Summary PhD thesis: The internal factors affecting the accounting information transparency of non-business entities in Vietnam

Determining the internal factors affecting the accounting information transparent of the Vietnamese nonbusiness entities.

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMIC HCMC

DAU THI KIM THOA

THE INTERNAL FACTORS AFFECTING THE

ACCOUNTING INFORMATION

TRANSPARENCY OF NON-BUSINESS

ENTITIES IN VIETNAM

Major: Accounting Code: 9340301 PhD THESIS - SUMMARY

Supervisor: Associate Prof., Dr VO VAN NHI

HO CHI MINH CITY - 2019

University of Economic Ho Chi Minh city

Supervisor: Associate Prof., Dr VO VAN NHI

Reviewer 1: Reviewer 2: Reviewer 3:

The thesis will be presented to the University Dissertation Board at:

At day month year

The thesis can be found at the library: ……….………

INTRODUCTION

1 Necessary of the topic

The accounting information transparency usefulness: it plays an

important role in determining the decision-making effectiveness of their information users Moreover, it also determines the national economic growth through direct or indirect impacts in the public sector Specifically:

• Supporting the Governmental agencies, citizen, donors, to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of using the state budget

of the non-business entities to be able to establish the fund allocation policies suitably

• Creating conditions for citizen to participate in monitoring the activities of public agencies which lead to an increase in accountability and providing more conscious information about the non-business entities’ performance and tasks As the result, it improves effectiveness of the provided public services

• Playing a primary role in preventing corruption, increasing people's believe, and activating more accountability

• Attracting domestic and international investments, aids and funds

in the international economic integration trend

The context of Vietnam:

• Vietnam is still one of the highest corruption countries, which has led to control and monitor difficultly the effectiveness and efficiency of the state budget using of Government As a result, believe of the citizen, donors, investors significantly decreased

• Vietnam's economy is developing in the industrialization direction, which needs extremely investments, aid and funding to

improve economy and reduce economic crisis, poverty and corruption

Researches in Vietnam about the accounting information transparency: On over the world, the issue has been considerable

interested from researchers and practitioners during in the past decades In Vietnam, the number of studies about the topic are quite limited and there is a large gap in the research in the general public sector and particularly the non-business entities in Vietnam Beside, these units have a high special operation, which are compared to the private sector as well as the public sector of the other countries Their accounting information users are becoming diversification and requiring more the accounting information transparent

The above reasons explain for necessary of identifying the factors affecting the accounting information transparent which support the related authority agencies in establishing policies towards the non-business entities’ transparency in Vietnam

2 The Thesis Objectives and Questions

The general objective: Determining the internal factors affecting

the accounting information transparent of the Vietnamese business entities

non-The specific objectives:

(1) Determining the internal factors affecting the accounting information transparent of the Vietnamese non-business entities.(2) Determining measurement scales the accounting information transparent of the Vietnamese non-business entities

(3) Evaluating effective level of the factors to the accounting information transparent

The research questions:

(1) What internal factors influence the accounting information transparent of the Vietnamese non-business entities?

(2) What scale measures the accounting information transparent? (3) How is the accounting information transparent influenced by the identified internal factors?

3 Subject and Scope

Research subject: the accounting information transparent and the

internal factors affecting the accounting information transparent of the Vietnamese non-business entities

Survey subject: the top managers, accounting manager, accountant,

and union chairman of the organizations

Analytical unit: it is the unit, specifically, Vietnamese non-business

entities

Research scope: The thesis focuses on two issues: (1) the

information transparent which are presented on the accounting statements (the financial statements and the budget statements); and (2) Identifying internal factors affecting the accounting information transparent of the Vietnamese non-business entities

4 Research method

The mixed method is applied in this thesis, which includes the qualitative research and quantitative research, specially:

Qualitative research: to achieve the following targets:

- Identify the accounting information transparent concept and the research model via literature review and related basic theories

- Adjust the proposed research model as well as measurement scales

of the related research concepts through interview experts

Quantitative research: evaluate the measurement scales and

examine the structural model

- Determining the internal factors affecting directly and indirectly

on the accounting information transparency of the non-business entities in Vietnam as well as their impact levels

- Providing useful implications towards the accounting information transparency of the Vietnamese non-business entities to meet the needs of related external information users and enhance international integration

6 Thesis structure

The thesis includes five chapters: Chapter 1- literature review; Chapter 2- theoretical frameworks; Chapter 3- research methodology; Chapter 4- research results and discussion; Chapter 5- Conclusion and several implications

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Introduction

This chapter presents an overview of the accounting information transparency and the its factors affecting which basic on previous studies in the world and in Vietnam After that the research gap as well as the research direction have been derived from the fist step

1.2 The accounting information transparency and the factors influencing on the accounting information transparency

To synthesize foreign studies, the author has found prestigious dissertations and articles Data sources search domestic studies are

libraries of reputed domestic universities as well as journals

1.2.1 The accounting information transparency

1.2.1.1 The foreign studies about the accounting information

1.2.1.2 The domestic researches about accounting information

transparency

In Vietnam, this research tendency only started in 2008, which had derived from the world financial crisis and the domestic economy shifted to a market economy In the private sector, this research direction only has been focused on the listed companies on the stock market The primary study tendency is accounting information

quality and its measurement scale has been inherited from abroad researches Meanwhile, this problem in the public sector just has been concerned in recent years with the major direction also has the information quality

1.2.2 Factors affecting the accounting information quality 1.2.2.1 The foreign studies relate to the accounting information

transparency

The most of studies often combine two contents which determine concept and the factors affecting the accounting information transparency Therefore, the identified factors are influenced on the transparency follow three dimensions, namely information disclosure, information quality and accountability The identified factors in previous studies are quite diverse Recent studies have focused on factors affecting accountability associated with IT development However, there are no official theories or models have been applied to explain the factors affecting the transparency so far

1.2.2.2 The domestic studies relate to accounting information

transparency

The majority of researches in the private sector focus on determining the factors affecting the accounting information transparency of the listed companies While this research direction is still large limited

in the public sector Only a few studies identify factors affecting the accounting information quality while many other studies also aim at information transparency but they follow different research directions, such as improving public financial system, the accounting and budget accounting, the efficiency of distribution and using public resources, establishing public accounting standards A number of solutions and implications improve the accounting

transparency in the Vietnamese public sector were proposed which come from the research results

1.3 Some assessments about previous studies

1.3.1 Assessments about the foreign researches

The information transparency is extremely concerned by researchers

on over the world in many decades In the beginning period, several studies were done in developed economic countries but it has spread

to developing economic countries in the recent years

Research subjects of the accounting information transparency in the public sector which include general government to local government However, they concentrated greater at the lowest level organizations because these units use directly state budget to provide public services to society

The research direction on the accounting information transparency

of both sections also focused on defining its concept and scale and identifying factors affecting as well as solutions toward transparency Research trends in each issue of transparency have changed in accordance to the world economic development

1.3.2 Assessments about the Vietnamese researches

The accounting information transparency in Vietnam is mentioned much later than in the world, only started from 2008 It has been studied more in the private sector than in the public sector

The research direction has focused mainly on defining concept, scale, factors affecting and proposing some suggests to improve the accounting information transparency The information quality is researched the most in three approaches

The number of high quality studies directly relate to determination factors affecting the accounting information transparency in the Vietnamese public sector still extremely limit

At the present time, there are not any research which study the role

of applying e-government, or disclosing information on the Internet

in according to the current research trend on over the world

1.4 Research gap and new research issues of the thesis

A number of major gaps of study about the accounting information transparency in the public sector in the world and in Vietnam nowadays are: (1) the amount of transparency studies which were conducted in developing and underdeveloped economic countries, such as Vietnam still extremely limited; (2) studying transparency of public entities which use the state budget directly to provide important public services should be focused; (3) The accounting information transparency concept and measurement scale have not been united; (4) the internal factors affecting the accounting information transparency have not yet been sufficiently implemented There has not been any study to comprehensively identify and test the internal factors affecting the accounting information transparency of the non-business entities in Vietnam

CHAPPTER 2: THEORICIAL FRAMEWORKS

2.1 Introduction

This chapter includes an overview of the accounting information transparency, the Vietnamese non-business entities characteristics, background theories and internal factors affecting the accounting information transparency

2.2 Overview of the accounting information transparency in the public sector

2.2.1 The accounting information concept

In public sector, financial information is an essential part to predict future activities, generated resources from future activities and possible risks or uncertainties These things serve to synthesize, evaluate and control allocation, management, effectiveness and efficient of delegated resources using Financial information is also useful for assessing accountability of public entities

2.2.2 The accounting information transparency of the public sector

The accounting information transparency is an abstract concept, it is defined through many different perspectives and there is still no a unified concept in the world In general, the previous studies identified the concept in 03 directions: (1) information disclosure; (2) information quality; and (3) accountability In particular, information disclosure and information quality have a significantly positive impact on the accounting information transparency while the information transparency and accountability have a reciprocal relationship together The information transparency will reduce corruption in the public sector noticeably, and enhance the quality of public services - these are two issues that are the top concerns of any country to develop national economy

Information quality characteristics according to the research of Lee

et al (2002) have covered all characteristics of the accounting information quality which were shown in previous studies and included criteria of information disclosure and accountability Therefore, this thesis uses information quality characteristics of Lee

et al (2002) to measure the accounting information transparency in the public sector Thus, in order to be transparent, the accounting

information must meet the criteria including: relevancy, appropriate

understandability, interpretability, concise representation, timeliness, consistent representation, easy of operation, believability, reputation, accessibility, and security

2.2.3 The accounting information transparency of the

non-business entities in Vietnam

2.2.3.1 General introduction about the non-business entities

The unit is a non-profit organization, which is established by a state administrative agency with the main function be to provide public goods and services to the society Operational funds of these organizations include: State budget, deductible and reimbursed fees and charges, aids, dornors, foreign loans, and revenues from business

These entities have several unique characteristics which are compared

to the public sector agencies on the world as well as the private sector

in terms of funding sources, autonomy and organization level They are classified based on their activities and ability to ensure regular expenditures and investment expenditures

2.2.3.2 Perspectives on the accounting information transparency of the non-business entities follow the current regulations of Vietnam

The accounting information transparency are concerned specially in the public sector in Vietnam However, the transparency concept has not been clearly and uniformly stipulated in any legal document The legal provisions mainly mention how to direct the accounting information transparency Basing on 03 included aspects in transparency concept which are identified from the literature review

(information disclosure; information quality; and accountability), an analysis about relevant legal documents of Vietnam is carried out.

2.2.3.3 Determining the requirements towards the accounting

information transparency of the non-business entities in Vietnam

The requirements towards the accounting information transparency

of the non-business entities in Vietnam in according to the legal documents, including: faithful representation, objectivity, completeness, timeliness, consistent representation, accuracy, clearness, understandability, verifiability, reliability, cautious, free from errors, accessibility

The requirements are similar the viewpoints in the abroad studies Therefore, this study uses the requirements towards the accounting information transparency of the Vietnamese non-business entities in according to the criteria in the study of Lee et al (2002).

2.2.4 Role of the accounting information transparency

The accounting information transparency plays an important role in supporting State agencies, investors, donors, sponsors and citizen to assess the effectiveness of the state budget using It makes a basis for them making appropriate decisions and promotes the national economic and political sustainable development

2.3 The related background theories

The background theories are mentioned in this study including: useful information theory, agency theory, asymmetric information theory, signal theory, transparent theory, institutional theory, and contingency theory In particular, a combination of useful information theory, agency theory, asymmetric information theory and signal theory helps to explain why transparency is necessary and

the important role of unit leaders in establishing transparency The institutional theory combines with the contingency theory identify the organizational internal factors that need to change, especially accounting system to meet the requirements, expectations, rules, standards and values from inside as well as outside users about the accounting information transparency

2.4 Determining the organizational internal factors affecting the accounting information transparency of the non-business entities

Basing on institutional theory, pressures from the external environment force these units to change and reorganize to meet the information transparency However, the units need sufficiently human and materials to perform In addition, if they want to create the quality accounting information, they really need a quality accounting information system Several studies have confirmed that factors affecting the accounting information system quality which also affect the the accounting information quality

From literature review and background theories, it can be summed

up that the internal factors affecting the accounting information transparency of the public units which include 10 factors, namely:

technology), organizational culture, organizational structure, self sufficient ability and information disclosure methods

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter introduces the research frame, research process, research methodology, model of the internal factors affecting the