This study examines the perception of professional accountants and the intention to engage in Sustainability Accounting & Reporting (SAR). By relying on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the study investigates whether attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control have any impact on a firm's intention to engage in SAR. A survey method of research was adopted, and a set of questionnaires was developed (based on existing studies) and administered to professional accountants-the respondent group. A total of 86 professional accountants in Ghana voluntarily participated in the study. The partial least square-SEM (PLS-SEM) technique was used to analyse the data obtained. The results from the structural analysis demonstrate that only subjective norm and perceived behavioural control significantly influence a firm's intention to engage in SAR. By implication, the attitude of an accountant towards SAR does not affect the intention to engage in the practice and that the willingness to engage in SAR is primarily determined by resources availability and pressure from major stakeholders.

Purpose This study examines the factors that explain Ghanaian business students’ intentions to pursue a Certified Professional Accounting (CPA) qualification. Design/methodology/approach The study uses survey method of research and mainly used questionnaires as data collection instrument to elicit information from the respondent group. Using a total of 641 business students from the University of Ghana Business School, a mixture of factor analysis and logistic regression analysis techniques was used in investigating the study objectives. Findings Results from the regression analysis demonstrate that students’ preference and beliefs about accounting professional qualification, academic major and grade point average are significantly associated with their intentions to pursue a CPA qualification. Moreover, majority of the sampled respondents (47.9 per cent) with the desire to pursue a CPA qualification prefer to be affiliated with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, 27.2 per cent prefer the Institute of Charted Accountant Ghana qualification, while only 7 per cent of the students prefer to be affiliated with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountant. Research limitations/implications The findings from this study have important implications for the various professional accountancy bodies, accounting educators and other stakeholders interested in promoting the choice of accounting as a career path among university students. Practical implications The results indicate that, as part of the broader strategy to increase the number of professional accountants in Ghana, there is the need to promote the study of accounting at the undergraduate level in the various universities in the country. Originality/value This study uniquely uses the behavioral decision theory to explain the dominant factors associated with students’ intentions to pursue a CPA qualification.

Purpose -The purpose of this study is to further increase the understanding of disclosure practices and the interrelationship between corporate governance (CG) and corporate disclosure (CD) of firms on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). Design/methodology/approach -The study follows the trinary procedure of Aksu and Kosedag and uses Standard & Poor's T&D items in the construction disclosure index. Audit committee (AC) characteristics are the governance attributes. The study used a random effect panel regression analysis to establish the relationship between CD and CG of 20 listed companies covering a period from 2003-2007. Findings -The results indicate that although there has been improvement of disclosure practices over the years, the level of disclosure in Ghana is moderate/fair. The study also documents a significant positive relationship between the presence of accounting/finance expert(s) on the ACs and CD practices. Originality/value -In spite of numerous researches on companies on the GSE, this paper is the first in the country that considers the impact of CG characteristics on disclosure practices.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that influence Ghanaian tertiary students' career choices. The paper explores the dimensionality of the career choice factors within the Ghanaian context and also ascertains their degree of influence on students' career choices. Design/methodology/approach -The study employs survey method of research and a set of questionnaire was used to examine the factors that influence students' career choices. A total of 354 undergraduate students from the Ashesi University College in Ghana participated in the study. Factor analysis was conducted on the career choice factors and differences in response between science and business students were ascertained by means of independent sample t-test. Findings -The findings of this study indicate that university students in Ghana place much premium on intrinsic value and employability/financial prospect in their career choice decisions than such factors as prestige and desired working conditions. Research limitations/implications -The findings of this study are relevant for policymakers and tertiary education providers interested in making the study of science an attractive option for university students in Ghana. Originality/value -The findings of this paper highlight some of the underlining reasons for the unpopularity of the study of sciences among university students in Ghana.

Purpose This study examines the multidimensionality of the environmental literacy concept among university business students in Ghana. The study also investigates the relationship between students’ interests in environmental issues and knowledge levels of environment and assesses how these two constructs influence students overall environmental behaviour and actions. Design/methodology/approach Using a total of 591 business students from the University of Ghana Business School, the study uses exploratory factor analysis to examine the multidimensionality of environmental literacy concept. A structural equation modelling-based approach was used to examine the relationship among the study constructs. Findings Based on the factor analysis results, the study documents that environmental literacy concept can be grouped under four distinct factors (general environmental factors; industry-related factors; environmental assessment factors; and accounting-related factors). The regression results indicate a direct and positive relationship between students’ interest in environmental issues and their environmental literacy level. Also, students’ interest and their knowledge levels of environmental issues were found to be good predictors of actual students’ involvement in activities that promote sustainable environment. Research limitations/implications The conclusions of the study are based on only data from one public university, which limits the generalizability of the findings. Originality/value The study is unique as it is the first empirical study to investigate environmental literacy levels in higher education in the Ghanaian setting.

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This study examines the relationship between corporate tax avoidance (CTA), earnings management (EM) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) within a context of an emerging economy. The study employs system methods of moments (GMM) and logistic regression to establish whether firms in Ghana manage earnings and avoid tax to finance corporate social responsibility. The results show that almost all the firms sampled have engaged in some management of their earnings and tax during the period. The study also find evidence that an increase in CSR activities is associated with an increase in EM, suggesting that, sampled firms may use CSR as a cover for engaging in opportunistic behaviour such as earnings management. By extension, these results have important policy implications for policy makers in assessing the effectiveness of the tax laws.

PurposeThe study examines the mediating role of accounting information quality (AQ), a proxy for firms' information risk, in firms' business strategy and the cost of equity (COE) nexus to highlight how AQ provides a mechanism through which a company's business strategy affects its COE.Design/methodology/approachThe research study utilises data from 12,100 firm-year observations of United States (US) non-financial firms from 2001 to 2017, drawn from multiple databases, and employs the bootstrapping method of mediation analysis to test the indirect effect of AQ on the business strategy–COE relationship. The authors rely on Miles and Snow's two pure business strategy typologies, prospectors and defenders and use innate accrual quality and implied COE models to measure AQ and COE, respectively.FindingsThe results suggest that AQ partially mediates the relationship between business strategy and COE. The authors document that while innovative-oriented prospector firms have a lower AQ and a higher implied COE, efficiency-oriented defenders are associated with a higher AQ and lower COE. The higher (lower) COE of prospector (defender) firms is observed to be partly due to their lower (higher) AQ. The results indicate that while the idiosyncratic risk implied in firms' strategic orientation can directly influence their COE, the business strategy implications on firms' COE can be indirect through their AQ, a source of information risk.Research limitations/implicationsDue to data limitation, it was not possible to measure all possible methods of measuring implied COE.Practical implicationsThe paper highlights the role of firm's business strategy in pricing decisions by investors.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the existing literature by providing evidence that AQ, a proxy for information risk, is a mechanism through which business strategy affects firms' COE. The authors thus complement extant literature to empirically test the information risk effect inherent in strategic orientation on security pricing.