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A major impediment to the advancement of ethics research in the accounting domain is the availability of appropriate research participants. This study aims to investigate the validity of using student surrogates in accounting ethics research.

A survey instrument was administered to a sample of US accounting practitioners (Certified Public Accountants) and two student respondent groups: intermediate and advanced-level accounting students. Both personal values and ethical judgments were measured.

Significant differences were found in both the structure of personal values and ethical judgments between practitioners and accounting students. Life-stage effects play an important role in explaining these differences. Hedonistic values are seen to become less salient through the maturation process, whereas others, such as security, become increasingly important. Unexpectedly, values are found to have little direct impact on ethical judgments.

The cross-sectional nature of the research design means the impacts of maturation and experience can only be inferred. Future corroborating longitudinal studies are encouraged.

Overall, the findings suggest caution in the use of student surrogates in this research context. In particular, adequate attention ought to be given to the close matching of ages, and to the extent possible, the education level between students and the target professional population. Insights provided by the study into factors underlying the ethical decision-making process of accountants provide a basis for evaluating the capabilities of employees and can be used in education and organizational training.

This study addresses a significant gap in the prior literature by concurrently considering the interrelationships between personal values, ethical judgment and subject type in studying the suitability of student surrogates in accounting ethics research.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate: how dimensions of tone vary across different forms of corporate accountability narrative; the impact of tone on readability; and the determinants of tone, including consideration of its use in impression management.

Using a multi-year sample of listed companies, the authors measure dimensions of tone across multiple narrative types within the annual report and standalone corporate social responsibility report. Statistical analysis is used to investigate variations of tone across narrative type, each dimension’s influence on readability and the role of antecedent factors.

Analysis reveals that dimensions of tone vary significantly across narrative types (genres) suggesting that tonal patterns form part of the specific stylistic conventions of each genre. Tone is found to be a significant determinant of readability. Little evidence of obfuscation using tone was found, while disclosure type is the most salient determinant of tone.

The study illuminates latent or underlying disclosure norms that can facilitate the identification of “exceptional” cases that do not conform with expected tonal patterns of a particular narrative type and may warrant closer inspection by preparers, auditors or regulators. The issues raised regarding the clarity and balance of textual disclosures highlight the challenges in regulating corporate narratives.

This study highlights that tone is a more nuanced and layered concept than suggested by much of the prior literature. Further, tone ought to be considered in studies examining textual complexity.

The integrated reporting framework affords considerable discretion over the form and content of business model disclosures, but a diagrammatic representation is favoured. In practice, most firms choose to use an infographic. This study aims to determine whether an infographic is a more effective and efficient form of communication than narrative-only information. Additionally, the mediating role of psychophysiological arousal is examined.

Using an explorative experimental design, this study uses eye-tracking technology to examine how users interact with different presentation formats for business model disclosures and how this affects the effectiveness and efficiency of the disclosures. Using pupillometry, the impacts of presentation format on arousal are also examined, in addition to the mediating effect of arousal on recall and comprehension.

Infographic presentation led to a substantial decrease in reading time coupled with moderately lower recall relative to narrative-only presentation. However, no significant difference in comprehension was observed. Additionally, infographic presentation was associated with higher arousal, but arousal was not found to mediate the relationship between presentation format and communicative effectiveness.

The study assists reporters and standard-setters, such as the International Accounting Standards Board and International Sustainability Standards Board, by providing qualified support for the diagrammatic representations of business models as an efficient means of communicating complex financial and non-financial information and highlighting future research opportunities.

Auditors are required to perform analytical procedures during the planning and concluding phases of the audit. Such procedures typically use data aggregated at a high level. The authors investigate whether artificial neural networks, a more sophisticated technique for analytical review than typically used by auditors, may be effective when using high level data.

Data from companies operating in the dairy industry were used to train an artificial neural network. Data with and without material seeded errors were used to test alternative techniques.

Results suggest that the artificial neural network approach was not significantly more effective (taking into account both Type I and II errors) than traditional ratio and regression analysis, and none of the three approaches provided more overall effectiveness than a purely random procedure. However, the artificial neural network approach did yield considerably fewer Type II errors than the other methods, which suggests artificial neural networks could be a candidate to improve the performance of analytical procedures in circumstances where Type II error rates are the primary concern of the auditor.

The authors extend the work of Coakley and Brown (1983) by investigating the application of artificial neural networks as an analytical procedure using aggregated data. Furthermore, the authors examine multiple companies from one industry and supplement financial information with both exogenous industry and macro-economic data.

Describes how HIV and AIDS are carried and spread, particularly for high‐risk groups, but adds that it is not only behavioural but also those behaviours in conjunction with others. Employs figures and tables for added explanation and emphasis. Chronicles some individual case studies showing different “risk” behaviours and types of “unsafe” practices. Makes clear that the use of varied types of education are of major importance in the fight against ignorance and nonchalance in the battle against AIDS.