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This study aims to investigate the readability of financial risk disclosure divulged by listed banks of the first five European countries according to gross domestic product.

This study adopts the management obfuscation hypotheses and tests data gathered for a sample of 790 observations from listed banks in Europe covering the 2007–2018 period. This study uses a readability index (Gunning’s fog index) as the dependent variable for measuring the readability of banks’ mandatory financial risk disclosures. Moreover, it relies on a completeness index, discretionary accruals and several control variables for identifying the determinants of risk disclosure readability using ordinary least square regression for testing the hypotheses.

The findings show the existence of a positive relation\nship between readability and completeness of risk disclosure. In contrast, a negative relationship exists between readability and banks’ discretionary accruals.

This study expands the stream of accounting literature analyzing the lexical characteristics of narrative risk disclosure, and, by focusing on the financial risk disclosure of banks, it extends the readability-related debate, which has primarily concentrated on other types of disclosure to date. This study is relevant to regulators and policymakers for fostering reflections as actions for improving the financial risk disclosures readability. This study is also of potential interest for investors to better delve into the questions surrounding risk disclosure.

This study aims to ascertain the intentions of risk managers to use artificial intelligence in performing their tasks by examining the factors affecting their motivation.

The study employs an integrated theoretical framework that merges the third version of the technology acceptance model 3 (TAM3) and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) based on the application of the structural equation model with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) estimation on data gathered through a Likert-based questionnaire disseminated among Italian risk managers. The survey reached 782 people working as risk professionals, but only 208 provided full responses. The final response rate was 26.59%.

The findings show that social influence, perception of external control and risk perception are the main predictors of risk professionals' intention to use artificial intelligence. Moreover, performance expectancy (PE) and effort expectancy (EE) of risk professionals in relation to technology implementation and use also appear to be reasonably reliable predictors.

Thus, the study offers a precious contribution to the debate on the impact of automation and disruptive technologies in the risk management domain. It complements extant studies by tapping into cultural issues surrounding risk management and focuses on the mostly overlooked dimension of individuals.

Yet, thanks to its quite novel theoretical approach; it also extends the field of studies on artificial intelligence acceptance by offering fresh insights into the perceptions of risk professionals and valuable practical and policymaking implications.

This paper aims to investigate the factors influencing chief executive officers’ (CEOs') intentions to implement cloud technology in Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The study proposes a model that integrates the theoretical construct of the technology acceptance model (TAM) with a classification of perceived benefits and risks related to cloud computing. The study employs a structural equation modeling approach to analyze data gathered through a Likert scale-based survey.

The findings indicate that risk perception has a strong negative effect on the intention to introduce cloud technology in firms. This effect is partially offset by the perceived ease of use of the technology.

The study provides a new theoretical framework that integrates the TAM and a classification of perceived risks to provide a clear view of management's cognitive processes during technological change. Moreover, the results show the main factors influencing decisions regarding the implementation of cloud computing in firms in light of the perception of risks. Finally, this study provides interesting findings for cloud service providers (CSPs) about their customers' decision-making processes.

The aim of this paper is to explore the effects of adopting and implementing blockchain technology (BT) in accounting and auditing practices in terms of benefits and threats, thus discovering new and upcoming risks and issues.

This paper adopts a critical perspective to investigate how the implementation of BT could affect accounting and auditing practices, providing a reflection on the role of accountants and auditors during such a technological revolution.

This paper highlights the importance of the unreplaceable professional conscience and experience of accountants and auditors compared to the impersonal and standardised operating system of artificial intelligence provided by BT. The development and diffusion of BT are leading professionals to acquaint themselves with new accounting and auditing systems, such as reinventing old practices and finding new ways of taking advantage of blockchain instead of being overwhelmed.

Different from the majority of previous literature contributions, this study looks beyond the potential and undeniable benefits that BT can offer to accounting and auditing environments by focussing especially on the threats and risks caused by its implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for assessing the audit evidence of the going-concern (GC) assumptions underlying the preparation of financial statements.

This research analyses 678 audit opinions of Italian listed firms from 2007 to 2016 and uses a multiple linear discriminant analysis to create a GC score, which includes variables suggested by the international standards on auditing (ISA) 570 and by literature on GC.

The model provides three cut-off scores which can orient auditors towards issuing the most appropriate GC audit opinions (unmodified opinion, unmodified opinion, which includes emphases of matter, qualified opinion or disclaimer of opinion).

The development of the model is mainly based on public data and does not assess confidential information that is not disclosed in audit opinions.

This model can enable auditors to identify the most appropriate GC opinion and align auditor’s opinions in similar circumstances, thereby reducing their reliance on discretion and increasing the reliability of their judgement with a higher degree of accuracy. Moreover, this research lists additional events or conditions that may individually or collectively cast significant doubt on GC assumptions.

This study goes beyond the traditional decision-making process, apparently binary in nature, between “continuity” and “failure” or between “unmodified” and “modified” opinions. It is conceived to detect the different degrees of uncertainty that affect GC evaluations to orient auditors’ professional judgements.

This chapter discusses the state of development of enterprise risk management (ERM) in Europe and draws attention to the commonalities and differences in ERM use across European countries. The analysis carried out considers relevant aspects, such as the state of development of risk management across countries, the institutional context and the cultural features surrounding risk management development, which are examined from a comparative stance. This analysis allowed us to identify five clusters of countries, by tapping into the whole European picture concerning risk management and highlighting that ERM development advances in the European area at different speeds, and that more effort should be put into aligning and making coherent ERM thinking and ERM use. In so doing, the analysis unveils the drivers that can boost the appropriate implementation of ERM, the dissemination of best practices (or better, best logics) and the early detection of those conditions contributing to resistance and ineffectiveness.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether and how Spanish listed companies adopt formalized and integrated models of risk management during the period 2016–2018 and disclose them inside annual reports. Such investigation rebuilds the international regulatory and self-regulatory framework about risk management and examines the pressures and constraints influencing the adoption and implementation of ERM model in Spain. Indeed, the instability and uncertainty of the global macroeconomic context and the new threats to the corporate profitability and survival are now contributing to the development of a new dimension of risk management system more updated, dynamic and integrated. The results of the content analysis on ERM disclosure in annual reports show that Spanish listed companies are not equipped with structured and integrated risk management systems and their risk management approach is not aligned with any ERM framework. Notwithstanding, the Spanish companies are taking remarkable steps to strengthen the risk management systems towards a higher level of integration and systematization.

In this chapter, we address the operationalization of the enterprise risk management (ERM) system in Italy. We first present some Italian economic highlights emphasizing the uncertainty characterizing the domestic development, and we focus on the recent changes in domestic regulation which are related to the concept of risk. Then, we examine the degree of knowledge of ERM in the academic arena and the role of professional bodies in this field, focusing on if and how ERM principles are embedded within organizations and effectively integrated into their practices. On the basis of the evidence from questionnaires collected from risk professionals working in prominent Italian firms, who are involved in different ways in the ERM process, we provide some concluding considerations about the degree of integration of ERM practices with governance mechanisms, accounting practices and disclosure in annual reports.