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The use of choice-based, matched, and other stratified sample designs is common in auditing research. However, it is not widely appreciated that the data analysis for these studies has to take into account the non-random nature of sample selection in these designs. A choice-based, matched or otherwise stratified sample is a nonrandom sample that must be analyzed using conditional analysis techniques. We review five research streams in the auditing area. These streams include work on determinants of audit litigation, audit fees, auditor reporting in financially distressed firms, audit quality and auditor switches. Cram, Karan, and Stuart (CKS) (2009) demonstrated the accuracy of conditional analysis, compared to unconditional analysis, of nonrandom samples through the use of simulations, replications, and mathematical proofs. Papers since published have continued to rely upon questionable research, however, and it is hard for researchers to identify what is the reliability of a given work. We complement and extend CKS (2009) by identifying audit papers in selected research streams whose results will likely differ if the data gathered are analyzed using conditional analysis techniques. Thus research can be advanced either by replication and reanalysis, or by refocus of new research upon issues that should no longer be viewed as settled.

This chapter investigates whether earnings management activities increase the likelihood of receiving a qualified audit report. We have carried out this study with a sample of Spanish companies for the period 2001–2009. Previous research on the issue is not only scarce but also suffers from methodological pitfalls. In all cases, researchers have followed a matched sample approach without considering the implications of such approach for the statistical analysis. Despite its great popularity among researchers in accounting, the use of matched-based sampling is susceptible to produce technical errors in the statistical analysis. The main problem consists in the generalization of results obtained with a nonrandom sample to the whole population of firms. Our results do not show a significant relationship between EM and qualified audit reports. We have also addressed whether the international financial crisis has affected our results and concluded that Spanish companies seem to have used EM during the crisis to push down earnings, probably expecting to take advantage of the positive earnings surprises during the postcrisis period. Nevertheless, the financial crisis has not changed the nature of the EM-qualified opinions relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to encourage ethical discernment as a dimension of business decision‐making.

Development of ethical discernment and a process of ethical evaluation in the analysis of decisions made by the auditors and management in the Adelphia accounting scandal.

The paper finds that accounting may benefit from an increased focus on ethical discernment and ethical behavior. Ethical behavior may help restore trust and confidence in the capital market system and reduce fraudulent financial reporting.

This paper presents an alternative to regulation for restoring trust in the financial oversight function.

We investigate the effect of the PCAOB’s Part II report on annually inspected firms’ audit fees and audit quality. The PCAOB replaced the peer review auditor program with an independent inspection of audit firms. Upon completion of each inspection, the PCAOB issued inspection reports that include a public portion (Part I) of identified audit deficiencies, and (in most cases) a nonpublic portion (Part II) of identified quality control weaknesses. The Part II report is only made public when the PCAOB deems that remediation was insuffcient after at least 12 months have passed. Starting around the time of the 2007 Deloitte censure (Boone et al., 2015), the PCAOB shifted from a soft synergistic approach to an antagonistic approach, such that Part II reports were imminent, despite delays that ultimately led to their release one to four years later than expected. Our study spans the period from 2007 to 2015, and examines the effect on audit fees and audit quality at the earliest date that the Part II report could have been released – 12 months after the Part I report was issued. We find that following the 12 month period, that annually inspected audit firms eventually lost reputation by lower audit fees, while they concurrently made remedial efforts to increase the quality of their client’s financial reporting quality (abnormal accruals magnitude and restatements). However, three years after the Part II report was actually released, audit fees increased.

This chapter focusses on three young, female students from Denmark and their quiet voices in a world full of loud expectations – in this case the expectations of education. The chapter is based on a research project named Marginalization and Co-created Education (MaCE), which is constructed through indirect conversations with young students. These students were either attending an Adult Education Centre (In Danish: VUC) or a Production School (an institution for people who for a short period have to consider what to do in relation to the system of education). The aim of the study was to obtain an understanding of being a young person on an educational journey and to let the young students express their experiences through their own voices and views. The findings of this research present an overwhelmingly negative view of the school experiences by the young students, who all at some point felt neglected and not acknowledged through their school time by both teachers and classmates. These findings are illustrated through German sociologist Norbert Elias and his work on The Civilizing Process, and focusses on the unavoidable connection between civilising and distinction processes.

The Promenade image retrieval system is described in terms of its design, development and architecture. Design, development and implementation issues are discussed in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. A preliminary usability study is presented and the data respiting from the preliminary study are analysed and discussed. Efficiency in terms of response time due to network delays, database processing, application processing and image characteristics and display is discussed. Response time results from 40 queries made to the image database are presented and discussed. The results of these studies demonstrate where improvements in the system need to be made in order to improve usability and response time.

During the 17th century, the Dutch Republic sought to project a positive global image centred around the principles of economic endeavour, moral stewardship and military resilience. By illustrating one way in which the country sought to communicate its international position, the paper aims to provide an early example of political diplomacy and reputation management.

Pictorial narratives provide an important but often underutilised insight into our cultural, social and economic history. As works of art were considered legitimate and authoritative forms of communication, their importance can lie beyond any aesthetic accomplishment. Using established iconographic techniques, this paper deconstructs and interprets the meaning contained within a specific genre painting, The Young Mother (1658) by Gerrit Dou.

Rather than being devoid of meaning, The Young Mother represents a narrative purposely constructed to symbolise the cultural, religious and economic character of the United Provinces. It celebrates success through global trade, innovation and enterprise while simultaneously reminding audiences of the country’s moral and spiritual foundations. Like the patriotic allegory of De Hollandse Maag protecting the sacred space of the hortus conclusus, the painting is a secular representation of the new Loca Sancta.

While acknowledging that The Young Mother has been praised for its visual qualities, this paper maintains that any broader political significance has been largely overlooked. The analysis and findings therefore offer original interpretations from which new conclusions are drawn.

Although the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasize the importance of leaving no one behind, the opposite is happening for the world's 89 million forcibly displaced people who are mostly left out of SDGs’ reporting and progress. A key reason for this poor outcome is that host country governments plan refugee camps as short-term shelters, but refugees stay in these camps for more than a decade on average due to ongoing conflicts in their home country. This disparity between intent and reality prevents sustainable living conditions for refugee populations. Operational innovations are needed to find sustainable solutions that ensure a higher quality of life and progress toward sustainability in refugee camps.

Through an abductive case study, the authors develop a theoretical framework on sustainable operational innovations for refugee camps. The authors use this framework to analyze four sustainable operational innovations implemented in three refugee camps in Jordan.

The authors develop three research propositions that describe the conditions required for these operational innovations to succeed: they need to include specific needs and cultural preferences of refugees, they must accommodate host governments' restrictions that limit permanent settlement, and finally, technological innovations require careful data management policies to protect refugees. Doing this, the authors account for the broader political-economic and ecological environments that refugee camps are embedded in.

This paper opens a new area of research on sustainable innovation in humanitarian operations. It provides insights into key contingency factors moderating the link between operational innovations and sustainability outcomes. It represents one of the few studies that build their theorizing upon field data collected in refugee camps.

This paper aims to add to the understanding of dynamic capabilities (DC) as sources of competitive advantage of successful Asian-Pacific shipping companies by demonstrating that DC development unfolds in three steps, from recognition that the environment has changed, to the decision to deploy DC, to assets re-orchestration.

Based on an approach involving two illustrative case studies, the author analyzed DC development of Chinese and Singaporean-based shipping groups in depth. The analysis was centered on DC by investigating how strategic decision-making on vertical integration, diversification and implementation of new technologies can be underpinned by developing DC to create sustained advantages.

The author found that strategic components of DC are rooted in strategic decision-making to initiate changes on the corporate and even on an operational level.

While capability development is thoroughly studied, capability erosion has not been integrated into the research. The exploration of human capital as a firm’s idiosyncratic resource in assets orchestration capabilities can be future work.

The proposed research contributes to the debate on micro foundations of DC and provides insights for practitioners striving for retaining competitive advantages.

Regarding implications for the society, the research shows how the DC serve to generate competitive advantages. The author has presented a logical structure of the competitive advantage paradigm as a product of DC and business models that can be useful to decision makers.

The research offers insights into the composition of micro foundations of DC and demonstrates that DC can be unbounded into well-known and concrete strategic and operational management activities.