Query: Positive accounting theory

title: Mediating Role of Environmental Management Accounting and Control System between Top Management Commitment and Environmental Performance: A Legitimacy Theory
abstract: The purpose of current study is to assess the impact of top management commitment on firms' performance, based on legitimacy theory with mediating role of environmental management accounting and environmental management control system. Survey based data has been collected through questionnaires from ISO 14001 based manufacturing firms of Pakistan. Path analysis has been conducted by applying structural equation modelling on total 304 respondents' data to answer the study hypotheses by using SPSS and AMOS. Results of the study indicate that there is a positive and direct impact of top management commitment on the firms' environmental performance. Moreover, environmental management accounting and control system significantly mediate the relationship between top management commitment and environmental performance. The theoretical model of this study is first time developed and tested by the researcher in Pakistan. Practically, the findings of this research give a deep insight and understanding of how the managers in Pakistan can improve the environmental performance of their firms, through commitment and environmental management accounting as well as environmental management control system tools.

title: Environmental Accounting from the New Institutional Sociology Theory Lens: Branding or Responsibility?
abstract: Drawing on the new institutional sociology theory, this study aims at exploring the implementation of environmental accounting. We analysed sustainability and annual reports of 39 manufacturing companies in Indonesia from 2010 to 2017. The hypotheses of the study were tested using multiple linear regression analysis. The results indicated that company reputation has a positive effect on environmental accounting. However, public ownership has no effect. These results showed that community power failed to encourage companies to disclose environmental accounting. The environmental reporting provided by companies was merely a ceremonial for the good company reputation. The findings of this study contribute to the policy development in which the government might need to tighten regulations for companies to administer their impacts on the environment and provide awards for those succeeding in implementing environmental accounting.

title: Cognitive approach to understand the impact of conflict of interests on accounting professionals' decision making behaviour
abstract: This paper adopts a cognitive approach, by integrating social cognitive theory and throughput model, for examining the process through which conflict of interests affects the accounting professionals' decision making behaviour. The model has been tested by conducting a quasi experiment with 105 professionals from the Big Four accounting firms in the UK. The low positive outcome expectancy of compliant decision making, high perceived difficulty in making compliant decisions and less ethical judgements are evidenced to be the situational cognitive predictors, and high propensity to morally disengage the dispositional cognitive predictor of the likelihood of deviant decision making behaviour. The proposed cognitive approach provides a novel perspective for investigating decision making behaviour in situations involving the conflict of interests. To facilitate effective management of conflict of interests, this study suggests implementing behavioural interventions for strengthening the accounting professionals' independence in fact.

title: The institutionalization of accounting: the impact of national standards on the development of economies
abstract: The purpose of the study is to establish the essence and identification of the components of institutional accounting theory and substantiate the role and impact of these components on the national economy through the example of standardization. The author's general scheme of the institutional paradigm of institutional accounting and the approach to the development of his theory was built in the study based on a theoretical, empirical generalization, taking into account positive foreign experience, national scientific views and traditions. The examples of changes in GDP after the introduction of accounting standards (which are a structural component of institutional accounting theory) in the 6 largest countries of the world are given as an argument for the positive impact of institutional pragmatics on the national economy using the graphical method. It is proved that the dynamics that can be used to identify the impact of accounting standardization on a country's economy may be the dynamics of its GDP. The expediency of taking into account the institutional environment of Ukraine in the issues of formalization of the Institute of Accounting, as well as its political, environmental and social situation is substantiated. The conducted research confirms the influence of national peculiarities on the results of activation of institutional accounting principles and the presence of individual characteristics of values taken as arguments of indicators. It is substantiated that it is important to find effective indicators to illustrate the impact of each institutional component of accounting on the national economy.

title: Determinants of Mobile Accounting App Adoption by Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise in Indonesia
abstract: This study figured out the factors that influence Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia to adopt a mobile accounting application as a tool to record business transactions and to prepare financial reports. This research applies the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) with two additional variables, namely perceived risk and perceived trust. Using a combination of purposive, convenience, and snowball sampling techniques, this study distributed questionnaires to MSME owners in Indonesia who know the mobile accounting app. Following that, this study uses the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS SEM) to analyze the data obtained and to confirm the significance of the causality relationship. Effort expectancy, performance expectancy, social influence, and perceived trust have a significant positive effect on the intention to adopt a mobile accounting app. The study provides knowledge of the factors that influence MSME owners' intentions to choose a mobile accounting app which might help app providers to develop strategies to meet the expectation of MSME owners. This study merely examines the intention to adopt a mobile accounting app, hence further study could examine the user's intention to continue using the mobile accounting app, by using the longitudinal data collection.

title: Coercive, Normative and Mimetic Pressures as Drivers of Environmental Management Accounting Adoption
abstract: This paper explores the impact of institutional pressures on the adoption of environmental management accounting (EMA) EMA has been recognized as a valuable mechanism to deal with environmental issues. This paper uses institutional theory to explain the drivers of EMA adoption in Pakistan. Data were collected from the manufacturing sector in Pakistan through a questionnaire based survey. The study concludes that coercive, normative and mimetic pressures have a significant and positive impact on the adoption of EMA.

title: Top Management Team Diversity and the moderating effect of Discretionary Accounting Choices on Financial Reporting Quality among Commercial State Corporations in Kenya
abstract: The study aims to examine the moderating effect of discretionary accounting choices on the relationship between top management demographic diversity and financial reporting quality among state commercial firms in Kenya based on 248 firm year observations for 2004 2015. The study used correlational research design to achieve the sought objectives. It lays a broad foundation for the future research work into the theory and practice of financial reporting quality in commercial state corporations. The findings clearly reveal that, there exist both positive and negative relationship between discretionary accounting choices and financial reporting quality. However, the relationship varies with each financial reporting quality proxy measures. The demographic variables that were statistically significant in explaining FRQ were; age, education, tenure, gender and functional background diversity. Hence, managerial characteristics matter in explaining discretionary accounting choices and financial reporting quality in the companies. Despite the findings showed minimal significant effects on earnings quality and timeliness. Discretionary accounting choices should not be used by the management opportunistically but should be used to enhance quality reporting. The study recommends that stakeholders in commercial state corporations should ensure that discretionary accounting choices is improved to decrease manipulations of accounting information in order to increase the quality of reporting.

title: Intention to Use Accounting Platforms in Romania: A Quantitative Study on Sustainability and Social Influence
abstract: Technological innovation evolves through the use of information systems and this study highlights the intentions of using accounting platforms by conducting a quantitative study on sustainability and its social influence. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence the acceptance and use by company managers of accounting platforms available online by developing the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) construct model. The research method used in the quantitative study was the sample survey, using the online questionnaire as a data collection tool. A number of 401 companies provided complete and useful answers to this research. The major contributions of the research were the use of two variables considered significant in the study: perceived credibility (PC) and perception of risk (PR) The results of the study showed that performance expectancy (PE) social influence (SI) and perceived risk (PR) have a positive influence on the intention to use the accounting platforms available online, while perceived credibility shows a much more significant and stronger influence.

title: The Influence of Mathematical Thinking Skill Toward the Knowledge of Accounting
abstract: The problem identified in the research was the lack of accounting knowledge, primarily that of the aspect of skill on vocational high school students. The research was aimed at determining the amount of influence of mathematical thinking skill toward the knowledge of accounting. The above result was studied by a theory applied in the research; the three components of learning teaching process theory from Loree  The research method applied was Explanatory Survey Method, by means of testing instrument and 215 samples consisting of vocational high school students throughout Area II of Bogor. The technique of analyzing data applied was regression. The result of the research shows that mathematical thinking skill is influential toward the knowledge of accounting. The result, thus, shows that mathematical thinking skill takes positive effect on the knowledge of accounting. It is concluded from the research that the knowledge of accounting is influenced by mathematical thinking skill. Therefore, it is suggested that the enrollment of the accounting vocational school students utilize the testing instrument of mathematical thinking skill of mathematics.

title: Social capital: exploring the theory and empirical divide
abstract: Social capital is an expanding research theme in economics, but it remains a controversial concept and its use as an analytical tool has been questioned. The criticisms are exacerbated by a mismatch between theoretical coverage of the concept and empirical work. We demonstrate, using a large European survey of older people, that social capital is multi dimensional, and explore the extent to which these latent dimensions coincide with its theoretical constructs. We use the association between social capital and health to demonstrate the importance of accounting for the multi dimensionality in empirical work. We show that all the dimensions of social capital are associated with health, but while in general this association is positive, close household ties are inversely related to health and well being. This potential 'dark side' of social capital has been largely neglected to date but is important if social capital is to be a useful analytical tool.