Sohee Kim, CISA, Ph.D. candidate presented two papers and discussed two other papers at the 2022 ABO Research Conference. The two papers she presented were: 

"A Moderated Mediation Model of the Fit between Management Regulatory Focuses and Employee Incentive Contracts on Employee Efforts," co-authored with Dr. Jeremy Lill from the University of Kansas.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the fit between management regulatory focuses and employees’ incentive contracts on employees’ efforts in an experiment setting. Further, this study provides evidence that management regulatory focus is the primary factor, and the fit is the secondary factor in determining employees’ regulatory focuses. Drawing on regulatory focus theory, this study examines how the regulatory fit between management regulatory focuses and incentive contracts affect employees’ efforts using a moderated mediation model. The results suggest that management regulatory focuses affect employees’ efforts via employees’ regulatory focuses, and the association is moderated by incentive contracts, supporting the hypotheses of the study. This study has several important contributions. First, this study extends the prior literature on both the management characteristics and the incentive contracts by examining the two controls together. Second, using the results of this study, organizations can garner benefits from the established incentive structures in their organizations. Third, this study provides evidence that employees’ regulatory focuses can be manipulated through management’s top-down communication to employees. Forth, the study presents a detailed process of how these two controls interact and affect employees’ efforts.

"Decorated Annual Reports: The Effect of Visual Embellishments and Numeracy on Investor Judgments and Decisions," co-authored with Dr. David Ziebart and Dr. Yibo Zhang. 
Abstract: In firms’ digital annual reports, the financial performance graphs may be decorated with visual embellishments (e.g., icons) to attract investors’ attention. This study examines how visual embellishments in financial performance graphs and the numeracy of investors influence investment-related judgments and decisions. Conducting a 2 x 3 x 2 between-participants experiment with 500 participants from Prolific, we find interaction effects between news valence, visual embellishments, and numeracy. When visual embellishments are absent or at a low level, highly numerated nonprofessional investors have a stronger reaction to negative news than less numerated nonprofessional investors. However, this effect is muted when visual embellishments are at a high level or when the financial performance news is positive. Our study contributes to graphical vividness, visual embellishments, and numeracy literature. The study also contributes to the impression management literature and regulators by demonstrating the consequences of visual embellishments on investors with different numeracy levels.

In addition to presenting, Sohee Kim also discussed the 2 following papers:  

"How the Level of Firm Support for Employee Volunteering Affects Employee Work Productivity and Altruistic Behavior Inside the Firm," with Grazia Xiong (University of South Carolina).

"Investor Responses to Additional Information Related to Pay-Ratio Disclosures." with Anish Shankar Menon (Prairie View A&M University).

Blake Holman, Ph.D. candidate presented a paper entitled: 

"Tell Me More? Explanation Detail and Auditor Reliance on Human and Non-Human Specialists," co-authored with Gatton faculty, Ben Commerford. 

Gatton Assistant Professor, Alex Johanns, presented: "Does Artificial Intelligence Deter Artificial Reporting? How Client Perceptions of Auditor Objectivity Influence Misreporting Behaviors," co-authored with Kimberly Ikuta Mendoza, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Ryan David Sommerfeldt, Washington State University.

Discussant: Richard David Mautz, University of South Florida