2026 Accounting Perspectives Emerging Scholars Virtual Symposium

Seda Oz (University of Waterloo) | Associate Editor and Symposium Organizer, Accounting Perspectives

Kim Trottier (HEC Montréal) | President, Canadian Academic Accounting Association

Abstract: Using nearly 15,000 firm-year observations across almost 2,000 US firms over a 17-year period (2006-2022), I investigate the association between pay dispersion and corporate tax avoidance (CTA) among executives and directors, separately. Leveraging tournament theory and equity theory, I hypothesize that greater pay dispersion will lead to managers’ perceptions of unfairness, self-interested attitudes, and less cohesive governance, which in turn will be associated with greater levels of CTA among firms. Greater pay dispersion suggests greater risk-taking behaviours at the expense of ethical behaviours, which I expect will be manifest in higher levels of CTA. The results support our hypotheses. Highly dispersed executive pay is associated with lower effective tax rates for firms. And, I find the same relationship for director pay dispersion and corporate tax avoidance. Together, my results suggest that wider pay dispersion amongst executives and directors has an unintended consequence, namely higher CTA.

Keywords: corporate tax avoidance, tax aggressiveness, corporate governance, pay dispersion

Abstract: I examine whether proprietary information sharing impacts supply chain lock-in, a state where the relationship continuation is driven less by ongoing efficiency and more by high exit costs. Using a hand-collected dataset of supply chain contracts, I develop a new measure of customer-to-supplier proprietary information sharing, based on the intensity of confidentiality provisions. Validation tests show that this measure correlates positively with customer firms’ proprietary cost concerns, and that higher-confidentiality-intensity contracts are linked to improved suppliers’ managerial learning in information environments, investment, and innovation. I find that supply chain relationships involving greater proprietary information sharing are more prone to lock-in, as reflected in a lower likelihood of termination following adverse supplier events (e.g., regulatory, competitive, or financial disruptions). These lock-in effects are more salient when customer firms face intense competition, rivals are highly innovative, or the focal relationship is the sole conduit for proprietary information exchange. To address endogeneity concerns, I leverage two plausibly exogenous shocks that alter the proprietary value of information already shared with suppliers, and find that decreases (increases) in proprietary value weaken (strengthen) supply chain lock-in, resulting in more (fewer) relationship terminations. Collectively, the findings highlight contracting frictions induced by proprietary inter-firm information exchange along the supply chain.

Keywords: inter-firm information sharing; proprietary information; supply chain; switching costs; innovation; real effects

Abstract: Continuing Professional Development (CPD) occupies a paradoxical position within the accounting profession. On one side it is framed as a mechanism for maintaining legitimacy and expertise. On the other side, it is criticized as a burdensome obligation. Drawing on 34 semi-structured interviews with CPA auditors of varying ranks, as well as representatives of the CPA professional Order, this study explores how CPA perceive and engage with CPD requirements. Findings reveal persistent confusion about what constitutes eligible CPD activities, leading professionals to adopt divergent strategies ranging from active engagement to minimal compliance. While some CPA leverage CPD to cultivate expertise, develop competitive advantages, and expand professional networks, others perceive it as a “necessary evil” competing with client priorities and long work hours. Beyond individual strategies, organizational and institutional forces, such as Big 4 training programs, PCAOB oversight, and novel auditing and accounting standards, shape the ways in which CPD is enacted. The theoretical framework is grounded into the theory of the profession of Abbott’s (1988) and the audit’s implication of Power’s (1997). The main analysis is guided by the actor-system framework of Crozier and Friedberg’s (1977) as well as the reflective practitioner concept of Schön (1983) to examine how professionals develop learning strategies to navigate bureaucratic structures. The study contributes to the sociology of professions by demonstrating how CPA navigate this tension to sustain legitimacy and adapt to an evolving audit environment.

Keywords: Continuing Professional Development; Professional Learning; Public Interest; Audit

Abstract: This study examines how digital financial reporting affects accounting conservatism. Traditional theories of conservatism posit that information asymmetry increases the demand for conservative reporting and that improvements in transparency should therefore reduce conservatism. In contrast, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) characterizes conservatism as a “sticky” practice that may persist despite improvements in the information environment. Whether enhanced corporate transparency reduces or amplifies conservatism remains an empirical question. I investigate this question using the Securities and Exchange Commission’s mandate for eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), which began in 2011. XBRL introduces a machine-readable reporting format that substantially lowers information-processing costs and improves users’ ability to access and analyze financial disclosures. Contrary to the substitution view, I find that firms subject to the XBRL mandate exhibit higher conditional conservatism than comparable non-XBRL firm-years. Moreover, within the population of XBRL filers, firms that report more XBRL tags exhibit greater conditional conservatism. These results are robust to alternative measures, specifications, and identification strategies. The effects are concentrated among firms with relatively opaque information environments, consistent with a verification mechanism whereby digital transparency enhances users’ ability to detect previously undisclosed risks and increases pressure on managers to recognize economic losses in a timely manner.

Keywords: Digital Financial Reporting, Accounting Standards, XBRL, Information Transparency, Information Processing Costs, Conditional Conservatism, Conservatism, Asymmetric Timeliness, Monitoring, Governance, Contracting.

Seda Oz (University of Waterloo) | Associate Editor and Symposium Organizer, Accounting Perspectives

Adam Presslee (University of Waterloo) | Editor-in-Chief, Accounting Perspectives