Financial reporting quality in international settings: A comparative study of the USA, Japan, Thailand, France and Germany

The purpose of this study is to show the importance of the business contexts of individual countries to understand corporate accounting practices in international settings. Using data from five countries, we show that while agency theory constructs are effective in explaining accounting practices in corporate settings that have a strong agency orientation, such as that of the United States, it is necessary to go beyond such constructs to understand accounting practices in other corporate settings. Given the variety of international business settings, we use a generic theory, institutional theory. To conduct this examination into cross-country accounting practices, we focus on an earnings quality measure based on accrual accounting practices, the abnormal accruals component of accounting earnings. We provide evidence to support the view that with varying business settings we are likely to see diversity in accounting practices that result in different levels of accruals or accruals based earnings quality.     

商业伦理与民营上市公司第二类代理问题:公司治理的伦理维度

控股股东对中小股东利益的掠夺和侵害构成了资本市场第二类代理问题。在当前制度和市场环境下,我国民营上市公司的第二类代理问题比较严重。本文认为,现有公司治理机制的三个维度:市场、法律和组织机制不足以提供第二类代理问题的解决方案,商业伦理治理已经成为公司治理机制不可或缺的维度,理论和案例均证明,商业伦理对民营上市公司治理的效果产生显著的影响。并提出进行商业伦理治理的构建思路。     

公司治理、内部控制、组织结构互动关系研究

本文以委托代理理论、组织学理论解释公司治理、内部控制与组织结构之间的关系 ,提出以科学决策和效率经营为核心 ,以决策机制、激励机制、监督约束机制为纽带 ,建立治理型内部控制 ;指出对治理效率和经营效率的共同追求推动了内部控制演进。     

The effect of earnings management on firm performance: The moderating role of corporate governance quality

This paper investigates the relationship between earnings management and financial performance of firms in Anglophone sub-Saharan African Countries in a dynamic framework. The study shows how this relationship is moderated by aggregate disclosure and best-practice corporate governance quality metrics. The findings indicate that earnings management's performance effects persist even after controlling for dynamic endogeneity, simultaneity, and unobserved time-invariant heterogeneity inherent in the earnings management and performance relationship. Again, the results support the prediction of agency theory regarding the efficient monitoring effect of adherence to best-practice internal governance systems in constraining firms' earnings management practices and subsequently enhancing firms' performance. Moreover, the study's findings regarding the positive effect of earnings management on performance, which suggests efficiency motives behind earnings management practices in Africa, demonstrate that the African context is uniquely different from other emerging markets that report opportunistic motives. Concerning the moderating role, our study reveals that the positive effect of earnings management on the financial performance of firms tends to be stronger in the presence of corporate governance quality.     

Corporate governance: from accountability to enterprise

This paper discusses the development of the corporate governance debate in the UK since the formation of the Cadbury Committee to the recent reports of the Hampel Committee within the context of a general corporate governance framework. It identifies the changing emphasis in this period between accountability and enterprise aspects of governance. The literature relating to accountability and enterprise is reviewed in terms of the key areas of governance (board structure, directors' remuneration, directors' ownership, institutional shareholders; auditors, auditing and accounting information; and the market for corporate control). Issues of substitutability and complementarity of governance mechanisms are also examined. The paper argues that although there has been a shift in emphasis towards enterprise, there is a need for further rigorous UK-based research to underpin this development. Areas for future research are identified.     

机构投资者与上市公司会计信息相关性分析

本文从机构投资者与会计信息相关性之间的联系来说明机构持股在公司治理中的作用。本研究以1999～2002年深市A股为样本，研究发现，在样本时间区闸内会计信息相关性与机构持股比例相关性不明显；从年度样本研究发现，随着机构持股比例增加，会计信息相关性增强，说明近年求机构投资者已参与公司治理，并发挥一定怍用。     

公司治理、机构投资者与盈余管理

本文选取沪深两市2003至2005年(非金融类)上市公司的数据,采用最小二乘法和二阶段回归方法,对公司治理、机构投资者与盈余管理三者的关系进行了实证研究。研究发现:机构投资者在一定程度上参与了上市公司的治理,其持股比例与公司治理水平呈正相关关系,说明机构投资者的持股比例越高越有助于提高公司治理水平;公司治理水平与盈余管理程度呈负相关关系;机构投资者的持股比例与盈余管理程度呈负相关关系,说明机构投资者能有效地抑制管理层的盈余管理行为。     

Tracing back to the source: Understanding the corporate governance of boards of directors in Chinese SOEs

Based on the relevant theories of corporate governance and the special institutional background of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), this paper systematically reviews the literature on the independence and governance effect of SOE boards. We find that the governance effect of SOE boards is driven by the dual characteristics of SOEs: state involvement in ownership and market incentives. With the state involved in ownership, SOEs adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which results in an enhanced governance effect. Under market incentives, SOEs tend to have an optimal board structure that helps mitigate both the shareholder–management agency problem (Type I agency problem) and the controlling shareholder–minority shareholder agency problem (Type II agency problem). In terms of the governance effect of boards, directors appointed by non-controlling shareholders are effective in alleviating Type I and Type II agency problems, and this highlights the importance of mixed-ownership reforms in SOEs. Independent directors, especially those with a professional background, also play a role in improving corporate governance. However, independent directors in SOEs have relatively weak incentives to monitor, which limits their governance effect. This paper shows positive implications for promoting mixed-ownership reforms and improving board governance in SOEs.     

Ownership, Investor Protection and Earnings Expectations

Abstract:  This study examines the interactive influence of corporate ownership, corporate governance and investor protection on the incorporation of current value shocks in the accounting earnings of European companies. This influence is investigated not only by means of the association between current news and current earnings but also with respect to the association of the same news with expected future earnings, and its persistence. Consistent with the contractual explanation of accounting conservatism, it is shown that the accounting behaviour examined is a function of the demand created by shareholders, and that the institutional arrangements in force are of lesser significance in the presence of widely held ownership. On the other hand, greater separation between supervision and management and stronger investor protection are seen to be influential under close ownership, as these are shown to curb aggressive accounting in the form of a persistently lower recognition of bad news in earnings. Evidence is also provided that stricter corporate governance practices in Europe can substitute for weaknesses in investor protection provisions in law.     

境外上市背景下治理机制对公司价值的影响——基于融资决策传导效应的研究

本文从财务管理的环境起点论出发,在分析境外上市①对治理机制和公司价值影响的基础上,尝试深入研究改善治理对提升公司价值的传导效应。本文认为在治理机制、理财决策和公司价值之间存在着一条纽带将三者紧密地联系在一起。以在香港主板上市的中资公司为样本,本文研究发现融资决策是治理机制与公司价值之间的中介变量,即中国公司的境外上市改善了其治理机制,而良好的治理机制通过优化公司理财决策,促进了公司价值的增长。     

Strategic management accounting and strategy practices within a public sector agency

Empirical strategic management accounting (SMA) research has paid insufficient attention to the practices through which strategising occurs. SMA research has also overlooked the importance of strategy in the public sector and the specificities of this context that problematise existing knowledge of techniques that might make up SMA. Consequently, this study examines the role of management accounting in organisational practices through which strategy is enacted, and does this by way of a longitudinal study of a public sector agency. It is informed by the strategy-as-practice perspective that increasingly features in strategy research. The study identifies roles for management accounting in strategising that extend beyond the typically ascribed functions of decision-facilitation and decision-influencing. Its main contribution is the detailing of specific ways in which management accounting is constitutive of strategising through specific organisational practices. The findings of particular management accounting techniques being used for strategising by entities in the public sector provide a useful counter-point to the private sector orientation that has dominated SMA research to date. The study also outlines particular directions that a rebalanced SMA research agenda might take.     

Agency costs,ownership structure and corporate governance compliance: A private contracting perspective

This paper examines whether the adoption of specific corporate governance practices, and, in particular, adherence to an overall code of governance practice, is associated with agency cost benefits for companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Using a private and voluntary contracting setting, the adoption of individual corporate governance attributes is found to have no influence on firm-level agency costs, whereas greater compliance with an overall governance index variable representative of the ASX Corporate Governance Council requirements now in force results in significantly lower agency costs. The beneficial influence of voluntary governance compliance on agency costs is also found to be independent of firm ownership structure, with these findings having a range of implications for firms both in Australia and globally.     

Strategy,political regulation and management control in the public sector: Institutional and critical perspectives

This paper mobilizes institutional and critical theories in examining how evolving management control practices, inspired by the balanced scorecard, mediated the process of strategy formation in a Swedish central government agency. Particular attention is paid to how this process was conditioned by external, political regulation of the organization. Contrary to popular conceptions of strategy and strategic management as emerging alternatives to political regulation in the public sector, the study shows how the meaning of the notion of strategy became intricately intertwined with government regulation. Whilst this affirms the tendency of organizations to comply with institutional pressures exerted by dominant constituencies, the analysis also shows how the unfolding strategy discourse gradually narrowed the meaning of the notion of strategy permeating the organization. The extension of an institutional perspective to incorporate more critical insights highlights how this process fostered some “unintended” consequences with a detrimental impact on organizational practices aimed at achieving broader social objectives. In so doing, I draw attention to how the unobtrusive power of evolving strategy discourses conditions conceptions of organizational performance and relevant constituent interests. The implications for future management accounting research combining institutional and critical theories are discussed.     

What affects accounting conservatism: A corporate governance perspective

This study explores the relationship between accounting conservatism and corporate governance. There are two competing perspectives about the possible relationship. One is that the demand for conservatism is greater in situations with more agency problems. Therefore, a weaker governance structure will lead to a more conservative accounting. An alternative perspective is that adequate governance results in better monitoring of management and hence will favor the implementation of conservative accounting. Using the firm-year specific C-Score developed by Khan and Watts [Khan, M., Watts, R.L., 2007. Estimation and validation of a firm-year measure of conservatism. Working Paper, Sloan School of Management, MIT, Cambridge], our empirical results indicate that firms with weaker governance structures tend to be more conservative. These findings are consistent with the view that conservatism is a substitute for other corporate governance mechanisms.     

Accounting for financial instruments: An analysis of the determinants of disclosure in the Portuguese stock exchange

This paper studies the determinants of disclosure level in the accounting for financial instruments of Portuguese listed companies. An index of disclosure based on IAS 32 and IAS 39 requirements is computed for each company. The analysis includes variables that capture intrinsic features of Portuguese companies and institutional regulatory context, such as capital structure and characteristics of the corporate governance structure, within contingency theory. We could not find any significant influence of corporate governance structure or of financing structure. We conclude that the disclosure degree is significantly related to size, type of auditor, listing status and economic sector. This research reveals areas for improvement of Portuguese companies' reporting practices and suggests areas for intervention of the Portuguese capital markets regulator in the context of mandatory IAS after 2005.     

Does governance travel around the world? Evidence from institutional investors

We examine whether institutional investors affect corporate governance by analyzing portfolio holdings of institutions in companies from 23 countries during the period 2003–2008. We find that firm-level governance is positively associated with international institutional investment. Changes in institutional ownership over time positively affect subsequent changes in firm-level governance, but the opposite is not true. Foreign institutions and institutions from countries with strong shareholder protection play a role in promoting governance improvements outside of the U.S. Institutional investors affect not only which corporate governance mechanisms are in place, but also outcomes. Firms with higher institutional ownership are more likely to terminate poorly performing Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and exhibit improvements in valuation over time. Our results suggest that international portfolio investment by institutional investors promotes good corporate governance practices around the world.     

雷曼兄弟事件中的会计问题及启示

2008年9月15日美国第四大投行雷曼兄弟宣告破产,其中暴露出来的风险管理、公司治理、会计政策选择等问题受到广泛关注。本文在介绍投行的回购业务和会计处理的基础上,重点介绍了雷曼兄弟面临的资产负债表压力和回购政策选择,并在分析回购105交易的会计处理及相关问题后,从会计原则的遵循、高管的诚信、信息披露的完善和中介服务水平的提高等方面总结了雷曼事件的启示。     

Corporate Governance: Factors Influencing Voluntary Disclosure by Publicly Traded Canadian Firms*

We report on the comprehensiveness of voluntary corporate governance disclosures in the annual reports and management information circulars of Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) firms. We focus on disclosure of the corporate governance practices implemented by our sample of TSE 300 firms vis‐à‐vis the 14 guidelines set out in the TSE's report on corporate governance Where Were the Directors? Our analysis indicates that only a very few firms disclose that they have fully implemented the TSE guidelines, and that the extent of disclosure of corporate governance practices implemented varies widely among the firms. We then test factors associated with the comprehensiveness of such disclosures and the choice of disclosure medium using simultaneous equations multivariate analysis. We also assess the influence of publicized corporate governance failures on disclosure. Overall, our results suggest that the choices of disclosure medium and the extent of disclosure are made concurrently, and are influenced by the strategic considerations of management.     

Corporate governance implications of disruptive technology: An overview

This position paper introduces the special issue on “Innovative Governance and Sustainable Pathways in a Disruptive Environment”. The paper develops a framework to review the state of the art in disruptive technology and innovations (DTIs). Then the paper reviews the common characteristics of DTIs, and their implications for the principles and design of corporate governance and accounting mechanisms at the organisational level. Following on from that, the paper identifies the defining features of emergent DTI-related structural models that shape the demand for and changes to corporate governance and accounting mechanisms. The contributions of the three papers in the special issue are discussed. The paper concludes by proposing several research themes for future research on designing more innovative and sustainable governance systems, drawing on multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological perspectives. This complements calls for future research in accounting in our special-issue papers.     

Boosting Foreign Investment: The Role of Certification of Corporate Governance

This paper studies the economic consequences of certification of corporate governance practices. For identification, we exploit a recent cross-country initiative by a coalition of key institutions in Southeast Asia; the periodic publication of a “Top List” of companies in the region selected based on an independent assessment of corporate governance practices. Our results suggest that being included in the list induces an increase in foreign investment and changes in corporate governance practices. The announcement of the Top List elicits a positive stock market response among constituents and is followed by higher accounting performance. Overall, the evidence suggests that the certification of governance practices is a meaningful tool to boost foreign investment.