PhD Research

PhD Research

Full-Time Postgraduate Students & Thesis Summary

Below is a list of our current PhD and Masters students and their Thesis Summaries.

Tanveer Ahmed

Corporate tax evasion is an established problem in developing nations.  My research focuses on how corporate governance can be useful in reducing corporate tax evasion in the financial institutions of Bangladesh. Every year, the government of Bangladesh prepares a deficit budget.  Financial institutions are used in this study as they incur the highest corporate tax rate in Bangladesh and therefore have incentives to engage in tax evasion, which will impact on government revenue collection.  The intended contribution of my research is to highlight corporate governance and other factors that may assist in addressing this budget shortfall by reducing corporate tax evasion. 

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Ken Bates

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Jasmine David

Thesis Title: Adoption and Potential Impact of XBRL

My thesis will focus on the adoption and potential impact of XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) in New Zealand. XBRL is not new in accounting, it was introduced in 1998 by Charles Hoffman. Some countries like UK, China, Singapore, Australia and Japan require listed companies to file certain financial statements in XBRL format. However, New Zealand has not adopted XBRL yet and its earlier project has stalled. My research will investigate whether New Zealand should adopt XBRL on a mandatory or voluntary basis especially with the stagnation of New Zealand's XBRL project and its unique factors.

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 Oludimu Oluseun Ehalaiye

The goal of my research is to assess whether the net asset fair values of banks possess predictive ability with regard to the banks' future cash flows and earnings. This is an important activity considering the arguments for and against the wider use of fair value accounting for banks' financial instruments and the claim by some that fair values during economic recessions (where markets may be illiquid) are irrelevant and largely unreliable. A number of studies have found that the explanatory power of bank fair values when compared to the traditional historical cost for financial instruments are more value-relevant based on capital market reactions. However, a gap exists in the literature in respect of how bank fair value components for net assets are related to the future outlook (e.g. earnings and cash flow) of such banks. This study proposed to fill this gap. The study hopes to achieve this objective by employing empirical analysis on a sample of US banks. It is hoped that the study will contribute to the literature on fair value accounting, inform standard setters, and highlight how fair values with respect to predictability, perform both during and outside of periods of economic recession.

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Sendirella George

The concerns of activists, trade unions, indigenous communities, NGO's and social movement groups about climate change, social justice, globalisation and corporate accountability, have been largely ignored in accounting. Consequently, Sendirella's PhD thesis seeks to explore socially responsible and inclusive approaches and imaginings of 'accounting' by working with these groups to co-develop new understandings of 'accountability systems' that better serve their interests and those of the public. Such research aspires to more 'democratic' and 'participatory' accounting that engages with multiple perspectives. This goal is consistent with Professor Judy Brown's published work on critical dialogics.

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Marko Hermawan

I am interested in how the organisational cultures of the Big 4 accounting firms in Indonesia are impacted by national cultural values in the country, as well as the professional values of the individuals in the firm and the espoused values/codes/norms of these international partnerships.

Much prior research has investigated national cultures.  Multinational firms recognise that political and economic factors perform an important role in defining how a branch will be established and operated.  This research intends to explore how the same company brands can be impacted by different values, norms and cultures, by investigating and comparing Big 4 firms in Indonesia. 

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Hien Thi Thu Hoang

I am currently developing my PhD proposals but these key words describe the general area of my study: Microfinance and Microcredit - more specifically, performance, impacts and accessibility in Viet Nam.

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George Huang

This study uses Bourdeiu's philosophy and methodology as the framework.  Specifically, this study will answer the following questions:

How do aspirant migrant accountants perceive their chances to embark on the path towards the entry to   the profession?

How do they strategize their moves according to the capital they can employ and the rules in the field?

How do they assess the impact of language and culture on the success of their endeavor?

How do they position themselves in the professional market? 

Acknowledging migrant accountants live and work in an extremely complex and interrelated world, this study adopts qualitative and ethnographical methods which enable the elicitation of rich and insightful data and to derive the practical logic.

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Nam Le

My research interest is in auditing and accountability framework, an area I have experienced in my work. My current study focuses on the role of Audit Committee in corporate governance, especially its role in managing risks. The aim of this study is to investigate what Audit Committee can do to control the abusive power of shareholders and managers which pose a potential risk to companies. I am also interested in other issues in corporate governance and performance measurement.

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Francesca Lim

My research interests are interdisciplinary in nature, particularly focusing on the interaction between accounting and the Judeo-Christian traditions. Researches that examine the link between accounting and spirituality are firmly established within the accounting research tradition, and recognised as a line of research that is interesting, emerging and important to the accounting profession, particularly surrounding the issue of ethics. My main focus for research would be on the ethics of accountants, and how some philosophies based on the Judeo-Christian traditions may further inform their perspectives on professional ethics.  Accounting is not seen as a practice that is amoral or merely technical, as it is practiced in contexts that are heavily infused with politics, culture, history and language. My current focus is on the theological and ethical writings of a German theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The goal of my PhD project is to examine possibilities on how the writings of Bonhoeffer can further inform professional ethics. This stems from my desire to contribute to the existing academic dialogue of accounting and faith. As other disciplines have turned to the studies and implementations of philosophy and theology in the ongoing discussion of ethics, accounting, as a discipline, should not be maligned from this broad narrative.

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Diandian Ma

Recent empirical evidence shows that the market value of a firm's equity is potentially, a complex non-linear function of a variety of "information" variables, including a firm's earnings, the book values appearing on its balance sheet and perhaps, other contextual and economic variables. Yet empirical work on the relationship between the market value of equity and its determining variables continues to be based on linear models that neglect the non-linear effects associated with a firm's ability to modify or even abandon its existing investment opportunity set. Given this, it is all but inevitable that when these non-linear valuation effects are ignored, systematic biases will arise in empirical work. Moreover, empirical work in this area has been almost exclusively based on North American and United Kingdom data. There is a dearth of empirical work in developing countries like the People's Republic of China. My PhD research focus is on the non-linear equity valuation models and testing them against data for individual corporations obtained from one of the principal stock exchanges, Shanghai Stock Exchange and to assess whether the non-linear terms make a significant contribution to overall equity value.

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Arifatul Mohd Ariff

Thesis Title: Voluntary Disclosure of Intellectual Capital

Intellectual capital is deemed to be an important source of future benefits for knowledge-based industry.  Due to the importance of intellectual capital for company growth and valuation, a comprehensive and accurate reporting system is highly demanded, especially in industries with a significant intellectual capital component.  However, not all intellectual capital resources are allowed to be reported in the financial statements according to International Accounting Standards 38.  Despite that, high technology based firms still disclose their intellectual capital voluntarily as additional information to their financial statements.  Previous studies showed that some firms report moderate levels of intellectual capital despite high intellectual capital components in the industry.  This suggests further investigation is required into managerial practices relating to intellectual capital disclosures by biotechnology firms.  Therefore, this study aims to determine the factors that may influence the intellectual capital disclosure practices among high technology based firms.  This study will employ the Political Economy of Accounting theory as the underpinning theory.  The finding of this study is expected to encourage the reporting and disclosure of the intellectual capital among high technology firms.

The research uses a sample of companies listed on the Malaysian stock exchange (Bursa Malaysia) from 2003 to 2009.

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Uyanga Jadamba

Small and Medium sized Entities (SMEs) are key players in the Mongolian economy. Small entities have a significant influence on the economy, and little is known about the financial reporting practices of SMEs, particularly in the case of emerging economic countries like Mongolia. In addressing this topic, my thesis attempts not only to examine the issue of compliance with accounting standards from the perspective of problems faced by SMEs  in Mongolia, but also to determine whether International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for SMEs can make any difference in SMEs accounting practices. The study analyses the main reporting information needs of major users of SMEs such as accounting practitioners, government regulators, the taxation authority, and lenders.

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Peyman Momenan

My thesis concerns the manner in which auditors determine materiality. Materiality is defined as any financial  information about the reporting entity that would influence the decisions of GPFR users.

It is held up as an objective standard, yet it turns on the subjective assessments of individual auditors. Historically, tacitly agreed outer parameters beyond which materiality is clearly established have arisen. The risk that inheres with these is that they become the threshold for materiality determination. Through an experimental research process, in which selected auditors are confronted with hypothetical scenarios, I intend to establish the processes and parameters defining auditor determination of materiality. Tentatively, this research may contribute to bridging the expectations gap and the codification of materiality as an objectively determined property of audit.

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Nivea Nicolas

With Information Technology (IT) underpinning the data structures of the majority of a business's financial and accounting activities, it could be expected that accountants would have a sizeable involvement in IT governance. However, evidence suggests that this is not the case. Nivea's research seeks to explore the ways in which the ideas and attitudes of accountants and IT practitioners might enable or constrain the involvement of accountants in IT governance processes. An interpretivist methodology is adopted in order to explore the impacts of various "ideational" aspects on IT governance design choice. These aspects include, for example, the ways in which IT governance is conceptualised by accountants and IT practitioners, interpretive schema and institutional "habits", professional identity, organisational culture and politics.

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Matthew Sorola

I am currently investigating interdisciplinary methodological and critical analysis techniques from works in political discourse and linguistics, as well as new philosophical perspectives to inform what will become a critical analysis in the area of corporate accountability.

 

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Farzana Tanima

My research interests are based around the current outlook of women's empowerment in a developing country context, with an emphasis on accountability practices and governance within micro-finance institutions. The developing country that I am focusing on for the purpose of my research is Bangladesh.  As a person from a developing country, I am really interested to learn about the past, present and the future of accountability and governance within developing countries. Can we, the members from under-developed nations, free ourselves from the curse of poverty, child labour, bribery, corruption and a variety of other issues? Can changes in accountability and governance practices within the developing country context contribute towards societal well-being? My research aims to critically evaluate such issues.

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Rubeena Tashfeen

 Thesis Title: Impact of Corporate Governance Mechanisms on Firm Financial Failure: Model to Assess Probability of Financial Failure of Firm

The financial crisis starting in the US with sub-prime risk back in 2007 has now turned into global crisis. Some researchers attribute this financial crisis to a breakdown in corporate governance controls including risk management systems, executive remuneration, inadequate accounting standards and inefficient board oversight. A report on this issue published by OECD in 2009 titled "Corporate Governance and the Financial Crisis: Key Findings and Main Messages" highlights that the corporate governance principles are still a good basis for good corporate governance practices but that execution of these controls were largely at fault although some researchers attribute the current financial crisis to the weak monitoring by shareholders and inappropriate incentives.

My research will investigate the corporate governance mechanisms that impact firm performance in Pakistan and the relationship of managerial controls to financial failure in institutions, both financial and non-financial, with special focus on firm performance during the recent financial crisis. My research will also develop a model through which probability of firm failure can be established on the basis of corporate governance controls.

The results I obtain will help firms focus on strengthening corporate governance controls in order to avert losses and failures and thereby enhance firm performance. The model I will develop could be used as a barometer to test the financial health of a firm and could become an important part of the corporate governance audits. Even though my research will focus on a specific country, the methodology and rationale will enable its application in a generalised form worldwide.

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David Sutton

My thesis involves a proposal to augment financial accounting disclosures with disclosures concerning the macroeconomic environment. The aim is to contextualise company-specific financial metrics within their environment, augmented by a management assessment of the relation of the company's financial position and performance to the particular confluence of broader economic forces in that environment. The starting point for this is fair value accounting measurement.

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Zuraida

Financial information has traditionally been used as the primary source of information for evaluation of business performance, however, in recent times many experts argue that financial information alone does not provide a complete picture of the value of a company because of its historical nature. Consequently investors are looking beyond traditional measures of financial information or non-financial information (NFI) to assess business performance as it is perceived to have greater predictive power of the future.

My research explores NFI from accountants' perspective, in particular, studies the role of accountants in relation to NFI, both as a preparer and a user. My research also intends to evaluate whether the responsibility of the accounting profession is expanded as a result of increasing calls for NFI.

Ferdinand Balfoort

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man" George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950).

Corruption, bribery and unethical or illegal acts, including fraud, are increasingly in the headlines and researched worldwide, both at institutional and academic levels. Governments are also progressively more aware of their position in world indices, such as Transparency International. In response they are taking varying measures to try and reduce corruption and improve transparency as evidenced by on-going regulatory developments in this sphere. An ever growing list of scholarly articles and studies on corruption and ethics shows a variety of linkages, possible causes and effects. There exists a wide range of explanations and even definitions of what constitutes corruption and unethical acts. The existing literature and much of the public communications extant appear to be driven by orientalist overtones, based on an enlightened concept of dualism.  According to some observers, and based on my own research, this has created a dichotomy, where cultural dimensions appear to drive the agenda and debate on corruption, bribery and fraud. The objective of my research, in order to confirm the connectivity between cultural values and corruption, is to undertake a literary review by means of a meta analysis. The aim is to identify, via objective and critical enquiry, how and if scholars have addressed corruption, bribery and fraud on the one hand, and cultural or ethnicity on the other.

The research question is therefore "How academic business related research evaluates or determines corruption, bribery and fraud in India, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia?"

My research will focus on India, the People's Republic of China, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia related articles and publications to achieve my objectives. The selection of the five countries is due to my extensive experience working and living there as an accounting professional. Their inclusion is also due their rapid economic and population developments and evolution which some observers have noted to have possibly created tensions between cultural norms and the impact of economic globalization. My selection in no way suggests that cultural boundaries reflect exact national boundaries. I am to determine how authors have accommodated distinctive or particular cultural values to research corruption, bribery and fraud. The greater understanding research through my analysis will be the basis of preparation for a much more detailed empirical study to be conducted for my PhD, which will focus on the ethical and cultural underpinnings or corporate governance in global business operations.

Andrew Brown

Andrew's thesis will examine ownership, reporting and monitoring of partially owned State Owned Enterprises in New Zealand.   The Capital Markets Taskforce recently recommended the partial privatisation of some of the major SOEs.  Andrew's thesis will explore the various models which could be applied, with reference to other major infrastructure owning companies and draw upon interviews with directors and other senior participants in the markets.

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