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Facing budgetary challenges, successive Australian Governments have chosen to proportionally reduce public expenditure on universities relative to levels of activity in both teaching and research. The question asked in this paper is whether Australia’s universities increased their efficiency in a manner consistent with the demands of government to provide productivity “dividends” or efficiencies?

Using archival data for 37 Australian universities from 2007 to 2013, this paper examines changes in productivity of university groups and individual institutions using the data envelopment analysis technique.

Results show a statistically significant system-wide (or technological) productivity improvement of 15.2 per cent from 2007 to 2013, but there was little average individual institutional change in efficiency. Productivity improvements were clearly observable for the Group of 8 institutions with an improvement of 25.1 per cent.

Universities, like other public sector bodies, can both improve individually and as an overall system. The system has improved greatly in terms of productivity at higher levels than may be anticipated.

Using data contemporaneous with a period of great change in university funding and sector competition, this study reveals how some universities benefited, whereas others struggled to maintain their relative position.

This experimental study investigates the connotative (measured) meaning of the concept “auditor independence” within three audit engagement case contexts, including two acknowledged in the literature to represent significant potential threats to independence. The study’s research design utilises the measurement of meaning (semantic differential) framework originally proposed by Osgood et al. (1957). Findings indicate that research participants considered the concept of independence within a two factor cognitive structure comprising “emphasis” and “variability” dimensions. Participants’ connotations of independence varied along both these dimensions in response to the alternative experimental case scenarios. In addition, participants’ perceptions of the auditor’s independence in the three cases were systematically associated with the identified connotative meaning dimensions.

Previous researchers (eg. Libby, 1976 and Salamon et al., 1976) have proposed three alternative strategies for improving decisions: (1) changing the information set; (2) replacing the decision maker with a model; and (3) training the user (e.g. with the use of feedback information). The present research focusses on the role of feedback in the prediction of corporate failure. The effect of various types of feedback on human judgments is examined in the present study in two ways. The first section of the paper extends Kessler and Ashton's (1981) study which looked at the impact of several alternative types of feedback. Using 173 advanced undergraduate students as subjects, we find that, contrary to general expectations, both task properties and lens model feedback are not effective for decisions taken within a financial accounting context. Several possible explanations are given for this result. The second section of the paper examines the effect of outcome feedback within a financial accounting context. The participants in this study were 40 advanced undergraduate students. We found that outcome feedback is an effective means for promoting learning even where the task is not highly predictable.

The fundamental question on the internationalisation of accounting standards is whether a nation should harmonise with international standards or not. This paper addresses this question with particular reference to the special circumstances of Japan. The discussion suggests that Japan's unique features such as stable shareholdings, the ‘Keiretsu’, and the ‘main bank’ form the conclusion that harmonisation might be unwise. However, some recent signs of change in Japan, including the breakdown of cross‐shareholding arrangements and a greater emphasis on corporate profitability, are more in keeping with the conventional business practices of the West and suggests there may be benefits to harmonisation. This paper presents some survey evidence for and against accounting harmonisation and analyses certain management attitudes in Japan and a number of other industrial nations towards adopting the IAS.

This paper seeks to focus on the issue of materiality judgements and the need for public disclosure of materiality levels. Insights about the concept of materiality are drawn from the words of users of audited financial reports, auditee managements, suppliers to the market for audit services and auditing standard setters and regulators.

This paper reports findings arising from face‐to‐face office interviews with individuals representing identified groups of stakeholders in the market for audit services about the issue of “materiality” as this concept is applied in auditing. The interviews canvassed many issues related to audit as part of a larger project entitled “The future of audit”.

In general, stakeholders perceive that the concepts involved in audit materiality are not well understood and they point to the difficulty in providing educative materiality about it, especially in relation to qualitative materiality, to retail investors in particular. There are mixed views as to whether the actual level of tolerable error, as per one of the meanings of materiality in the audit space, should be disclosed, with some feeling that it might be detrimental or dangerous.

If incremental information about materiality is to be disclosed, the issue of where, what to whom, by whom and when arise. Various suggestions are made by stakeholders in respect of these questions.

The paper concludes by drawing from the insights gained by the authors through the comments of participant stakeholders to make recommendations that deal with the issue of audit materiality.

The mathematical modelling of audit fees has emerged in research as one means by which the factors which explain the level and variability of audit fees can be examined. Existing literature shows that auditee size and complexity are major determinants of audit costs incurred by an auditee. Examines the power of these and other variables in explaining the variability of external audit fees for a sample of Australia′s largest listed companies and contributes to the existing literature by examining other potentially important factors which explain audit fees, some of which are unique to the present study. Reports results for the effect of: the presence of particular audit firms (for example, Coopers & Lybrand as opposed to say, Price Waterhouse); the extent of the level of internal audit in the auditee and; industrial classification of the auditee (for example, mining, manufacturing, retail, etc.). Results show that a very high proportion of reported audit fees can be explained by linear regression models, especially for certain auditors (for example, Peat Marwick, where over 93 per cent of the variability in fees can be explained by the model) and for certain industries (for example, the building industry, where over 90 per cent of variability is explained). Notes several limitations, especially those relating to measurement difficulties.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which ethnic association (i.e. Chinese and Bumiputra ownerships) and national issues (i.e. the presence of foreign corporations) influence the audit services market in Malaysia. Specifically, the paper aims to examine the effects of ethnicity and foreign ownership on choice of auditor.

Two logit models are used; the first is to test on ethnic auditor (Chinese/non‐Chinese) choice while the second is related to the choice of quality‐differentiated auditor. The data is obtained from annual reports of the population of the Bursa Malaysia listed companies for both the Main Board and the Second Board for the periods 1993‐1995.

The logit regressions confirm our prediction of ethnic networking and preferential treatment on the auditor selection process.

The first limitation lies on the auditor choice model where the model is developed from a demand perspective, assuming that the auditors are willing to supply services to any client even though it is very unlikely in the real world. The model also assumes that the audit engagement process for foreign‐controlled companies is purely transacted in the Malaysian market. However, foreign multinational corporations might determine the selection of the auditor at the headquarter offices and the Malaysian subsidiaries might simply be directed to engage a given auditor. Another limitation relates to the results of the logit regressions as the study has documented an ethnic association between auditor and auditee rather than establishing a causal relationship.

An important implication of these findings relates to auditor independence. The Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) has made rules prescribing the code of professional conduct and ethics of public accountants known as the MIA By‐Laws (on Professional Conduct and Ethics) but it seems to neglect the diversity of local culture in addressing independence. Whilst the auditor is divorced from financial and familial interests, the ethnic sentiments might impair auditor independence especially in an audit conflict situation.

The paper provides important insights into the existence of Chinese business practices in Malaysia and auditor selection process in this country.

This study aims to examine auditor reporting behaviour in the presence of aggressive earnings management (EM) in the context of the Asian Economic Crisis as it affected Malaysia. In the vein of Bartov, Gul and Tsui, the interaction between discretionary or abnormal accruals and audit quality (AQ), as indicated by auditor size and auditor industry specialisation, is examined.

A logistic regression model adapted from various prior studies is utilised to test the hypotheses.

As per earlier findings using Western data, Big 5 auditors in Malaysia appear to qualify more frequently than their non‐Big 5 counterparts when high levels of abnormal accruals are present. However, the interaction between auditor industry specialisation and abnormal accruals is not significant in predicting the incidence of qualification.

This study extends the current literature on AQ differentiation and specifically it attempts to address the gaps in the literature with respect to auditor reporting behaviour in the presence of aggressive EM. In addition, this study provides additional evidence on Big 5/industry specialist quality differentiation in an emerging market (an under‐researched area), Malaysia, arguably with less transparent and weaker governance structures than the developed economies such as the USA, UK, and Australia.

For maintaining the fortitude of both body and mind during war‐time, it is of prime importance that everyone should strive to do all that is possible to provide a sufficient amount of suitable food; for a well‐nourished body withstands infection and the effects of stress and strain just as a well‐built house resists the onslaughts of wind and rain.