Accounting Law Reform and Accrual Reliability: The Moderating Role of Institutional Pressure  

Accounting Law Reform and Accrual Reliability: The Moderating Role of Institutional Pressure | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Accounting Law Reform and Accrual Reliability: The Moderating Role of Institutional Pressure Trang Cam Hoang, Hao Nhu Thi Nguyen This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7293299/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study investigates whether the adoption of Vietnam’s amended Accounting Law (effective from 2017) improves accrual reliability, and whether this relationship is moderated by the institutional environment of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE), which imposes more stringent listing and governance requirements than its counterpart, the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX). Using a dataset of 4,410 firm-year observations from Vietnamese listed firms, the study assesses accrual reliability through models based on the persistence of cash flows and total accruals. To gain deeper insights, total accruals are decomposed into working capital, non-current operating, and financing components. The findings indicate that overall accrual reliability improves following the implementation of the amended law, with significant gains observed in working capital and financing accruals. However, contrary to theoretical expectations grounded in Institutional Theory and prior literature, the HOSE environment moderates this effect negatively: firms listed on HOSE exhibit a weaker improvement in accrual reliability. This suggests that elevated regulatory and market pressures may induce strategic reporting behavior, thereby diminishing the intended benefits of reform. By focusing on a domestic accounting law reform rather than IFRS adoption, this study contributes novel empirical evidence from an emerging market context. It also provides practical implications for regulators as Vietnam prepares for its transition to IFRS post-2025, highlighting that institutional structures expected to enhance compliance may in some cases undermine reform outcomes. JEL Classification: M41, M48 Paper type: Research paper amended Accounting Law accrual reliability HOSE Vietnam Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7293299","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":502360287,"identity":"be30b321-fe62-41c1-a577-1da95b619d84","order_by":0,"name":"Trang Cam Hoang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA0ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLACxgYGOQYGHiCLjQjVPFAtxqRrSWwgWou99OFnD7/usEvfcLz3AMOHssMMBrcbCNjCl2ZuLHsmOXfDmXMJjDPOAbXcOUBACw+DmbRk24HcDTdyDJh52w4zSM5IIKSF/RtIS7rB/TcGzH+J08JjJvmx7UCCwQ0eA2ZGoBZ+CUJazvCUSTO2JRvOPJNjcLDnXDoPQS3sPezbJH+22cnzHT9j+OBHmbUcGyEtIMDMA2UcYIBGFEHA+IMoZaNgFIyCUTBiAQBxBD8LGetNXwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Trang","middleName":"Cam","lastName":"Hoang","suffix":""},{"id":502360289,"identity":"d2b8b0d2-e4b3-400d-956b-91a11e17c392","order_by":1,"name":"Hao Nhu Thi Nguyen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Foreign Trade University Ho Chi Minh city Campus","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hao","middleName":"Nhu Thi","lastName":"Nguyen","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-04 16:53:10","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7293299/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7293299/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104021626,"identity":"fb8c0d17-2a7d-4917-bd1d-fa1ab436eba8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-05 18:40:09","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":330726,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Accountingpaperfinal.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7293299/v1_covered_3cd5010a-1499-4161-a9a1-b60a2e6ce048.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Accounting Law Reform and Accrual Reliability: The Moderating Role of Institutional Pressure ","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"amended Accounting Law, accrual reliability, HOSE, Vietnam","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7293299/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7293299/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study investigates whether the adoption of Vietnam’s amended Accounting Law (effective from 2017) improves accrual reliability, and whether this relationship is moderated by the institutional environment of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE), which imposes more stringent listing and governance requirements than its counterpart, the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX). 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