Research in Accounting

The global food system is recognised as a major driver of biodiversity loss. Reducing the biodiversity footprint of the food system is therefore a top EU policy priority. New policies, such as the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy, are designed to significantly reshape agrofood trade between the EU and producer countries. However, although these policies set ambitious goals to tackle biodiversity loss, their potential effects on biodiversity as well as livelihoods remain largely unclear. 
Over the duration of four years (2022-2026) the EU-Horizon-funded Transformative Change for Biodiversity and Equity (TCforBE) project will work with stakeholders in the EU and the producer countries of Cameroon, Colombia, and Kenya to explore transformative change pathways in the context of tele-coupled agrofood systems. As part of a global consortium, Hanken researchers are tasked with the identification, assessment, and development of transformative investment mechanisms and finance levers. 

The project will develop evidence and tools that help to achieve transformative change in tele-coupled agrofood system with regard to biodiversity and equity outcomes and stakeholder transformative change capacity. Hanken researchers will develop not only an overview of suitable biodiversity financing instruments and metrics but also an innovative biodiversity bond. 
The project is coordinated by Wageningen University. Other project partners include the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich, the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), the Institut de Recherche por le Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales (IDDRI), the Universidad de los Andes, University de Dschang, and the University of Kabianga.

Project Coordinator Site

EU Project Site

Involved Hanken researchers

Prof. Othmar Lehner (PI)
Dr. Theresa Harrer

Duration of Hanken’s work package

December 2023-December 2025

Funding amount for Hanken

approx. €200.000,--

Abstract

This project will examine the role of auditors in improving the quality of financial reports. Higher quality is desirable because quality financial reporting is a catalyst for economic growth. Adjusting financial statements is the fundamental way in which auditors may improve quality and this project will use previously unexplored data on audit adjustments, where most research to date focuses on noisy audit quality proxies. While there are a few studies using proprietary audit adjustment data of Chinese publicly listed firms, the Chinese data is lacking in terms of detail. The data in this project, on the other hand, grants access to the complete set of both pre-audited and post-audited financial statements and information on the auditors. Almost all prior auditing research study listed firms, while 99% of the firm population is privately held and may be considered the backbone of the economy. Thus, the project will focus on non-listed private firms. As the future of auditing for smaller private firms is currently being discussed in many countries, including Finland and Sweden, the project will use data of Finnish and Swedish firms and their auditors. As such, this project will provide a great contribution to the literature that will have both practical and societal relevance.

Besides providing an exploration of how and to what extent auditors adjust financial statements in a completely different setting than the Chinese, the project will contribute to the auditing literature by studying how signing auditor incentives and characteristics (e.g. ability, age, busyness, gender, and ability) affect the direction, likelihood, and magnitude of audit adjustments. As a first research question, the project examines how the client’s economic importance to the auditor affect audit adjustments. The second research question asks how the busyness of the auditor affect audit adjustments. Finally, the third research question focuses on how audit firms assign clients to auditors.

Time

1.1.2022-31.12.2024

Participants

Associate professor, Ph.D. Henrik Höglund (Hanken School of Economics), Professor, Ph.D. Stefan Sundgren (Umeå University), Professor, PhD. Tobias Svanström (Umeå University and BI Norwegian Business School) Assistant professor, Ph.D. Jesper Haga (Hanken School of Economics) and Associate Professor, Ph.D. Dennis Sundvik (Hanken School of Economics)

Funding

Peter Wallenberg Foundation

Linking TCFD Climate Scenarios with Company Valuation

Full title: Linking TCFD Climate Scenarios with Company Valuation: Insights from IFRS Climate Disclosures & Econometric-Financial Modeling

We are a cross-national research team comprising of members from Hanken School of Economics and University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. Our research project focuses on analyzing how climate risks and opportunities identified through TCFD climate scenarios impact IFRS line items. We employ advanced econo-financial mathematical modeling, like Monte Carlo simulations, to find out the implications these factors have on company valuation as outlined in IFRS S2. This project started in August 2023 and ends in July 2024. This research project is funded by Nasdaq Nordic. For further inquiries or interest in this topic, please contact Othmar Lehner (othmar.lehner@hanken.fi).