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Journal

Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium

Edited by: Reuven S. Avi-Yonah , Yuri Biondi and Shyam Sunder

Languages: English, French, Italian

First published: January 1, 2011

Publication Frequency: 4 issues per year

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About this journal

Objective
The Journal of Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium (CONVIVIUM) aims to encourage a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between individuals, organizations, and institutions in economy and society. Among other matters, attention will be paid to financial, economic, and legal methods and languages that have an important albeit neglected role in this relationship. Concerns of finance, control, accountability, responsibility, valuation, regulation, and governance will be raised in their connection with accounting, economics, law, sociology, anthropology, history, finance, political science, and the management and policy sciences. The journal encourages works that seek to recombine disciplinary domains in response to practical and relevant issues, including theoretical advances and insights, and comparative historical perspectives.

The journal is published with the collaboration of the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme - Paris Nord

Editorial Policy
While many journals cover accounting, economics and law separately, the intersection of these fields denotes common and significant concerns in society. Institutional rules and social norms are critical to workings of organizations. Beyond their technical aspects, these issues have broader societal and global consequences. CONVIVIUM is intended to their study.

This journal will pay attention to the institutional analysis of families, businesses, non-business organizations; and their management, finance, control, accountability, responsibility, valuation, regulation, and governance. Financial, economic, and legal devices lie at the heart of business and non business governance and regulation. The journal will examine their influence in the context of social, cultural, and political economy and history.

The journal will explore links among the disciplines in order to yield theoretical insights and perspectives on practice, and seek methodological pluralism and tolerance. Proposals are welcome from sociology, anthropology, history, political science, policy studies, finance, and management sciences.

Focusing at the connections among social disciplines, CONVIVIUM is a unique outlet for inter-disciplinary and combined perspectives. It welcomes transnational co-operative contributions, cross-fertilization of ideas, and will provide a supportive peer review process.

Methodological tolerance and pluralism
Methodological tolerance and pluralism is integral to interdisciplinary research. Formal modeling and quantitative methods of research can serve as a powerful discipline to abstract from myriad of details the essentials of a phenomenon. At the same time, not all the featuring aspects of phenomena are subject to quantification. Therefore, the journal will accept both quantitative and qualitative methods devoted to enhance our understanding of the phenomena of interest. Use of qualitative, quantitative, statistical and modeling methods is recognized.

The journal recognizes that comparative and combined approaches are the most suitable for its purpose. Theoretical, normative, explanatory, interpretative, and historical approaches with contemporary implications will be included. Descriptive studies that provide syntheses of national or international issues; comments, replies and rejoinders; and replications of works published by the journal will be encouraged.

Geographical variety
The journal encourages geographically-varied contributions, particularly those that draw on localized traditions of thought and experience to speak to common concerns. Accordingly, the Editorial Board may accept submissions in languages in English, French, and Italian, with the understanding that the authors' will provide a complete English version of the accepted paper for publication.

Supportive Peer Review Process
The journal welcomes submissions of articles, symposia, and proposals for thematic issues. It supplements its screening and evaluation peer reviews by discussion and cross-fertilization between editors, authors and reviewers, allowing them to move beyond the anonymity of the process, if they so choose, which seems to have outlived its usefulness in the Internet age. Blind peer review is always a choice if this is not preferable.

The reviewers will be expected not only to consider the final publication, but also to submit (i) a relevant set of "suggestions" (further references, structural amendments, and changes), and (ii) a "comment" discussing the paper from their own viewpoint. This comment, and any rejoinder by the author, may be published together with the paper subject to the reviewer's and editor's agreement.

Moreover, each paper will be generally read by at least two reviewers and one member of the Boards, of which at least one will have a primary interest relevant to - but different from - that of the author.

In summary, the journal seeks to attract potential authors through its systematic dedication to the enhancement of their work. The journal wishes to be, in Dante Alighieri's words, a 'Convivium,' convening compelling minds worldwide and promoting significant contributions to the understanding of social phenomena.

Topics

The quality and regulation of accounting
A critique of norms and standards of accounting, such as historical cost, fair value and mark-to-market accounting
National and international institutions of accounting, governance, and regulation
Corporate, fiscal, and securities laws and regulations
Business and not-for-profit accounting, economics, and regulation
Shareholder and stakeholder values and governance
Governmental accounting, economics, and regulation
Socio-economic analysis of family and divorce
Comparative history of accounting, economic, legal thoughts and experiences
Regulation of industries and markets, including environmental and public interest issues
Experimental and behavioral accounting, finance and economics
Accounting, economic, and legal issues in relation to social and cultural norms
Accounting, economic, and legal issues in relation to the theory and analysis of financial and monetary systems
Accounting, economic, and legal issues in relation to the theory and analysis of enterprise groups and multinational firms
Accounting, economic, and legal issues of ownership and property
The role of accounting and control in financial systems, including crises, instability, and resilience

Article formats
Original Research Articles, Commentaries, and Book Reviews.

Information on submission process

Your Benefits

Internationally recognized authors and reviewers
Specialized expertise in accounting, economics, and law
Insightful research on most relevant problems within the scope of the journal
Rapid online publication of contributions as “ahead-of-print” versions

Access CONVIVIUM for free

Interested readers can access CONVIVIUM full content for free: Simply go to https://www.degruyter.com/accessLink/ACCESSAEL (ACCESSAEL). You will then have free access to all articles for the time of your visit. Note: you must have a registered user account with De Gruyter to access free access token link.

Similar links are provided on select De Gruyter titles so that you can enjoy access to a number of De Gruyter law and economics journals.

History

The journal was founded in January 2009. Our annual CONVIVIUM is currently organized through the SASE Research Network n. P ‘Accounting, Economics and Law’
https://sase.org/network-p-accounting-economics-and-law/

Please find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CONVIVIUM.AEL/) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7419651/).

Call for papers and annual meetings

Next Annual Meeting

SASE 2025, Montreal (Quebec, Canada), 9-12 July, 2025 --- Call for Papers

Past Annual Meetings

SASE 2024, Limerick (Ireland), 27-29 June, 2024 --- Program
SASE 2023, Rio de Janeiro, 20-22 July, 2023 --- Program
SASE 2022, Amsterdam (The Netherlands), 9-11 July, 2022 --- Program
SASE 2021, Virtual, 2-5 July, 2021 --- Program
SASE 2020, Virtual, 18 - 21 July 2020 --- Program
SASE 2019, New York City, 27 – 29 June, 2019 --- Program
SASE 2018, Kyoto (Japan), 23 – 25 June, 2018 --- Program
SASE 2017, Lyon (France), 29 June – 1 July, 2017 --- Program
SASE 2016, Berkeley, 23 – 25 June, 2016 --- Program
SASE 2015, London, 2 – 4 July, 2015 --- Program
SASE 2014, Chicago, 10 – 12 July, 2014 --- Program
SASE 2013, Milano, 27 – 29 June, 2013 --- Program
SASE 2012, Boston, 28 – 30 June, 2012 --- Program
SASE 2011, Madrid, 23 – 25 June, 2011 --- Program

CONVIVIUM remembers the late Martin Shubik and Lynn Stout, gifted scholars and dear friends. Through their remarkable ideas and insights, both helped found and shape the CONVIVIUM with their advice and inaugural contributions, respectively "A Note on Accounting and Economic Theory: Past, Present, and Future" and "Risk, Speculation, and OTC Derivatives: An Inaugural Essay for Convivium".

CONVIVIUM published a book symposium on Lynn's "Shareholder Value Myth" and a book symposium on Martin's "Guidance of an Enterprise Economy".

MAILING LIST

You may subscribe to our CONVIVIUM mailing list through this link:

https://listes.services.cnrs.fr/wws/info/convivium

Members receive occasional news concerning our journal contents and related events.

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Criteria for Identification and Regulation of Systemically Important Banks

July 9, 2025

Alyona Dalke, Serik Svyatov, Elvira Ruziyeva

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Systemically important banks play a key role in ensuring the stability of the country’s financial system. Therefore, their identification and further regulation of their activities is an important objective facing the relevant authorities. Based on this, the research aims to evaluate Kazakhstan’s criteria for determining systemic importance in banking, assess the rationale behind its specific approach, and compare it with international practices to ensure effective management of systemic risks. The study calculates a generalized indicator of systemic importance for Kazakhstani banks by applying a weighted methodology based on assets, liabilities, deposits, loan portfolios, and other financial indicators to categorize banks into systemically important, potentially systemically important, and non-systemically important categories. Systemically important banks play a crucial role in the stability of both national financial systems and economies at large. In Kazakhstan, the National Bank identifies and supervises these banks using a methodology that evaluates the size of assets and liabilities, significance to the financial infrastructure, business complexity, and economic interconnectedness. The criteria aim to quantify the systemic importance and ensure that regulations are tailored to the risk profile of each institution. As of early 2023, institutions like JSC “Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan” and JSC “Kaspi Bank” are recognized as systemically important, with others deemed potentially significant. The regulation of these banks includes additional capital provisions to mitigate risks and promote financial stability. Proposed measures suggest varying regulatory intensity based on the calculated systemic importance, including enhanced credit risk management. This approach aims to diminish market concentration and encourage equity among financial entities. Despite advancements, the Kazakhstani banking sector’s evolution faces challenges, such as the need for improved financial literacy and a more competitive environment. Continuous international cooperation is essential, as global practices provide valuable insights that can refine local regulations. This integration of local and international regulatory frameworks aims to foster a resilient financial system in Kazakhstan.
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Current State and Future Directions of Cryptocurrency Research: A Bibliometric Review

June 5, 2025

Malaya Ranjan Mohapatra, Swati Mohapatra, Pankaj Vishwakarma

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The present work investigates the previous research on cryptocurrency since its inception and provides an overview of its journey as a discipline. The study utilizes the Scopus database to collect the documents, resulting in 2,533 research papers published between 2008 and 2021. A bibliometric analysis is conducted, followed by the network analysis using VOSviewer. The study provides a more comprehensive overview of cryptocurrency research and its significant growth since its inception. It also gives us an understanding of how cryptocurrency research emerged as a domain across various dimensions. Further, it also provides an understanding of the possible future research areas for cryptocurrency research. It will provide a base for scholars and researchers to identify the current gaps in cryptocurrency research across various domains within business, management, and accounting and select the most appropriate field for their study.
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The Fed Balance Sheet and Income Statement Losses: Why they Matter from a Political Economic Viewpoint

May 7, 2025

John Davis Feldmann

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The US Federal Reserve has been incurring income statement losses since September 2022 and now operates in a state of negative net equity. The Fed has taken the position that the losses do not matter to monetary policy making and normal functioning. This paper sets out the reasons for the mounting losses and the Fed positioning in response, covering fundamental issues at stake, including interest paid on reserves to financial institutions, remittances and deferred assets. The analysis demonstrates that the scale and duration of the losses and the creditor relation with Treasury that has resulted pose a major challenge to Fed credibility and independence and raise questions regarding the financial and political sustainability of the Fed stance. Further, the paper presents evidence that the Fed has not been transparent with Congress or the public about the risks and costs of the QE and IOR/ONRRP regime. It suggests this non-transparency might be explained by a fear of loss of credibility that has extended and exacerbated the loss making. Finally, the analysis reveals a fiscal and political cost of Quantitative Easing (QE) that questions its possible use as policy response in future crises.
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Stakeholder Perspectives on the IPSAS Conceptual Framework: A Comment Letter Meta-Analysis Concerning ED76, ED77 and ED on Key Characteristics

May 1, 2025

Natalia Aversano, Yuri Biondi, Lasse Olavi Oulasvirta

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Our comment letter content analysis sheds light on stakeholder perspectives and positions on conceptual matters related to the IPSASB’s conceptual framework, covering: primary users and main objectives; qualitative characteristics; public sector specificities; financial accounting bases; and financial reporting. On aggregate, responding stakeholders did not favor a straightforward move toward a full accrual basis of accounting relying upon current value accounting measurements. Instead, they pointed to a mixed approach that combines accrual-based statements with budgetary reports, as well as historical cost and current value accounting measurements. Concerning the accounting basis (model), standard-setters appeared to prefer historical cost rather than current value, according to our clustering analysis. The evergreen principle of accountability was acknowledged as paramount, while the more recent focus on users’ information needs remained relatively neglected.
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Green Securitization, A Legal Structure Currently Unfit for Ecological Transition

January 14, 2025

Pascale Cornut St-Pierre, Jasmine Gareau-Lindsay

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Ever since the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the European banking sector and its regulating authorities have been seeking to revive securitization markets in Europe. The most recent attempt in this direction is the inscription of green securitization in the European sustainable finance agenda. Building on Katharina Pistor’s work on the legal coding of capital as well as Eve Chiapello’s work on financialization as a socio-technical process, our proposed contribution focuses on the legal structuring of green securitization. Based on the legal documentation and sustainability frameworks of four recent green securitization deals tied to energy-efficiency home improvements, it critically examines the new kind of financial circuits that is being constructed to channel funds towards projects deemed to create positive impacts on the environment. Our analysis shows that green securitization’s current legal structure fails to properly incorporate sustainability considerations, whether in its contractual terms, financial metrics, or parties involved.
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Adherence to the OECD Model Tax Convention: A Textual Analysis of Member and Non-Member Countries’ Double Taxation Agreements

December 4, 2024

Markus Diller, Daniel Ehm, Patrick Katzlmayr, Johannes Lorenz

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This paper examines the textual design of Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs). Using Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques we analyze the heterogeneity of a country’s set of DTAs and the drivers that lead to (non-)adherence to the OECD Model Convention. We observe that wealthier countries hold a more diverse DTA set compared to poorer countries and more frequently diverge from the OECD Model Convention. Furthermore, we show that negotiation results are less likely to follow the OECD Model Convention when treaty partners are closely related in terms of trade volume or share a colonial history. Institutional factors, such as OECD or EU membership, can counteract this effect and thus lead to a stronger adherence to the OECD Model Convention. As such, our study highlights how socio-economic, institutional, and geopolitical factors influence (non-)adherence to the OECD Model Convention and how this depends on the article under consideration.
Open Access
Accounting for Goodwill: A Critical Analysis of the Impairment-Only Approach

November 19, 2024

Hendrik Sander

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The present paper addresses the following questions: Is non-arbitrary goodwill impairment testing possible? Would amortization be a better alternative than the impairment-only approach and, if so, should there be case-specific amortization periods or should accounting standards require a uniform amortization period? Empirical evidence suggests that non-arbitrary goodwill impairment testing is not feasible. However, academic literature provides very little in terms of a theoretical debate. To fill this gap, the present paper theoretically substantiates these empirically inspired concerns regarding arbitrariness of goodwill impairment testing and illustrates this substantiation with simple examples. Referring to the question whether an amortization approach is less arbitrary, it theoretically substantiates concerns regarding the arbitrariness of determining case-specific amortization periods. On the basis of this analysis, the paper recommends replacing the impairment-only approach by an amortization approach with uniform amortization periods.
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How the Neoclassical Market Ideology Destroys the Market: Shareholder Value Maximization as a Self-Defeating Prophecy

September 26, 2024

Eduard Braun

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According to the widespread, neoclassical market ideology, market prices are not simply helpful, yet imperfect, reference points for consumers and profit-seeking enterprises. Rather, they are interpreted as reflecting the true value of goods. The hypothetical end result of the market process – the market equilibrium – is thereby assumed to be an ever-satisfied condition of the market economy. Based on this unrealistic presupposition, this market ideology maintains that the performance of managers can be evaluated from the prices of the (net) assets they control and, in the case of publicly traded companies, share prices. The share prices supposedly reflect the value that managers create for shareholders and, thus, the economy as a whole. If this were actually the case, the maximization of so-called shareholder value would be a socially beneficial goal for managers. The present paper demonstrates, however, that the ongoing re-orientation of corporate governance towards the maximization of values (as revealed by share prices) instead of profits (as determined by the accounting system) destroys the very market processes that coordinate business activity and allocate resources in the market economy.
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The Fear of Failure: Ratings as a Form of Provisional Governance

September 6, 2024

Jacqueline Best

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In Rating Politics, Zsófia Barta and Alison Johnson dig deeply into how and why ratings agencies act the way that they do and come up with a surprising conclusion: in spite of their very considerable global power, ratings agencies are above all driven by their fear of failure. In this short essay, I will take a closer look at this preoccupation with rating failures and draw out some of its wider implications for how we think about global economic governance. I will suggest that rather than seeing this fear of failure as a specific feature of ratings agencies we may want to understand it as part of a wider global shift towards more provisional forms of governance.
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Rating Politics: Sovereign Credit Ratings and Democratic Choice in Prosperous Developed Countries – A Summary of the Argument

August 22, 2024

Zsófia Barta

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This article summarizes the core argument of ‘Rating Politics: Sovereign Credit Ratings and Democratic Choice in Prosperous Developed Countries’, co-authored by Zsófia Barta and Alison Johnston and published by Oxford University Press. The book shows that credit rating agencies have become central actors in global governance by dint of their propensity to assign penalties and rewards to the political and policy choices of sovereign governments. It explores the logic according to which those penalties and rewards are meted out, and argues that these rewards and penalties not only constitute a violation of democratic sovereignty, but potentially undermine long-term economic growth and social and political stability, thereby also weakening countries’ long-term debt-servicing capacity.
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Yuji Ijiri’s Fairness Question in Accounting: A Deontological Game Theoretic Approach

March 1, 2024

Tae Wan Kim, Pierre Jinghong Liang, John Hooker

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We revisit the question initially raised by Yuji Ijiri about the notion of fairness in accounting. We argue that the fairness question was important then and remains relevant today. First we situate Ijiri’s question in relevant debates in the history of accounting thoughts and in contemporary debates. Then we develop a framework of fair flow of information for accounting practices. To do so, we draw upon deontological ethical theory and the generalization principle, in particular. We invite a counter-example from the game-theoretic phenomenon of signal jamming to challenge the generalization principle. By addressing the challenge, we further clarify the appropriate uses of the generalization principle.
Open Access
The Arm’s Length Principle – An Adequate Means for Taxing Multinational Corporate Groups?

February 19, 2024

Hendrik Sander, Anna-Lena Scherer, Ute Schmiel

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International tax law is characterized by the arm’s length principle. However, the arm’s length principle is highly criticized since it is seen as a major driver of tax avoidance. Although the OECD’s Two-Pillar Solution and EU initiatives seem to indicate that international tax law is in a state of change, the arm’s length principle remains relevant. Therefore, we deal with the question whether it is possible to improve the arm’s length principle. While previous attempts ask, for example, whether it is possible to reduce its complexity, we focus on the aspect that the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines do not refer to a theory of the formation of prices in transactions between independent parties. We advocate developing a theoretical substantiation and introduce a new interpretation of the arm’s length principle, based mainly on concepts of a general evolutionary theory and political-cultural market theory. This reference to an adequate market theory leads us to a new interpretation of the arm’s length principle that differs considerably from the current interpretation. Still, we doubt that this new interpretation of the arm’s length principle alone can reduce tax avoidance significantly. However, understood as one instrument in a mix of instruments, we estimate that this interpretation of the arm’s length principle constitutes a more adequate means for fighting tax avoidance of multinational corporate groups than its current interpretation.
Open Access
Corporate Social Responsibility in China: A Tool of Policy Implementation

February 14, 2024

Jie Zeng

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Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China is a result of political, regulatory, and administrative pressures and civil society pressures. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) plays a dominant role in deciding the content of CSR, while the other influences are rather limited. As a result, Chinese CSR has not only voluntary and explicit elements but also mandatory and implicit elements. On the one hand, companies can perform CSR in a way that aligns with their commercial interests. On the other, CSR is a response to the CCP’s political pressure, while corporate failure to satisfy the requirements can result in serious negative impacts on companies’ business. In China, CSR has moved far from its origins as a tool of reputation enhancement and assumed a sui generis meaning as a tool of policy implementation. CSR has been evolving towards legal requirements in other jurisdictions as well, such as the EU. However, in China, the main force behind CSR comes from the CCP, which wields legislative and administrative power to promote CSR in a way that aligns with its political interests.
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Cannabis Legalization: Social Risk Assessment and Economic Forecast

December 25, 2023

Sevar Mammadova, Aysel Guliyeva, Tatiana Kvasnikova, Anna Serebrennikova, Yuliya Tikhonova

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The paper considers the problem of the economic feasibility of cannabis legalization in the Russian Federation. The paper also analyzes attitudes towards cannabis legalization among 584 residents (291 female and 293 male, 18.8 ± 1.4 for men, 18.3 ± 1.6 for women) from two different Russian regions (with the highest (Republic of Khakassia, Chelyabinsk Region, Moscow Region, Amur Region, and Saint-Petersburg) and lowest (Chukotka Autonomous District, Nenets Autonomous District, Chechen Republic, Arkhangelsk Region, and Orel Region) per capita drug use in the Russian Federation). All participants were interviewed via the Internet. In the first stage, a keyword analysis categorized articles into medical (48 %) and non-medical (52 %) cannabis use, revealing varied perspectives on its benefits and risks. The second stage surveyed Russian citizens, indicating regional differences in attitudes toward cannabis legalization based on per capita drug use. The third stage conducted a PEST analysis, highlighting economic consequences and offering recommendations. Practical implications include the need for targeted prevention programs, effective curriculum modules, and collaborative efforts to address the complex challenges associated with cannabis legalization. The study found that the public attitude towards the legalization of drugs for non-medical purposes is negative. In regions with the highest per capita soft drug use, the legalization of non-medical cannabis is unlikely to cause an increase in the level of usage. Teenagers living in regional centers tend to be more engaged in trying and using cannabis (11.9 %) compared to other cities (8.8 %, p ≤ 0.05) and rural areas, where the rate of cannabis use was the lowest (5.4 %, p ≤ 0.05). This research underscores the importance of tailored interventions and educational strategies to address diverse attitudes toward cannabis legalization. The findings contribute valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and health professionals, guiding the development of informed approaches to substance use prevention. The recommendations emphasize the necessity of proactive measures, such as outreach programs and collaborative efforts, to navigate the multifaceted implications of cannabis legalization and promote overall societal well-being.
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Supreme Audit Institution Recommendations and the Legal System: The Case of Indonesia

December 13, 2023

A. P. Edi Atmaja, Anna Erliyana, Dian Puji N. Simatupang, Yu Un Oppusunggu

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The audit recommendations of the Indonesian supreme audit institution ( Badan Pemeriksa Keuangan , BPK) acquired new significance after the collapse of the authoritarian state in 1998 and constitutional amendments in 1999–2002 that reformed the regulation and institutional governance of public sector audit in Indonesia. However, while the reform of public sector audit regulation was carried out through a strong adoption of private sector audit standards and the Westminster SAI model, the BPK retained some of its Napoleonic legacy. This syncretic organisation led to confusion about the BPK’s role and position in the Indonesian legal system. Using a historical and case study approach, this paper analyses the relationship between the BPK’s audit recommendations and the Indonesian legal system. It argues that it is important for the BPK to develop auditing standards that take full account of higher rules, administrative law, and national interests, or at least not to adopt and abolish auditing standards that are counterproductive to its judicial function – not merely to accommodate private international law instruments developed by private non-state actors operating outside the legal framework of a sovereign state.
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Impact of Voluntary IFRS Adoption on Accounting Figures: Evidence from Japan

December 6, 2023

Xinyun Miao, Hiroshi Shuto, Noriyuki Tsunogaya

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Using a sample of Japanese firms, we investigate the impact of the voluntary adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on accounting figures. To control institutional factors, we manually collected two sets of accounting figures prepared by the same firm and for the same fiscal year from reconciliation statements required by IFRS 1. We find that net income is significantly higher under IFRS than under Japanese generally accepted accounting principles (J-GAAP), while equity is not significantly affected by the adoption of IFRS. We also find that the implementations of some accounting standards (e.g., accounting standards for goodwill, intangible assets, and employee benefits) significantly impact both equity and net income. We further find that voluntary IFRS adopters show a higher goodwill ratio (goodwill/total assets) than J-GAAP adopters and that this goodwill ratio positively correlates with the impact of IFRS 3 ( Business Combinations ) on equity. These results indicate that, despite the global demand for convergence of local GAAP with IFRS, the differences in fundamental concepts between IFRS and local GAAP still remain.
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How to Improve on the Gray’s Index for Accounting Conservatism

November 17, 2023

Yuri Biondi

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The Gray’s index has been used to compare accounting variables such as earnings in a sample of financial accounting figures since its introduction by Gray (Gray, S. J. 1980. “The Impact of International Accounting Differences from a Security-Analysis Perspective: Some European Evidence.” Journal of Accounting Research 18 (1): 64–76), in view to indicate the relative degree of accounting conservatism between sets of accounting standards. This note aims to improve on this index especially when variables under investigation can be negative. In the latter case, proportionality between the two variables may be hidden by its application. We suggest therefore some amendments to better show this proportionality and improve on statistical comparison of accounting figures generated by alternative sets of accounting standards.
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The Failure of a Pure Patent Market

September 14, 2023

Christian Bessy

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This paper presents an analysis of the movement to make patents a new asset class, and its relative failure. Our thesis is that this creation is largely dependent on the construction of a market devoted to transactions in patents, and not just in technology licenses, and on the emergence of new intellectual property intermediaries akin to finance, whose activity must nevertheless be regulated. Our analysis is based on the various patent valuation conventions that underpin its institutionalization and the variety of its uses.
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Application of the Global Reporting Initiative Standards and Sustainability Disclosure Performance: An Analysis of the Largest Chinese Companies Listed in Hong Kong

August 14, 2023

Lai Yee Choy

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In the wake of rising demand for corporate social responsibility, international organizations have been set up for establishing sustainability reporting standards. The standards issued by the global reporting initiative (‘GRI’) have become the most prevalently referred to sustainability reporting standards across the globe. Even though some research studies have investigated the impact of applying the GRI Standards on sustainability reporting performance, few studies have focused on companies listed in Hong Kong, an international financial center. The purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which Hong Kong-listed companies have applied the GRI Standards and how such practice has affected their sustainability disclosure quality. As an introductory study on this subject in Hong Kong, the current research focuses on the 100 largest Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies. This study shows that the rate of applying the GRI Standards among the sample companies has fluctuated in a narrow range over the past five years, and the sustainability reporting performance of companies which apply the GRI Standards outperformed their peers not applying the GRI Standards. Furthermore, the results indicate that government ownership and industry have an impact on the sample companies’ preference for referring to the GRI Standards.
Open Access
The Unlikely Continuity. The Communist Legacy of Romanian Consumer and Residential Credit Laws

March 27, 2023

Cătălin Gabriel Stănescu

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The study challenges the dominant narrative that Romanian consumer and residential credit laws are a product of the country’s return to capitalism and the market economy, proposing an alternative interpretation. It demonstrates that the origins of Romanian consumer and residential credit laws lay in the pre-World War II and communist legislation that survived the 1989 Revolution. This shows that the communist legacy in consumer and residential credit is real and more enduring than expected and that communism did not differ from capitalism in this respect, other than how consumer and residential credit was organised. Using legal history and doctrinal analysis in a functional approach coupled with statistical and empirical data, the study proves the existence of a normative continuity between pre-and post-1989 Romanian consumer and residential credit laws that ended with the EU accession efforts. Finally, this continuity between communist and capitalist consumer and residential credit laws indicates functional similarities between the monarchic (capitalist) and communist legal systems, further undermining the relevance of political and economic ideology and the idea that communism was inimical to consumers and consumer or residential credit.
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What Drives Lending Inquisitors’ Judgement & Decision-Making: Behavioural Factors Analysis through Kruskal–Wallis & Fuzzy AHP

December 1, 2022

Sandeepa Kaur, Simarjeet Singh

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The present study investigates what drives Lending inquisitors’ judgement & decision-making behaviour that influences credit risk assessment in Indian banks. This research investigates three aspects: risk attitude & information acquisition behaviour, the effect of experience on lending, and desirable attributes of lending inquisitors. For the first area , Kruskal–Wallis non-parametric test is applied, for second area correlation and Cramer’s V is applied on fictitious case analysis and for third aspect 27 attributes of inquisitors through unstructured personal interviews are then analysed by applying Kruskal Wallis Test, Factor analysis and Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP). Fuzzy AHP technique was applied to understand the key personal attributes and sub-attributes, which play a major role in Lending inquisitors’ judgement & decision-making behaviour. The risk attitude and information acquisition provided no substantial relationship between the two. Whereas, in the second area, which is assessing the impact of experience on decision-making behaviour, the result shows that the senior and junior credit inquisitors are cautious in acquiring the information as compared to outsourced credit inquisitors.
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Acknowledgments Networks in Accounting Scholarship: A Note

November 9, 2021

Andreas Andrikopoulos, Konstantinos Kostaris, Stella Zounta

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We explore social networks in accounting research. Our sample spans the 1996–2015 period and includes all research articles that were published in the Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Accounting Organizations and Society, Review of Accounting Studies, and Contemporary Accounting Research. Employing social network analysis, we delineate and discuss the structure of scientific collaboration as it appears in the acknowledgments of published research articles. We identify the most central nodes in this nexus of intellectual partnership. Furthermore, we discover that acknowledgments constitute a small-world social network, with high average clustering coefficient and small average distance within a giant component which covers the biggest part of the acknowledgment network.
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The Symmetry and Asymmetry of Bidder and Target Termination Fees in Acquisitions

September 17, 2021

Christina E. Bannier, Corinna Ewelt-Knauer, Mohamed Amin Khaled, Jan-Philipp Kölling

Article number: 20200049

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Termination fees have become a frequently employed non-price term in acquisition contracts. They allow the breaking party to walk-away from the transaction after paying a fee to the remaining party. While the inclusion of termination fees has been shown to increase contracting efficiency, the fee size has received only scant academic interest. This is surprising as termination fees are often asymmetric, i.e., of unequal magnitude for the bidder and the target. Based on an international dataset of 25,026 global acquisitions between 2012 and 2015, we find that bidder and target characteristics influence the structure of termination fees. More precisely, we show that target termination fees are higher if the target is insolvent. Bidder termination fees are higher, in contrast, if the bidder is an institutional investor. Our study thus contributes to understanding the influence of bargaining power on non-price terms by examining the structure of termination fees.

Journal Impact Factor	0.8	2024, Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate, 2025)
5-year Journal Impact Factor	1.2	2024, Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate, 2025)
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CiteScore	2.0	2024, Scopus (Elsevier B.V., 2025)
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Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium

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