Guest editorial

Citation

Wang, W. and Zhou, L. (2018), "Guest editorial", International Journal of Accounting & Information Management, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 334-334. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJAIM-06-2018-0059

The quality of accounting information: from the guest editors

Welcome to the special edition of the International Journal of Accounting and Information Management devoted to the topic “The Quality of Accounting Information”. The quality of information produced by the accounting information system, or accounting quality, is of primary importance to its users. This special issue aims to enhance our understanding of the measurement of accounting quality, the institutions and mechanisms it interacts with, the economic effects of accounting quality and how accounting quality affects the decision process. It includes five papers, four empirical studies and a literature review, which address a diversity of research topics. Two papers investigate the role of institutions (laws, regulations, and rules) in moderating the quality of accounting information. The paper by Li et al. (2018) examines the effect of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 on the debt contracting value of accounting information. Houqe (2018) provides a review of literature on the determinants and consequences of mandatory IFRS adoption. Accounting quality can be monitored, disciplined and affected by forces both external and internal to the firm. The paper by Fedyk et al. (2018) examines the effect of media attention on firms’ real and accrual management activities around seasoned equity offerings. The paper by Yu et al. (2018) studies how corporate governance impacts analysts’, and by proxy investors’, ability to process accounting information and forecast firm performance in Asian markets. Finally, and representing the diversity of factors that could influence accounting quality, the paper by Jeong et al. (2018) examines whether the gender composite of employees of Korean firms could affect the level of discretionary accruals, a common measure of accounting quality. Collectively, these papers show that accounting quality is determined by a complex set of stakeholders, institutions, and corporate environment that interact with one another.