The role of auditing in the fight against corruption

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how various types of auditing may contribute to fight corruption. While previous literature has primarily addressed auditing's ability to prevent corruption, this paper systematically explores auditing's potential to detect corruption. It argues that financial auditing has excluded corruption from the definition of fraud and instead classified it as ‘non-compliance with laws and regulations’. The main arguments for this exclusion is that corruption leaves no material errors in financial statements and no evidence for the auditor to follow. The paper refutes this, arguing that commercial and political corruption creates misstatements in the financial statements of the corruption giver's organization as well as the corruption receiver's organization. Thus, if auditing is to gain a more prominent role in the fight against corruption, auditing standards must include corruption in the definition of fraud, private and public sector auditors need to cooperate and exchange information, auditing techniques to detect corruption should be employed, and the auditing profession must embrace effective preventive measures such as anti-corruption certifications.     

Financial and Legal Constraints to Growth: Does Firm Size Matter?

Using a unique firm‐level survey database covering 54 countries, we investigate the effect of financial, legal, and corruption problems on firms' growth rates. Whether these factors constrain growth depends on firm size. It is consistently the smallest firms that are most constrained. Financial and institutional development weakens the constraining effects of financial, legal, and corruption obstacles and it is again the small firms that benefit the most. There is only a weak relation between firms' perception of the quality of the courts in their country and firm growth. We also provide evidence that the corruption of bank officials constrains firm growth.     

Accounting control,governance and anti-corruption initiatives in public sector organisations

This special issue focuses on the interactions between accounting, public sector organisations and the socio-economic and political environments in which they operate, with a specific focus on the critical analysis of policy and practice in the fight against corruption. The aim of the special issue is to disseminate knowledge to enable a more sustainable, accountable and less corrupt public sector, regardless of where it is located in the world. It presents the work of a global community of scholars engaged in research projects on policies and strategies related to accountability, transparency, auditing, regulatory disclosure, governance, investor protection and anti-corruption initiatives in public sector organisations. The papers presented here address many different angles of corruption and aspects of the way in which it is reported using a broad range of methodologies, theoretical frameworks and research locations. Collectively, these papers demonstrate that more attention needs be given to investigating the human cost associated with illegal activity that leads to human suffering, inequality, and lifetime costs. They further emphasise that we have much to learn about regulatory disclosure and jurisprudential practice in the fight against fraud and corruption.     

Institutional environment and qualified foreign institutional investors' trust in auditing

Even though corporate governance is a channel for qualified foreign institutional investors (QFIIs) to mitigate information asymmetry and is essential in substituting for poor institutional quality in the host countries of QFIIs, systematic evidence is scanty due to the challenge of capturing institutional quality changes in the host country. Thus, this study examines how improvements in country-level institutional quality affect QFIIs' trust in a firm's audit quality. Using a propensity score matching method, we found that after the 2013 anti-corruption reform improved the institutional quality level in China, Chinese firms without an audit committee experienced a sharp increase in QFII ownership relative to their peers. This finding is more pronounced in regions where the government exerted more effort in combating corruption. Our findings provide supporting evidence that the improvement in institutional quality increases QFIIs' trust in the audit quality, thereby decreasing their reliance on the audit committee as an internal corporate governance mechanism.     

An Institutional Theory Perspective on Corruption: The Case of a Developing Democracy

The purpose of this paper is to use quantitative data to describe corruption in the SANPS, and use Luo's ( 2005 ) institutional theory to gain insights into how corruption develops and remains entrenched despite the introduction of anti‐corruption legislation. A total of 1,500 questionnaires were distributed to public servants in nine provinces, but predominantly in Kwa Zulu Natal and Gauteng. There were 702 returned giving a response rate of 47%. We conclude that the findings discussed in this paper lend support for Luo's theoretical model being able to provide insight into the development of corruption, its consequences and possible remedies.     

Accounting and networks of corruption

This study examines the nature and role of accounting practices in a network of corruption in an influence-market setting. The study focuses on the Canadian government’s Sponsorship Program (1994–2003), a national unification scheme that saw approximately $50 million diverted into the bank accounts of political parties, program administrators, and their families, friends and business colleagues. Relying on the institutional sociology of Bourdieu, the study demonstrates the precise role of accounting practices in the organization of a corrupt network imbued with a specific telos and certain accounting tasks. The study illustrates how accounting is accomplished and by whom, and it shows how the ‘skillful use’ of accounting practices and social interactions around these practices together enable corruption. In so doing, the study builds on a growing body of work examining criminogenic networks and the contextual, collaborative and systemic uses of accounting in such networks.     

How do institutions affect corruption and the shadow economy?

This paper analyzes a simple model that captures the relationship between institutional quality, the shadow economy, and corruption. It shows that an improvement in institutional quality reduces the shadow economy and affects the corruption market. The exact relationship between corruption and institutional quality is, however, ambiguous and depends on the relative effectiveness of institutional quality in the shadow and corruption markets. The analytics also show that the shadow economy and corruption are substitutes. The predictions of the model are empirically tested and confirmed.     

Changes in the Public Accounts Committee of a Less Developed Democratic Country: A Field Study

This paper complements prior studies on the public accounts committees (PACs) by considering the notions of ‘agency’ and ‘structure’ of institutional theory in tandem in understanding the changes in structures and activities of the PAC of a less‐developed democratic country – Bangladesh. While prior studies examined ‘external’ institutional pressures on the development and operation of the PAC in various settings, the role of internal and external institutional agents in this context has not been their primary focus. Our empirical evidence from a qualitative field study indicates that over the past two decades, Bangladesh's PAC underwent significant changes to its internal governance structures and administrative processes. While these changes were indirectly driven by pressures from international donor agencies, PAC members and the national audit office played a key role as institutional agents in initiating and institutionalising the changes in PAC governance and operation.     

机构投资者担心企业应用衍生品进行投机吗-来自中国上市公司的证据

以2007-2011年应用过衍生品的中国上市公司为样本,检验机构投资者持股与企业应用衍生品及其投机行为的关系,研究发现:机构投资者担心企业应用衍生品尤其是应用衍生品的投机行为会损害其自身的利益,并且这种担心超出了机构投资者通过积极的监督来保障自身利益的意愿,因此,机构投资者倾向于减少对那些应用衍生品公司的投资,大多维持在一个较低的水平.此外,证据还表明:在我国上市公司中,机构投资者的投资并不普遍,份量也较轻;衍生品在我国上市公司中的应用亦不普遍并且应用的程度很低,大多数应用衍生品的公司是为了套保,但一旦投机则非常严重;机构投资者较为看重应用衍生品公司的成长性,而反感其业绩与盈余管理行为.     

Identifying and Attracting the "right" Investors: Evidence on the Behavior of Institutional Investors

This article summarizes the findings of research the author has conducted over the past seven years that aims to answer a number of questions about institutional investors: Are there significant differences among institutional investors in time horizon and other trading practices that would enable such investors to be classified into types on the basis of their observable behavior? Assuming the answer to the first is yes, do corporate managers respond differently to the pressures created by different types of investors– and, by implication, are certain kinds of investors more desirable from corporate management's point of view? What kinds of companies tend to attract each type of investor, and how does a company's disclosure policy affect that process? The author's approach identifies three categories of institutional investors: (1) “transient” institutions, which exhibit high portfolio turnover and own small stakes in portfolio companies; (2) “dedicated” holders, which provide stable ownership and take large positions in individual firms; and (3) “quasi‐indexers,” which also trade infrequently but own small stakes (similar to an index strategy). As might be expected, the disproportionate presence of transient institutions in a company's investor base appears to intensify pressure for short‐term performance while also resulting in excess volatility in the stock price. Also not surprising, transient investors are attracted to companies with investor relations activities geared toward forward‐looking information and “news events,” like management earnings forecasts, that constitute trading opportunities for such investors. By contrast, quasi‐indexers and dedicated institutions are largely insensitive to shortterm performance and their presence is associated with lower stock price volatility. The research also suggests that companies that focus their disclosure activities on historical information as opposed to earnings forecasts tend to attract quasi‐indexers instead of transient investors. In sum, the author's research suggests that changes in disclosure practices have the potential to shift the composition of a firm's investor base away from transient investors and toward more patient capital. By removing some of the external pressures for short‐term performance, such a shift could encourage managers to establish a culture based on long‐run value maximization.     

Budgetary change at a university: A narrative inquiry

This paper reports the results of a qualitative case study of an Australian University's implementation of a new budget model. To inform our research, we developed a theoretical framework by drawing from neo-institutional sociology, old institutional economics and technical-rational choice. A narrative inquiry was employed to elicit the stories of participants' experiences of the budgetary change in its socio-political and institutional contexts. Through this narrative inquiry, we depart from prior institutional management accounting change studies which have presented change steered by external pressures for conformity and/or legitimacy. Our study shows how budgeting, as a management accounting tool, can be viewed as a rational myth conferring social legitimacy upon organisational participants and their actions. Further, we demonstrate that the emergence of a new management accounting practice is attributed to the demands of technical-rational imperatives, and the existence of internal rationalised dynamics and norms. We highlight and analyse the role and ability of organisational actors to create budgetary change in an institutionalised higher education environment.     

The regulatory environment and financial constraints of private firms in the European Union

This study analyzes the influence of the institutional environment on firms' capital structure in the European Union (EU). Unlike other research, we focus on private firms and include data from all EU countries from 2010 to 2018. We split the sample into groups of small and large firms, which we consider financially constrained and unconstrained, respectively. Throughout the study, we posit that institutional effects on financing policies vary with size, with the effects being greater for constrained firms as they face more financing frictions. We also run regression models controlling for firm-level characteristics and relevant macroeconomic factors. Our findings reveal that a high-quality regulatory environment negatively affects firms' leverage, whereas social corruption has the opposite effect. Moreover, the efficiency of enforcing commercial contracts and developing the financial system positively influences firms' leverage.     

Unfolding institutional plurality in hybrid organizations through practices: The case of a cooperative bank

This paper provides a theoretically informed analysis of how institutional pluralism unfolds in hybrid organizations through practices. Building on Quattrone's (2015) procedural model, the paper studies institutional plurality in the case of an Italian cooperative bank that has experienced enduring success. By reversing the usual approach to logic, defined as a stable set of beliefs, this paper shows that this hybrid organization uses a recursive system of practices in search of social order. This hybrid organization interrogates its organizational imperatives and defines adequate ways to achieve them. This paper then observes that this system of practices is permeable to external pressures, i.e., inspections by the central bank, a reform of cooperative banks, political pressure for mergers and acquisitions, and Italy's sovereign debt crisis. While such an organization appears to be ongoingly accountable to its multiple stakeholders, external pressures undermine its community accountability system and push this hybrid organization towards compliance accountability. Based on our findings, this paper develops a process model for hybrid organizations to navigate institutional plurality and to explain the potential limitations of the accountability system.     

An empirical study of research and development top managers' perceptions of short-term pressures from capital markets in the United Kingdom

It is often argued that capital market pressures are increasingly directed towards short-term performance evaluation of managers and their operations. Whether these external capital market pressures actually exist or not, short-term pressures on firms are influenced by managers' own perceptions of these external pressures. If managers perceive the existence of these external pressures it is likely that this will lead to short-term behaviour on their part. The purpose of this paper is therefore to examine (a) research and development (R&D) managers' perceptions of short-term behaviour in capital markets in the UK, and (b) patterns of behaviour relating to R&D which may be influenced by these perceptions. The findings of this study indicate that approximately half of the UK research and development managers perceive capital markets as responsible for putting inappropriate short-term pressures on their companies' management. However, an even larger proportion report short-termist behaviour relating to R&D and its evaluation, suggesting that some at least of the problem of ‘short-termism’ is internally generated.     

Corporate profitability and the global persistence of corruption

We examine the persistence of corporate corruption for a sample of privately-held firms from 12 Central and Eastern European countries from 2001 to 2015. Using publicly available information and stochastic frontier analysis, we create a proxy for corporate corruption based on a firm's internal inefficiency. We find that corruption enhances a firm's profitability. A channel analysis further reveals that inflating staff costs is the most common approach by which firms divert funds to finance corruption. In spite of corruption's negative effects on a country's economy, we conclude that it persists because of its ability to improve corporate profitability. We refer to this effect as the Corporate Advantage Hypothesis.     

Can government intervention be both a curse and a blessing? Evidence from China's finance sector

Earlier work views government intervention as a “grabbing hand,” whereas more recent studies report that it acts as a “helping hand.” Can government intervention be both a curse and a blessing? This paper investigates this issue by investigating the impact of government intervention on firm financing and financial corruption in China, using the 2005 World Bank Investment Climate survey data. To do so, we first use instrumental variable estimations to confirm that government intervention promotes financial access and encourage corruption. Next, we adopt a mediator model to document that government intervention promotes firms' access to finance through informal payment. The mediation effect is significant for split samples that capture different type of political and economic climate. The policy implications of the findings are discussed.     

The Strategic Options of Supreme Audit Institutions: The Case of Four Nordic Countries

Based on the theory of professional competition, this paper identifies and investigates four strategic options of supreme audit institutions (SAIs) through a case study of four Nordic national audit offices: a performance auditing strategy; a financial auditing strategy; a portfolio strategy; and a hybrid strategy. The analysis of the Nordic SAIs shows that while one SAI appears to have adopted a hybrid strategy, the portfolio strategy has been chosen by the three other SAIs, although with some variations in the portfolio. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these strategic options for public sector auditing.     

Does workload and institutional pressure on accounting educators affect academia at Australian universities?

This paper examines accounting academics’ perceptions as to whether institutional pressure has increased in the previous 5–10 years subsequent to changes in the higher education environment, encouraging universities to adopt private sector managerialism. Results from 87 respondents indicated that workload pressures have increased and they experienced pressure to perform acts related to a student-as-customer model, which have negatively affected their well-being and work quality. The majority are not actively seeking to leave academia, but believe it is not a good time for others to aspire to such a career. This paper contributes to the debate about the sustainability of accounting academia at Australian universities.     

Corporate social responsibility and corruption risk: A global perspective

This paper extends our knowledge on corporate corruption risk by examining whether and to what extent corporate social responsibility (CSR) affects firm-level corruption risk. Using a cross-country sample of major multinational firms, we find that firm-level CSR mitigates corruption risk. On closer examination, we find that the relationship between CSR and corruption risk is mediated by country-level variables such as institutional quality, protection of minority shareholders’ rights, stock market development and freedom of the press. Further, we find that in emerging countries, CSR mitigates corruption risk only when the country-level institutional quality is high and citizens enjoy press freedom. Our findings suggest that both formal institutions and the quality of civil society influence the effect of CSR on corruption risk. Our results remain robust to controls for endogeneity and potential sample selection bias.