First of all, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to my supervisor Prof Zhang Huai, for sharing his deep knowledge of accounting research with me, as well as his patience and understanding in guiding me through this thesis. Without his dedicated support and unwavering encouragement, this thesis would not have been possible. He has also greatly helped me in my PhD journey and set a good example for my future career in the academic world. I also would like to thank other committee members for their invaluable guidance: Prof Kevin Koh, Prof Tong Yen Hee and Prof Luo Jiang. Their comments have greatly helped me advance in my thesis, and enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of the topic.