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The Influence of Native Versus Foreign Language on Chinese Subjects’ Aggressive Financial Reporting Judgments

Author

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  • Peipei Pan

    (Macquarie University)

  • Chris Patel

    (Macquarie University)

Abstract

Researchers have suggested that ethical judgments about “right” and “wrong” are the result of deep and thoughtful principles and should therefore be consistent and not influenced by factors, such as language (Costa et al. in PLoS ONE 9(4):e94842, 2014b, p. 1). As long as an ethical scenario is understood, individuals’ resolution should not depend on whether the ethical scenario is presented in their native language or in a foreign language. Given the forces of globalization and international convergence, an increasing number of accountants and accounting students are becoming proficient in more than one language, and they are required to interpret and apply complex ethical pronouncements issued by various global standard setters both in their native language and in English. There have been calls in the literature to examine whether subjects make systematically different ethical judgments in a foreign language than in their native language. We contribute to the literature by drawing on culture, linguistics, and psychology research to provide empirical evidence that Chinese subjects are more aggressive in interpreting the concept of control when providing their consolidation reporting recommendations in English than in Simplified Chinese. We applied a 2 × 2 within-subject and between-subject randomized experimental design using a sample of Chinese final year undergraduate accounting students at a leading Chinese university, where accounting courses are taught in both Simplified Chinese and English. Students in our study are proxy for entry-level accounting practitioners. Our findings have implications for the globalized business world and cross-cultural research by challenging the commonly held assumption that an individual’s ethical judgment is consistent in different languages. We suggest that systematically different ethical judgments in native and foreign languages needs to be recognized.

Suggested Citation

  • Peipei Pan & Chris Patel, 2018. "The Influence of Native Versus Foreign Language on Chinese Subjects’ Aggressive Financial Reporting Judgments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 863-878, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:150:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3165-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3165-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Hellmann, Andreas & Patel, Chris, 2021. "Translation of International Financial Reporting Standards and implications for judgments and decision-making," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C).
    2. Diemo Urbig & Katrin Muehlfeld & Vivien Procher & Arjen Witteloostuijn, 2020. "Strategic Decision-Making in a Global Context: The Comprehension Effect of Foreign Language Use on Cooperation," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 351-385, June.
    3. Hellmann, Andreas & Patel, Chris & Tsunogaya, Noriyuki, 2021. "Foreign-language effect and professionals’ judgments on fair value measurement: Evidence from Germany and the United Kingdom," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C).
    4. Peipei Pan & Chris Patel, 2024. "Do Internal Auditors Make Consistent Ethical Judgments in English and Chinese in Reporting Wrongdoing?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 194(2), pages 433-453, October.
    5. Moreno, Alonso, 2024. "Impression management in bilingual corporate reporting: An analysis of textual characteristics in Spanish and English," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PA).
    6. Ahsan, A.F.M. Mainul & Bose, Sudipta & Ali, Muhammad Jahangir, 2024. "Does Islamic religiosity influence professional accountants' judgments? Evidence from global convergence of IFRS," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    7. Zhang, Yuqian & De Zoysa, Anura & Cortese, Corinne, 2023. "Foreign language effect in accounting uncertainty expressions: Interpretation and probabilistic estimation," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).

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