The role of institutional investors in corporate and entrepreneurial finance

Institutional investors, collectively the majority shareholders of most publicly traded corporations, play important roles in almost all aspects of corporate finance. This special issue puts together sixteen papers covering a wide range of topics, such as M&As, capital structure, bonds and loans, corporate governance, IPOs, VCs, SEOs, broker/underwriter relationships, behavioral finance, corporate disclosure, and regulation. These special issue papers demonstrate that institutional investors, a traditional focus of investments research, are worthy of continued and further academic inquiry in many corporate finance topics. In terms of directions for future research, we believe that the availability of new datasets (or existing datasets not yet widely used in corporate finance) and the application of new or unique research methodologies could bear fruit for researchers, as demonstrated by some papers in this special issue. In terms of datasets, the success of Abel Noser institutional trading data serves as a good example.     

或有表外项目的分类和计量研究

2001～2002年，大量的重大会计丑闻曝光，这些问题暴露了公司治理、审计实务和财务报告中的薄弱环节，其中两个主要问题是表外项目的范围（包括特殊目的实体的使用）和股票发行者的财务报告是否透明地反映了表外项目的经济实质。本文主要对或有表外项目中投资的分娄和计量进行兮析，并提供了美国上市公司投资于其他实体的经验研究与发现，以期对今后的衍生金融工具的会计处理提供借鉴。     

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.     

Determinants and consequences of tournament incentives: A survey of the literature in accounting and finance

This paper synthesizes the theoretical underpinnings of tournament models, reviews the extant empirical literature on the determinants and consequences of tournament incentives, critiques the findings and offers suggestions for future research. We synthesize findings from 63 empirical papers and find that several firm-level fundamental and corporate governance variables affect the structure of corporate tournaments. Our review of the consequences of tournament structure reveals that tournaments affect financial reporting and auditing as well as firm-level operational and capital market-based outcomes. This review reveals that the existing accounting and finance literature lacks a strong justification for why one theory rather than another is favored. Moreover, based on potential problems that may exist in empirical models, this review also offers some methodological implications for empirical tournament studies.     

会计稳健性、公司治理与社会责任报告印象管理

以2009-2014年披露社会责任报告的A股上市公司为样本,研究会计稳健性与公司治理对企业社会责任报告印象管理的交互影响.结果表明:企业会计稳健性越高,社会责任报告印象管理程度越低;公司治理水平越高,社会责任报告印象管理程度越低;公司治理水平越高,会计稳健性对社会责任报告印象管理的抑制作用越小;反之,公司治理水平越低,会计稳健性对社会责任报告印象管理的抑制作用越大.会计稳健性和公司治理均有助于抑制企业社会责任报告印象管理行为,且具有替代关系,这种替代关系在非国有企业中更为显著.     

Introduction to Special Issue of JREFE on REITs

This paper is an introduction to a special issue of the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics (JREFE) devoted to papers on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). The papers were especially written for a conference sponsored by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. The papers deal with the theoretical and empirical aspects of REIT underwriting behavior, corporate governance, asset pricing, takeovers and going-private transactions, capital-market based financing, changes in monetary policy and changes in REIT stock prices, and risk-bearing and liquidity.     

Corporate governance and board effectiveness

This paper surveys the empirical and theoretical literature on the mechanisms of corporate governance. We focus on the internal mechanisms of corporate governance (e.g., corporate board of directors) and their role in ameliorating various classes of agency problems arising from conflicts of interests between managers and equityholders, equityholders and creditors, and capital contributors and other stakeholders to the corporate firm. We also examine the substitution effect between internal mechanisms of corporate governance and external mechanisms, particularly markets for corporate control. Directions for future research are provided.     

Recent Developments in Corporate Governance: An Overview

I develop a corporate governance framework, provide a broad overview of recent corporate governance research, and place each of the Special Issue papers within the context of this framework. The papers in the issue contribute to our understanding of a wide range of governance topics including: the role of antitakeover measures, board structure, capital market governance, compensation and incentives, debt and agency costs, director and officer labor markets, fraud, lawsuits, ownership structure, and regulation. In short, the papers span almost every aspect of governance systems.     

Increasing the role of auditing in corporate governance

While critical accounting research has long been vitally interested in relationships between accounting, auditing and control of business organizations, mainstream research in accounting, finance and management has only recently displayed an increased interest in questions of corporate governance. The notion of corporate governance typically employed in mainstream research focus on enhancing benefits to shareholders. The structure and the functioning of boards of directors, and audit committees of such boards, are primary concerns within this line of research. This paper presents an alternative view of corporate governance and the role of auditing within corporate governance. We argue that the role of auditing should be increased in order to enhance the control of corporations for the benefit of all stakeholders and society generally.     

The Role of Auditing in Corporate Governance in Australia and New Zealand: A Research Synthesis

Corporate governance is of growing importance in Australia, New Zealand and all over the world. Corporate governance interacts with auditing and it is useful to understand how corporate governance and auditing affect companies. A related issue is whether better governance is a substitute for auditing or a complement. Previous studies of that issue have had mixed results. This review article provides a synthesis of Australian and New Zealand research about corporate governance and auditing that assesses what has been found and examines issues that can be explored using multiple studies. We conclude that despite extensive research, there is still considerable uncertainty about how corporate governance mechanisms are related to auditing and how auditing is associated with corporate governance. We conclude that recommendations for better governance (beyond a minimum level) are not yet supported by evidence. The results are intended to be helpful in providing advice about policy in Australia and New Zealand, and in determining directions for new research.     

Qualitative accounting research: special issue introduction

This special issue dedicated to qualitative accounting research shows the commitment of Accounting & Finance to support and publish qualitative research. This introductory piece explains the rationale behind this commitment and recounts the process followed with this special issue, before introducing the papers published in it. The first paper in the special issue, co‐authored by De Villiers, Dumay and Maroun, will be of interest to a large cross‐section of accounting researchers, even those with a quantitative bent, because it dispels some myths around qualitative research, and it sets a research agenda that others may pursue.     

The Evolution of Corporate Governance and Firm Performance in Transition Economies: The Case of Sellier and Bellot in the Czech Republic

This paper investigates the evolution of corporate governance and firm performance in transition economies. It focuses on barriers that impeded adoption of optimal corporate governance at Czech ammunition manufacturer Sellier and Bellot (S&B) following voucher privatisation in 1993. Exogenously imposed diffuse ownership, combined with legal, capital market, and accounting deficiencies, contributed to poor corporate governance and weak firm performance. This study shows how legal, capital market, and accounting deficiencies hinder corporate governance evolution; it demonstrates monitoring and incentive mechanisms can create value in transition economies; it suggests effective privatisation not only involves rapid ownership transfer but careful accounting and securities regulation and legal protection.     

财务报表保险(FSI)制度研究综述

财务报表保险(FSI)制度对于会计和保险界来说是一个全新的研究领域,已有研究发现,FSI与SOA2002相比更能有效解决审计师独立性问题,从而提升投保公司的会计信息质量。随之而来的好处是公司治理的改善及资源配置的优化,这对现实经济具有重大意义。本文在论述FSI制度产生背景的基础上,详细综述了国内外理论研究者关于FSI制度的已有研究,最后作出总结并给出了未来研究之方向。     

Shareholder protection,income inequality and social health: A proposed research agenda

This paper develops a proposed research agenda in order to highlight how corporate governance, accounting and company law are relevant to the consideration of income inequality and wider social health. To illustrate this proposed research agenda, this paper draws on corporate governance research in the law and finance tradition, as well as macro-level studies in accounting concerned with the wider corporate governance context, in order to consider the association between shareholder protection, income inequality and child mortality. Under 5 child mortality is an objective indication of a country’s ability to nurture its children. In an influential body of work, La Porta et al. (1997a, 1997b, 1998, 2008) concluded that a common law legal system which protected the interests of shareholders gave rise to better economic and social outcomes. However, drawing on corporate governance and accounting literature we contend that such a conclusion is flawed. The findings of this paper suggest that common law countries (i.e. those with the greater legal protection for investors) have worse social outcomes in terms of under-5 child mortality.     

Financial flexibility and corporate liquidity

I provide an overview of the topics covered in this Special Issue of the Journal of Corporate Finance on “Financial Flexibility and Corporate Liquidity.” This burgeoning literature encompasses studies of the determinants and consequences of corporate cash holdings, as well as the impact of flexibility considerations on corporate capital structure and payout policies. The papers published in this special issue make important contributions to this literature and point towards several promising areas for future research.     

Diversity and women in finance: Challenges and future perspectives

This paper explores the main forces impacting diversity and the role of women at senior management and board level in finance. In addition, it offers a synopsis of selected research examining the board composition, corporate social responsibility and external corporate governance. We focus mainly on empirical papers that employ quasi-natural experiments and textual analysis to confirm the interdisciplinary nature of diversity. Further, we identify priorities for future research that can advance our understanding on this research area, and the broader field of financial studies, encompassing the growing interest in the boundaries between the economic, the psychological and the social.     

Product market competition in accounting,finance, and corporate governance: A review of the literature

Product market competition has been identified as one of the most powerful corporate governance tools for motivating managers to maximize firm value. Consistent with this view, a large body of theoretical and empirical research over the years has investigated the implications of product market competition. This paper synthesizes and critically evaluates the empirical literature on the consequences of product market competition in the accounting, finance, and corporate governance domains. Our review focuses on issues like financial reporting quality, analyst forecasting activities, asset pricing, investment, and financing decisions, and the substitutive versus complementary relationships between product market competition and other corporate governance tools. Our review suggests that, although market competition has profound implications for these issues, the empirical findings often provide conflicting results. We highlight such contradictory findings and offer suggestions for future research. Our review will help researchers intending to further investigate the implications of product market competition, both in the US and internationally.     

Corporate Reporting in Central and Eastern Europe: Issues,Challenges and Research Opportunities

The purpose of this paper, building upon the papers included in this special section of Accounting in Europe on Corporate reporting in CEE countries and on our knowledge of the region, is to broaden out and open up dialogue and debate about how local institutions are evolving and impact the corporate reporting practices in this under-researched region. We begin by discussing the institutional context for conducting research on corporate reporting by entities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), within the broader context of emerging, transitional economies. We also reflect on how research conducted on CEE countries can make a relevant contribution to the international literature, and exemplify by summarizing the research questions and findings of the papers included in the special section. A future research agenda emerges, given the gaps in the international literature and the future research implications suggested in the papers constituting the special section.     

中国内部控制的社会认同度研究

严格严密的内部控制制度是现代公司治理实现其基本目标的前提条件。对经营权的有效控制并使之与股东利益保持动态一致,只有在内部控制制度的全力保障下,才有可能成为现实。一个社会对公司治理、一个公司对自身治理的关注和重视程度,直接体现在其对公司内部控制制度的关注和重视上。本文从法律法规的制定、公司自身、会计师事务所和投资者四个角度考察了中国社会对内部控制的关注程度,借以对中国公司治理认同度问题做出大致判断。基于对内部控制关注程度的研究发现,公司治理在我国仍缺乏应有的认同,从而使得公司治理在我国的实践中可能只是一种徒具驱壳而缺乏实质内容和实在效果的时髦理论。