HORIZONTAL EQUITY, SELF-EFFICACY, AND BUDGETARY SLACK: COMPARING AMERICAN AND BRAZILIAN CULTURES
Abstract
This study analyzed the effect cross-cultural differences in perceived horizontal equity and self-efficacy have on the creation of budgetary slack. This research addressed the gap in the role of ethical ideology in business by empirically examining the influence of culture on an individual’s ethical ideology and their propensity to create budgetary slack. A total of 803 subjects included 413 individuals from America and 390 from Brazil. A series of analysis of variance testing identified statistical significance between horizontal equity and the creation of budgetary slack, as well as statistically significant differences between low/high years of experience and budgetary slack levels. Additional cross tabulations were included related to both horizontal equity as well as self-efficacy. The results highlight budgetary procedures that may impact a person’s perceptions of fairness in pay compared to colleagues or peers with similar positions in organizations. Findings suggest that employees with more years of professional experience could benefit from education on potential negative unintended consequences of creating slack in their budgetary decisions. Our findings may be used by managers to gain awareness of this significance and take necessary steps to create equitable pay policies and budgetary targets. Study results indicated no statistical difference in slack levels between Americans and Brazilians.
JEL Classification Codes: F39, G31, G41, M10, M49.
References
Abratt, R., Nel, D., & Higgs, N. S. (1992). An examination of the ethical beliefs of managers using selected scenarios in a cross-cultural environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(1), 29-35. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00871989
Andriyansah, E., & Zahra, F. (2017). Student awareness toward social entrepreneurship: A qualitative study. International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 6(6), 457-446.
Arnold, M. C., & Schreiber, D. (2013). Audits, reputation, and repeated interaction in a capital budgeting setting. European Accounting Review, 22(1), 185-213. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638180.2011.631734
Asri, D. P., & Agung, U. (2018). The influence of participative budgeting on budgetary slack with local culture and corporate governance as the moderators: An empirical study on rural banks (BPRS) in Bali. Russian Journal of Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences, 78(6), 119-128. https://doi.org/10.18551/rjoas.2018-06.13
Baiman, S. (1982). Agency research in managerial accounting: A survey. Journal of Accounting Literature, 1, 154-213.
Baiman, S. (1990). Agency research in managerial accounting: A second look. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 15, 341-371. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-3682(90)90023-N
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavior change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215.
Blewitt, J. C., Blewitt, J. M., & Ryan, J. (2018). Business forums pave the way to ethical decision making: The mediating role of self-efficacy and awareness of a value-based educational institution. Journal of Business Ethics, 149(1), 235-244. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3103-0
Braun, K. W., & Tietz, W. M. (2018). Managerial accounting. New York, NY: Pearson.
Brink, A. G., Coats, J. C., & Rankin, F. W. (2018). Who’s the boss? The economic and behavioral implications of various characterizations of the superior in participative budgeting research. Journal of Accounting Literature, 41(1), 89-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acclit.2018.03.004
Brunner, M., & Ostermaier, A. (2019). Peer influence on managerial honesty: The role of transparency and expectations. Journal of Business Ethics, 154(1), 127-145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3459-9
Chow, C. W., Hwang, R. N., Liao, W., & Wu, A. (1998). National culture and subordinates' upward communication of private information. The International Journal of Accounting, 33(3), 293-311. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7063(98)90033-4
Church, B. K., Hannan, R. L., & Kuang, X. J. (2012). Shared interest and honesty in budget reporting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 37(3), 155-167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2012.01.002
Church, B. K., Kuang, X. J., & Liu, Y. S. (2019). The effects of measurement basis and slack benefits on honesty in budget reporting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2018.05.005
Christ, M. H., Sedatole, K. L., & Towry, K. L. (2012). Sticks and carrots: The effect of contract frame on effort in incomplete contracts. The Accounting Review, 87(6), 1913-1938. https://doi.org/10.2308/accr-50219
Clor-Proell, S., Kaplan, S., & Proell, C. (2015). The impact of budget goal difficulty and promotion availability on employee fraud. Journal of Business Ethics, 131(4), 773-790. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-2021-7
Daumoser, C., Hirsch, B., & Sohn, M. (2018). Honesty in budgeting: A review of morality and control aspects in the budgetary slack literature. Journal of Management Control, 29(2), 115-159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00187-018-0267-z
Davila, T., & Wouters, M. (2005). Managing budget emphasis through the explicit design of conditional budgetary slack. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 30(7-8), 587-608. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2004.07.002
Douglas, P. C., & Wier, B. (2000). Integrating ethical dimensions into a model of budgetary slack creation. Journal of Business Ethics, 28(3), 267-277. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006241902011
Douglas, P. C., & Wier, B. (2005). Cultural and ethical effects in budgeting systems: A comparison of U.S. and Chinese managers. Journal of Business Ethics, 60(2), 159-174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-004-6711-z
Douglas, P. C., HassabElnaby, H., Norman, C. S., & Wier, B. (2007). An investigation of ethical position and budgeting systems: Egyptian managers in US and Egyptian firms. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, 16(1), 90-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2007.01.001
Drake, A. R., Matuszewski, L. J., & Miller, F. (2014). The effect of personality traits and fairness on honesty in managerial reporting. Advances in Management Accounting, 22, 43-69. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1474-7871(2013)0000022008
Drury, C. (2018). Management and cost accounting (10th ed.). Andover, UK: Cengage Learning.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Agency theory: An assessment and review. The Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 57-74. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1989.4279003
Endenich, C., & Trapp, R. (2020). Ethical implications of management accounting and control: A systematic review of the contributions from the Journal of Business Ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 163(2), 309-328. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-4034-8
Fast, N. J., Burris, E. R., & Bartel, C. A. (2014). Managing to stay in the dark: Managerial self-efficacy, ego defensiveness, and the aversion to employee voice. Academy of Management Journal, 57(4), 1013-1034. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2012.0393
Fisher, J. G., Peffer, S. A., Sprinkle, G. B., & Williamson, M. G. (2015). Performance target levels and effort: Reciprocity across single-and repeated-interaction settings. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 27(2), 145-164. https://doi.org/10.2308/jmar-51089
Forsyth, D. R. (1980). A taxonomy of ethical ideologies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39(1), 175-184. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.39.1.175
Forsyth, D. R., O'Boyle, E. J., & McDaniel, M. A. (2008). East meets West: A meta-analytic investigation of cultural variations in idealism and relativism. Journal of Business Ethics, 83(4), 813-833. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9667-6
Gallani, S., Krishman, R., Marinich, E. J., & Shields, M. D. (2019). Budgeting, psychological contracts, and budgetary misreporting. Harvard Business School Working Paper. Retrieved from http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/16-017_2a81a4de-f2bf-4d49-a9bc-bd69cbe34385.pdf.
Goldstein, L. (2005). College and University Budgeting: An Introduction for Faculty and Academic Administrators. Washington, DC: National Association of College and University Business Officers. 1110 Vermont Avenue NW Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED524363
Guo, L., Libby, T., & Liu, X. K. (2017). The effects of vertical pay dispersion: experimental evidence in a budget setting. Contemporary Accounting Research, 34(1), 555-576. https://doi.org/10.1111/1911-3846.12245
Hannan, R. L., Rankin, F. W., & Towry, K. L. (2006). The effect of information systems on honesty in managerial reporting: A behavioral perspective. Contemporary Accounting Research, 23(4), 885-918. https://doi.org/10.1111/1911-3846.12245
Harvey, M. E. (2015). The effect of employee ethical ideology on organizational budget slack: An empirical examination and practical discussion. Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER), 13(1), 83-90. https://doi.org/10.19030/jber.v13i1.9084
Hofstede Insights. (2018). Country comparison. 1-5. Retrieved from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/brazil,the-usa/
Hofstede, G. J., & Tipton Murff, E. J. (2012). Repurposing an old game for an international world. Simulation & Gaming, 43(1), 34-50. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1046878110388250
Jones, L. R. (2005). Outyear budgetary consequences of agency cost savings: International public management network symposium. International Public Management Review, 6(1), 139-168. Retrieved from https://journals.sfu.ca/ipmr/index.php/ipmr/article/view/163
Kung, F., Huang, C., & Cheng, C. (2013). An examination of the relationships among budget emphasis, budget planning models and performance. Management Decision, 51(1), 120-140. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741311291346
Liebman, J. B., & Mahoney, N. (2017). Do expiring budgets lead to wasteful year-end spending? Evidence from federal procurement. American Economic Review, 107(11), 3510-3549. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20131296
Maiga, A. S., & Jacobs, F. A. (2007). The moderating effect of manager's ethical judgment on the relationship between budget participation and budget slack. Advances in Accounting, 23, 113-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0882-6110(07)23005-6
Matuszewski, L. J. (2010). Honesty in managerial reporting: is it affected by perceptions of horizontal equity?. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 22(1), 233-250. https://doi.org/10.2308/jmar.2010.22.1.233
Mind Tools. (2017). Hofstede’s cultural dimensions: Understanding different countries. 1-12. Retrieved from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_66.htm
Noreen, E. W., Brewer, P. C., & Garrison, R. H. (2014). Managerial accounting for managers (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Presslee, A., Vance, T. W., & Webb, R. A. (2013). The effects of reward type on employee goal setting, goal commitment, and performance. The Accounting Review, 88(5), 1805-1831. https://doi.org/10.2308/accr-50480
Rankin, F. W., Schwartz, S. T., & Young, R. A. (2008). The effect of honesty and superior authority on budget proposals. The Accounting Review, 83(4), 1083-1099. https://doi.org/10.2308/accr.2008.83.4.1083
Razek, N., & Coyner, S. C. (2014). Impact of self-efficacy on Saudi students’ college performance. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 18(4), 85-96. Retrieved from https://ecommons.udayton.edu/edc_fac_pub/1
Schreck, P. (2015). Honesty in managerial reporting: How competition affects the benefits and costs of lying. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 27, 177-188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2014.01.001
Shahzad, A. M., Mousa, F. T., & Sharfman, M. P. (2016). The implications of slack heterogeneity for the slack-resources and corporate social performance relationship. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), 5964-5971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.05.010
Sprinkle, G. B. (2003). Perspectives on experimental research in managerial accounting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 28(2-3), 287-318. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-3682(01)00058-7
Stevens, D. E. (2002). The effects of reputation and ethics on budgetary slack. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 14(1), 153-171. https://doi.org/10.2308/jmar.2002.14.1.153
Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C. (2020). Riding the waves of culture: Understanding diversity in global business (4th ed.). New York City, NY: McGraw-Hill
Welch Jr, J. S. (2013). The importance of self-efficacy in ethical education for business undergraduates. Southern Journal of Business and Ethics, 5, 214-223.
Widanaputra, A. A., & Mimba, N. P. S. H. (2014). The influence of participative budgeting on budgetary slack in composing local governments’ budget in Bali province. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 164, 391-396.
Williams, M. L., McDaniel, M. A., & Nguyen, N. T. (2006). A meta-analysis of the antecedents and consequences of pay level satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 392-419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.11.093
Wu, E. C. (2005). Convergence of attitudes in different cultures towards the budgeting process. Journal of Business and Management, 11(2), 29-47.
Copyright (c) 2022 Shawn L. Robey, Mark A. McKnight, Reshowrn B. Thomas, Amy L. Mings
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.