Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the financial autonomy that affects the financial accounting information quality of public organizations. This study also tests the impact of the financial autonomy on support from leadership. How this impact has affected elements of accounting information systems such as hardware, software, communications technology and chief accountant to support providing the quality of the financial accounting information. Design/methodology/approach The research model is in the SEM form and measurement models are reflective scales so this study applies the PLS-SEM analysis technique on the Smart PLS 3.2.7 software to test the research hypotheses. Analytical data is collected through survey questionnaires with observed variables measured using the typical 7-point Likert scales. The result obtained after cleaning the data includes 164 Vietnamese public organizations with the different levels of the financial autonomy. Findings This research has three primary findings: firstly, FA has a positive direct effect on FAIQ and SL. Secondly, SL influences FAIQ through four mediate variables including AM, HW, SW and CN. Finally, SL also acts as a mediate variable in the relationship of FA and FAIQ. Originality/value This is one of the first empirical studies to examine the role of financial autonomy in leadership support to improve the quality of the accounting information in the public sector in the context of the Vietnamese government is promoting the financial autonomy of public organizations.

Purpose Although publicly listed firms in Sri Lanka have been increasingly adapting sustainability reporting into their annual reporting practices, a limited number of firms prepare sustainability reports by integrating sustainable development goals (SDGs) into reporting mechanisms. This study attempts to develop an index to monitor firms' sustainability reporting practices based on Global Reporting Institute (GRI) guidelines integrating SDGs. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops a sustainability score index using the 17 SDGs utilising the results of content analysis of corporate annual reports of a selected sample of 100 firms listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). Principal component analysis was employed to examine the reliability of data in the developed index. Findings Findings show that the developed scoring index is efficient for evaluating the contents of the sustainability reports of Sri Lankan firms. Sustainability reporting practises with regard to the SDGs were observed to have a turbulent period from 2015 to 2019 and the SDGs 12 and 15 were identified to be mostly reported in Sri Lankan corporate sustainability reports. Research limitations/implications The results of the study add to knowledge on the monitoring of sustainability reporting practises with reference to SDGs. The study outcomes are useful for the investors, stakeholders, and statutory bodies to measure the sustainable performance of business firms and assess the firm’s commitment towards the global sustainability agenda. Originality/value To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that constructs a sustainability reporting score index integrating SDGs.

Purpose This study aims to examine the factors affecting accounting students’ adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in Vietnam. Design/methodology/approach This study employs an empirical analysis based on hand-collected data from 275 accounting students in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The study model was performed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling methodology, facilitated by SmartPLS 4.0. Findings The study results show that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use (PEOU), AI literacy, social influence (SI), facilitating conditions and technology readiness are positively associated with AI adoption by accounting students. The findings suggest the important role of SI in shaping the relationship between PEOU and AI adoption. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with a small sample size, which may reduce the generalisability of findings to other cities in Vietnam or other countries due to different regulations. Future research could examine comparative and cross-country analyses within similar institutional settings. Practical implications The study findings suggest that universities should consider offering more AI-related subjects to improve students’ AI proficiency and capacity. Originality/value This study examines the determinants of AI adoption by accounting students in Vietnam, addressing a previously unexplored area in the literature.

Purpose The main purpose of this study is to examine the disclosure of earnings forecasts in firms' prospectuses to explain investor demands or, in other words, oversubscription rates of Malaysian initial public offerings (IPOs). Design/methodology/approach Ordinary least squares and robust methods were used to examine cross-sectional data comprising 466 fixed-price IPOs reported for the period from January 2000 to February 2020 on Bursa Malaysia. Findings The results showed that IPOs with earnings forecasts obtained higher oversubscription rates than those without earnings forecasts. IPOs with earnings forecasts provide value-relevant signals to prospective investors about the good prospects of firms, resulting in an increase in the demand for IPO shares. For the IPO samples listed during the global financial crisis (GFC) period, IPOs with earnings forecasts had negative impacts on the oversubscription rates. These results were robust to quantile methods and the two-stage least squares method. Research limitations/implications The research findings provide fresh information for investors regarding the importance of earnings forecasts as a trustworthy signal of a firm’s quality when making share subscription decisions. Practical implications The regulator is advised to encourage issuers to include earnings forecasts in their prospectuses since such forecasts help to increase the demand for IPOs. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by offering empirical evidence regarding the signalling impact of earnings forecast disclosures on investor demands for Malaysian IPOs. Moreover, this study provides evidence demonstrating the impact of earnings forecast disclosures on oversubscription rates of Malaysian IPOs during the GFC period.

Purpose This study examines the influence of economic policy uncertainty on financial flexibility before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Few prior studies have examined this association specifically for debt and cash flexibility. Design/methodology/approach Using quarterly data from 2016 to 2022, 1014 observations were collected from the S&P Capital IQ database for listed tourism companies in India. The pre-pandemic period is defined as 2016 Q1 to 2020 Q1, whereas the pandemic period is from 2020 Q2 to 2022 Q3. The data are analysed using ordinary least squares, probit, logit and difference-in-difference (DID) estimation. Findings The evidence of this study suggests a negative association of economic policy uncertainty with debt flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings also suggest that COVID-19 induced economic policy uncertainty results in high cash flexibility. This meets the expectations for the crisis period, as firms are likely to hold more cash and less debt capacity to manage their operations. The results are robust for various estimation techniques. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to one emerging country and is specific to one non-financial sector. Future research could extend to more emerging countries and include other non-financial sector companies. Practical implications The findings of this research are useful for tourism sector managers as they can effectively manage their cash and debt flexibility during crisis periods. They will need to prioritise cash flexibility over debt flexibility to manage operations effectively. Policymakers need to provide clear and stable economic policies to help firms manage their debt levels during a crisis. Originality/value To the best of the author's knowledge, no existing studies have investigated the influence of economic policy uncertainty on the financial flexibility of tourism companies before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, this study establishes a novel set of critical determinants, such as economic policy uncertainty.