Alison Fox

Biography

Alison trained with Ernst and Young and became ACCA qualified in 1993 (fellowship status was awarded in 1999). After a short time in industry she began her academic career in 1995 and now teaches financial accounting, taxation and business law to under-graduate students and post-graduate students.  Alison was awarded her PhD in 2010 entitled “An Exploration of the Governance and Accountability of UK Defined Benefit Pension Schemes”.    Other research interests include financial accounting (specifically Deferred Taxation and the implementation of IFRS) and accounting education.

External Affiliations

Alison is currently an external examiner for :

• School of Accounting at Glasgow Caledonian University, and
• The Business School at the University of Greenwich

She is also a member of the ICAS working party for pensions

• Financial Accounting
• Personal and Business Tax
• Business Law

Alison currently supervises the following PhD candidates:

• Mr Ron Skea (Organisational Change)
• Mr Abdulaziz Alsahlawi (Institutional Theory and the Use of Financial Derivatives in Saudi Arabia and Islamic Accountability)
• Ahmed Almoneef (Corporate Governance in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain

Publications since 2008

Refereed papers

• “The Costs and Benefits of IFRS Implementation in the UK and Italy”, (2012), Journal of Applied Accounting Research, [forthcoming]
• “A Cross-country analysis of IFRS reconciliation statements”, (2011), Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Vol. 12, No.1, pp.26-42
• “Peer –mentoring undergraduate accounting students: the influence on approaches to learning and academic performance”, (2010), Active Learning in Higher Education, Volume 11, No 2, pp. 145-156.

Refereed research monograph

•  “The Implementation of IFRS in the UK, Italy and Ireland”, (2008), A Monograph for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, GB: T.J.International Ltd.

Contributions to edited volumes

•  Forthcoming (2013):  “The Governance and Accountability of UK Defined Benefit Pension Schemes” in The Handbook of Institutional Investment and Fiduciary Duty, edited by Hawley, J.P., Hoepner, A.G.F., Johnson, K.L., Sandberg, J. and E.J. Waitzer, E

Further contributions

• 2008-2011: External examiner for the School of Accounting at the University of Middlesex

Current Work in Progress

• An Investigation of the Potential Carbon Bubble in International Financial Markets.  The share price of companies in the oil, gas and coal industries are based on the amount of reserves that these companies control.  However, recent environmental agreements (such as Koyoto) have established that only certain quantities of these reserves will be useable if we are to keep global warming under control, i.e. these companies may have stranded assets.  This study attempts to assess the extent to which stranded assets are reported.  It also seeks to establish if the share prices of these companies are over-inflated due to large amounts of stranded assets.  [The empirical work for this paper is still in progress]

Selected Publications Prior to 2008

• “Disclosure Patterns in Derivatives Reporting by UK Firms: Implications for Corporate Governance”, (2007), International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, Volume 4 (3), pp231-247
• “Exploring The Effectiveness of Peer Mentoring of Accounting & Finance Students in Higher Education”, (2006), Accounting Education: An International Journal, Volume 15 (2), pp. 189-202.
• “An Analysis of Lobbying Behaviour – The Case of UK Deferred Taxation”, (2006), The Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Volume 8(i), pp.71-107
• “Incompatible Theoretical Bases Underlying Accounting Standards”, (2003), Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Volume 12, pp. 169-184

Research Interests

• Accountability
• Corporate Governance
• International Financial Reporting
• Pension Scheme Accounting
• Accounting Education

Research Grants

• 2012 – Carbon Tracker, £25000:  An Investigation of the Potential Carbon Bubble in International Financial Markets ( with L Stevenson and J Bebbington)
• 2005 – ICAS, £16,750:  The Introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards: An analysis of their impact on the usage and content of Company Financial Statements (with T Dunne, S Fifield, G Hannah, C Helliar, D Power and M Veneziani)
• 2003 – LTSN: BEST, £3500:  Peer Mentoring Students ‘At Risk of Failure’: The influence of Personality and Approaches to Learning on Academic Performance and Progression (with L Stevenson)