Usefulness and Effectiveness of Related Party Transactions （RPTs） Disclosure： Empirical Evidence From Italy

Related party transactions （RPTs） can be used by corporate insiders （e.g., managers, controlling shareholders） to expropriate corporate outsiders （e.g., minority shareholders）. We argue that effective disclosure of RPTs can eliminate or at least reduce expropriation phenomena by letting corporate outsiders assess the fairness of the transactions and identify the underlying conflicts of interest. We consider a sample of large RPTs carried out by listed corporations in Italy, a country that has been affected by significant corporate scandals in recent years. In particular, we analyse the content of several compulsory informative documents, required by CONSOB （the Italian Securities and Exchange Commission）, concerning large RPTs. The focus of our content analysis is on the ＂warnings＂ sections of these documents that should convey clear and comprehensive information on potential risks and conflicts of interest. Our empirical results show that, while the ＂warnings＂ sections of the studied documents generally contain all the information required by existing rules, the depth of the information provided is often unlikely to be sufficient to communicate the implications of the RPTs. Thus, readers may not find the disclosed information adequate to evaluate the fairness of the transactions. Moreover, visual representations are rarely used in the informative documents. The use of such representations could allow companies to convey the structures and features of complex RPTs in a simpler and more direct way.     

E-government Implementation Factors： A Conceptual Framework

This paper provides an insight into the concept of e-government and its implementation factors. Attempts have been made to review and analyse existing literatures and theories of e-government and to develop a conceptual framework for evaluating factors influencing e-government implementing in both developing and developed countries. This is necessary to build trust amongst stakeholders, to encourage collaborative working, and to ensure that transparent and generally acceptable systems are in place. It is expected that the proposed conceptual model would be validated by researchers and academicians in future, since it would be relevant for analysing those wider social and economic factors that have an impact on e-government and other information and communication technologies （ICTs）.     

Auditor Switching and Investors＇ Reliance on Earnings： Evidence From Bursa Malaysia

This study provides some insights of investors＇ view on auditor independence focusing on auditor switching. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of appointing a new auditor on investors＇ reliability on reported earnings in financial accounts. Analyses are based on a matched-pair sample of 162 listed companies in the Bursa Malaysia for the year 2011. The results of the ordinary least squares （OLS） regression show that earnings response coefficients for auditor switching companies are significantly higher than for non-auditor switching companies. The results provide support for the contention that investors place greater reliability on the financial accounts audited by newly appointed auditors. This finding is consistent with the Malaysian audit market where long audit tenure is a common practice and auditor switching is considered rare. Findings provide support for the long discussed issue of the importance of auditor rotation in maintaining auditor independence.     

Review of International Accounting Standards Board （IASB） Proposed New Conceptual Framework： Discussion Paper （DP/2013/1）

The International Accounting Standards Board （IASB） is one of the largest independent accounting standard setters whose publications, International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRSs）, have revolutionalized the accounting profession, investors, finance providers, and the entire accounting information stakeholder community. The conceptual frameworks are the theoretical accounting bases that are constituted by a set of principles that underlie as a bedrock foundation cornerstone for the development and updating of IFRSs. The existing conceptual frameworks were issued by IASB in 2010, after long years of protracted and wide consultation and joint project with the biggest American standard setter Financial Accounting Standards Board （FASB）. In year 2013, the IASB embarked on a solo project to update the conceptual framework and issued a discussion paper （DP/2013/1） to its users and stakeholder community for comments. The methodology used in this study of an extensive review of literature （secondary/primary） from the discussion paper, existing conceptual framework, and comment letters from investors, accounting, insurance, and international audit firms has been manipulated. The findings revealed that the existing conceptual framework has opposing objectives especially that of decision usefulness （future-oriented information） and concepts of ＂prudence and stewardship/accountability＂, which are deeply embedded within the framework as subsumed, but their prominence has been overshadowed and watered down by not identifying them as objectives. The finding also revealed that almost all public accounting and audit firms are advocating not only for the reinstatement of the ＂prudence and stewardship/accountability＂ but also for a clear definition of recognition, de-recognition, and measurement of statement of financial position elements （assets and liabilities） and also elements of the comprehensive income statement （revenues and expenses）, which have seriously compromised investors, p     

Self-Dealing Among Convergence and Path-Dependency Opportunities： An Empirical Analysis of Regulatory From Six European Countries

Self-dealing refers to all kinds of transactions and operations diverting value from a company to corporate controllers. In order to tackle self-dealing, academics and regulators have emphasised the legal tools. However, there is a divergence between those supporting the existence of a benchmark model towards which to converge （convergence hypothesis） and those underscoring the importance of socio-economic factors on the efficacy of governance rules （path-dependency view）. The aim of this paper is to join in the convergence vs. path-dependency debate by focusing on the efficiency of mandatory rules and investigating their effectiveness. Considering the current market integration, the traditional cost-benefit analysis has been extended in order to embrace costs specifically associated to the issue of domestic rules in a global scenario. This analysis supports the convergence view and encourages at least a partial and gradual adjustment of national legislations towards the prevailing Anglo-Saxon model. In order to test this hypothesis, an examination of the self-dealing regulatory （on conflict of interests and self-dealing） adopted in some Western （Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom （UK）） and Eastern （Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland） European countries has been conducted.     

Corporate Internet Disclosure in the Arabian Gulf： An Empirical Examination of Determinants and Attributes

This paper investigates and reports on the extent and nature of corporate internet disclosure and the determinants of internet financial disclosure （IFD） by companies listed in three Gulf Corporation Council （GCC） countries. This paper uses data from 207 listed companies in Muscat Securities Market （MSM）, Dubai Financial Market （DFM）, and Qatar Exchange （QE）. Binary logistic regression analysis is used to examine the determinants of IFD. Kruskal-Wallis test is used to examine the differences in disclosure characteristics among the three countries. The results of this study reveal that firm size is the major factor influencing intemet financial reporting in the GCC. The results reveal that the three countries differ significantly in all the disclosure attributes with the exception of the existence of email link. This paper extends the stream of research that confirms the widespread use of internet in disclosing financial information. The results are consistent with previous literature that corporate size is a major determinant of internet financial reporting. This paper provides insights into corporate internet disclosure in the GCC that will benefit all stakeholders with an interest in corporate reporting in this important region of the world.     

The Perception of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises （SMEs） on the Importance of a Proper Accounting System： Malaysian Evidence

This paper examines the relationship between small- and medium-sized enterprises＇ （SMEs） entrepreneurs＇ perceptions towards a proper accounting system with the level of accounting staff recruited, preparation of final accounts, meetings with accounting staff, and entrepreneurs＇ ranking of accounting according to their priority. The methodology used to gather the data is survey questionnaire. It has been distributed to SMEs based on simple random sampling method. Three hundred businesses were selected from the total of 3,390 businesses listed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia area obtained from Small and Medium Industries Development Corporation （SMIDEC） website and a few random selected from Ampang and Cheras areas. Regression analysis has been used to analyze the data. The results of the study reveal that there was a significant relation between SMEs entrepreneurs＇ perceptions on the importance of a good accounting system and the level of professional accounting staff recruited. Furthermore, findings of this study also found that there was an insignificant relationship between SMEs entrepreneurs＇ perceptions on the importance of a good accounting system and preparation of final accounts of the company and frequency of meetings with accounting staff.     

上市批发零售企业高管持股与企业绩效实证分析

一、引言现代企业制度的一个明显特征就是所有权与经营权相分离。这种分离结果导致所谓代理问题的出现,管理层持股作为一种获得报酬方式,可以将管理人员自身利益和公司股东利益结合起来,从而在一定程度上消除代理人风险。