UPEI business students succeed in national paper competition
Last month, UPEI's Rebecca Nieuwhof and Alexa Ellis were awarded the top prize and an honourable mention, respectfully, at the 2013 Estey Undergraduate Essay Competition. The national competition is held annually and is hosted by the Centre for Accounting Ethics at the University of Waterloo.
Both Nieuwhof and Ellis were honoured in Montreal at the Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA) Conference, May 30-June 2, where Nieuwhof presented her first-place paper entitled 'The Financial and Ethical Implications of Food Taxation.' Ellis received an honourable mention for her paper, 'The Invisible Hand of Environmental Accounting.'
Nieuwhof was elated when she heard the national competition committee chose her paper as the best in the country. 'Winning an award on a national level was unbelievable. I was so excited when I found out!' she said. 'All those hours put into that paper really paid off and I was honoured to get the chance to present at the CAAA conference.'
Nieuwhof's paper focused on the financial and ethical considerations of implementing a food tax as she found obesity to be a growing issue in Canada, and one that causes healthcare costs to increase substantially. The paper identifies various options for government to consider, and specifically explores the option of implementing a junk-food tax. She focused on major financial considerations such as what constitutes junk food, how much tax to levy, and where to direct the revenues. The main ethical considerations studied included questioning what's best for society as a whole and the fairness of the tax to low-income individuals.
'It was very exciting to receive an honorable mention, it's been a busy school year and having my work recognized has really made it all worth it,' said Ellis whose paper focused on whether or not it's ethical for government to enforce regulation upon corporations and require them to provide an annual report to disclose any actions that may affect the environment.
Nieuwhof, who graduated in May, is currently working at Grant Thornton and begins the Chartered Accountant (CA) program this month, while Ellis is returning to UPEI in the fall to complete her accounting specialization and co-op designation before also pursuing a career as a CA.
About the Estey Competition
