Financial Reporting and Disclosure, Accounting Information Systems, Corporate Governance
Auditor Sustainability Focus and Client Sustainability Reporting, Accounting, Organizations and Society, forthcoming.
In this paper, we examine the relationship between auditors’ sustainability focus and their clients’ sustainability reporting. Sustainability reporting is of increasing social and regulatory interest following SEC guidance on the provision of sustainability disclosures. Auditors can bridge the gap between a myriad of technical guidance and their clients. Positive assortative matching could occur between clients who plan to increase their sustainability reporting and auditors who have a greater sustainability focus, with sustainability alignment comprising part of client strategy for credibly reporting sustainability information. Specifically, we examine auditor-client sustainability alignment through the association between relative auditor sustainability focus and their clients’ sustainability disclosures and activities. We measure auditors’ sustainability focus by examining the sustainability focus in auditors’ tweets. We find that auditor sustainability focus is positively associated with client sustainability reporting, through both sustainability disclosures and social and governance sustainability activities. Our study provides a greater understanding of auditor involvement in sustainability reporting.
An Integrative Review and Analysis of Cybersecurity Research: Current State and Future Directions. Journal of Information Systems, 35 (1), 155–186.
Advances in information technology have greatly changed communications and business transactions between firms and their customers and suppliers. As a result, cybersecurity risk attracts ever increasing attention from firms, regulators, customers, shareholders, and academics. For instance, the Securities and Exchange Commission has released guidance on the disclosure of cybersecurity risks and incidents, along with potential internal control solutions, in the managers' discussion and analysis section of 10-K annual financial reports. Despite increasing interest in cybersecurity research, the literature lacks an integrative review of existing research identifying opportunities for future cybersecurity developments. In this study, we conduct an extensive analysis of cybersecurity-related papers in the accounting, information systems, computer science, and general business disciplines. Our review integrates and classifies 68 cybersecurity papers, examines cybersecurity determinants, consequences, and remedial strategies, and identifies future research opportunities based on the current state of the literature.
1. Manlu Liu, Jing Tang, Stephanie Walton, Yiyang Zhang, Xinlei Zhao, Auditor Sustainability Focus and Client Sustainability Reporting, Accounting, Organizations and Society, forthcoming.
2. Xin Luo, Tawei Wang, Liu Yang, Xinlei Zhao, Yiyang Zhang. 2023. Initial Evidence on the Market Impact of the iXBRL Adoption, Accounting Horizons, 37 (1): 143–171.
3. Rui Dai, Ting Li, Nataliya Zaiats, Xinlei Zhao. 2021. Do Short Sellers Anticipate Late Filings? Journal of Corporate Finance, 69, 1-22.
4. Feng Guo, Xin Luo, Patrick Wheeler, Liu Yang, Xinlei Zhao, Yiyang Zhang. 2021. The Impact of ERP System Implementation Percentage on the Quality of XBRL Filings. Journal of Information Systems, 35 (3): 77–106.
5. Stephanie Walton, Patrick Wheeler, Yiyang Zhang, Xinlei Zhao. 2021. An Integrative Review and Analysis of Cybersecurity Research: Current State and Future Directions. Journal of Information Systems, 35 (1), 155–186.
6. Ting Li, Xinlei Zhao, Aiwu Zhao. 2019. Voting with hands, earnings management and corporate governance. Review of Accounting and Finance, 18 (2), 178-197.
7. Daning Hu, Sherry Sun, Leon Zhao, Xinlei Zhao. 2011. Strategic choices of inter-organizational information systems: A network perspective. Information Systems Frontiers, 13 (5):681-692.