1,761 U.S. IPO issuers for the period 1990–2017. Regression analyses are conducted to evaluate the association between conditional conservatism in initial public offerings with underpricing and post-issue stock market survival. We identify firms that went public in the period 1990–2012. These firms are then followed for five years after the IPO to assess their stock market survival.

We find that pre-issue conditional conservatism is significantly associated with less IPO underpricing. We also detect that IPO firms with higher levels of conditional conservative reporting are more likely to survive in the post-IPO stock market in the three-, four-, and five-year periods after the IPO. Our main findings are robust after controlling for other factors in our models, such as IPO cycles, venture capitalists, research and development investment, and pre-IPO accounting performance.

We extend research by demonstrating that conditional conservative reporting practices help firms reduce their indirect costs of raising their initial public capital. Additionally, our research introduces new evidence on the association between pre-IPO conditional conservatism and after-issue stock market survival. Our findings empirically support the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) decision to reintroduce the concept of prudence into the conceptual framework, by showing how conservative reporting can reduce information asymmetry in IPO firms.

This study examines the importance of income income-shifting arrangements of US multinational corporations (MNCs) on future stock price crash risk.

This study employs a sample of 7,641 corporation-year observations over the 2005–2017 period and uses ordinary least squares regression analysis.

The authors find that the income-shifting arrangements of MNCs are positively and significantly associated with stock price crash risk after controlling for corporate tax avoidance and other known determinants of stock price crash risk in the regression model. This result is robust to alternative measures of stock price crash risk and income-shifting, and several endogeneity tests. The authors also observe that income-shifting arrangements increase stock price crash risk both directly and indirectly through the information opacity channel. Finally, in cross-sectional analyses, the authors find that the positive association between income-shifting and stock price crash risk is more pronounced for MNCs that use tax haven subsidiaries and have weak corporate governance mechanisms.

The authors provide new empirical evidence that MNCs will likely face significant capital market consequences regarding their income-shifting arrangements.

The purpose of this article is to track the emergence of topics and research trends in environmental accounting research by using a machine learning method for literature reviews. The article shows how the method can track the emergence of topics and research trends over time.

The analysis of the emergence of topics and shifts in research trends was based on a machine learning approach that allowed the authors to identify “topic bursts” in publication data. The data set of this study contained, 2,502 records published between 1972 and 2019, both within and outside of accounting journals. The data set was assembled through a systematic keyword search of the literature.

Findings indicated that research studies within accounting journals have addressed sustainability concerns in a general fashion, with a recent focus on broad topics such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stakeholder theory. Research studies published outside of accounting journals have focussed on more specific topics (e.g. the shift to a low-carbon or circular economy, the attainment of the sustainable development goals [SDGs], etc.) and new methodologies (e.g. accounting for ecosystem services).

The method provides an approach for identifying “trending” topics within accounting and non-accounting journals and allows to identify topics and areas that could benefit from a greater exchange of ideas between accounting and non-accounting journals.

The authors provide a much needed review of research on the vitally important topic of environmental accounting not only in accounting journals but also in the broader research community.

Despite technological advances banking still concerns people. Frontline personnel form a critical means of competition in the marketplace and motivating them is a key task. Internal marketing provides the framework for such activities. Data gathered and analysed prior to and after the implementaton of an internal marketing programme confirms that it does impact on the quality of the service provided, recognising the value of communication in informing and motivating staff and creating positive attitudes and a sense of belonging. Apart from size there is little to differentiate banks from one another as all carry a similar range of services and charge similar rates. The bank that shows its superiority in the customer contact area should have a competitive tool and a means of successfully differentiating itself from competitors.

Discusses the economic contributions of George Barclay Richardson. Detailing the Austrian and Marshallian aspects of his work, argues that all his contributions – on industrial organization, welfare economics, history of thought, etc. – are united in their concern with the co‐ordination problem, that is, the problem of theoretically demonstrating how order may be achieved in decentralized market economies. Furthermore, argues that Richardson′s work from 1953 to 1972 in the answers it gave to this problem anticipated a number of themes that have only recently acquired prominence in economic theory, specifically in neo‐institutionalist thought. The pioneering originality of his work also partly accounts for the relative neglect with which it was originally received.

The purpose of this study is to provide a practical guide and checklist for newcomers to autoethnography.

The approach is grounded in autoethnographic methodology, functioning as a comprehensive teaching resource.

When used as a learning resource, this study will enhance the work of beginning autoethnographers.

As an arts and humanities and social science-based research approach, autoethnography is a vital, creative methodology in advancing social justice in mental health.

This study, written by an experienced teacher, mentor and supervisor of the approach with an international reputation, is original in its provision of a comprehensive teaching resource in article form to assist the development of beginning autoethnographers.

Discusses how important perceptions of tax fairness can be in forming tax‐compliant behaviour in various jurisdictions, based on a crosscultural study of Australia and Hong Kong. Defines fairness and its relationship with legitimacy. Describes a tax survey questionnaire administered to business students, which is broken down by demographic data and includes extensive correlations between tax‐fairness perception and tax‐compliance behaviour. Concludes that legitimacy is a crucial normative influence in shaping how fair tax systems are perceived to be and how likely people are to comply with their tax obligations.