INFLATION AND CENTRAL BANK INDEPENDENCE: A META‐REGRESSION ANALYSIS

Abstract Using 59 studies, we perform a meta‐regression analysis of studies examining the relationship between inflation and central bank independence (CBI). The studies considered are very different with respect to the CBI indicator used, the sample of countries and time periods covered, model specification, estimators used and publication outlet. We conclude that there is a significant publication bias. However, we also find a significant genuine effect of CBI on inflation. Differences between studies are not caused by differences in CBI indicators used.     

Central bank independence and economic performance in eastern Europe

Following the breakdown of central planning by the early 1990s, transition economies faced varying measures of the need for economic restructuring and stabilisation. This paper examines both the trends in economic performance in eight eastern European countries and the degree of central bank independence (CBI) granted after reforms. The evidence of the paper indicates that both the measures of CBI and the measures of financial market development (FMD) show significant association with macroeconomic variables. Also, the sample exhibits positive association between CBI and measures of FMD.     

Can the C.B.I Create Confidence?

The CBI has claimed that evidence from manufacturing firms suggests that the Government's economic policies have been debilitating British industry. Professor Pearce maintains that the CBI interpretation of the evidence is based on a misunderstanding of the economic process.     

Transforming Qualitative Survey Data: Performance Comparisons for the UK*

This paper assesses different ways of converting qualitative data obtained in surveys into quantitative indices for a number of economic variables. The research reported here focuses on the main UK employers’ business survey for manufacturing – the CBI industrial trends survey. Six response variables are investigated – plant and machinery investment, output, employment, exports, price and cost. We find that the balance statistic is a satisfactory method of transforming three of the variables: investment, output and exports.     

An Experimental Analysis of the Effects of Non‐audit Services on Auditor Independence in Appearance in the European Union: Evidence from Germany

The provision of non‐audit services by the statutory auditor may have a negative impact on auditor independence. Therefore, the European Union decided to prevent auditors from offering a significant extent of non‐audit services to audit clients. Prior research has revealed that different advisory services have different effects on perceived auditor independence. This could be caused by differences in number and intensity of independence threats (self‐interest, familiarity, self‐review, advocacy). Therefore, this experimental study investigates the effect of such threats on independence perceptions in the case of German individual investors. Multivariate analyses indicate that a high self‐interest and a high‐familiarity threat may impair auditor independence in appearance. On the other hand, our findings do not reveal a significant effect of an existing advocacy threat on investors’ trust in auditor independence. A negative effect of a self‐review threat is not directly confirmed. However, the provision of services with regard to internal controls, and thus the self‐review threat, interacts with the self‐interest threat. They potentially impact perceived auditor independence negatively when non‐audit fees are high. In contrast, no significant interactions with familiarity are found. Based on these findings, a general prohibition of non‐audit services does not seem to be necessary. On the other hand, a non‐audit fees cap might be reasonable.     

审计独立性缺乏的因素分析及对策研究

本文认为,独立性是审计的灵魂,是会计师事务所生存和发展的源泉,离开了独立性审计质量只能是空谈。安然公司会计丑闻导致了安达信瓦解,社会对安达信提供的非审计业务是否影响审计独立性提出了质疑。非审计业务的巨额收益使得会计师事务所与客户间产生经济关联,利益驱使注册会计师与客户合谋而损害审计独立性。本文在对审计独立性影响因素进行分析的基础上,提出保持审计独立性的对策。     

Judicial checks on corruption in the United States

Judicial oversight provides an important check on executive and legislative power. Two components of judicial oversight have been identified in the literature: judicial independence and constitutional review. Recent research using country-level data indicates that the effectiveness of constitutional review is largely determined by the rigidity of the constitution. In this paper, I use state-level data to test whether judicial independence and constitutional rigidity are related to a specific type of abuse of power by government officials: corruption in office. Specifically, I fit negative binomial regressions in which the dependent variable is the number of officials convicted for corrupt acts and the independent variables are (i) measures of judicial independence, such as judges’ remuneration, method of appointment, and term length, along with various controls or (ii) measures of constitutional rigidity, such as legislative majorities required to propose constitutional amendments and provisions for constitutional conventions or constitutional initiatives, along with various controls. I find that, in general, states with higher levels of judicial independence and more rigid constitutions have lower levels of corruption per capita than states with the opposite characteristics.     

基于公司治理的注册会计师与管理当局冲突模式分析——审计独立性研究

从上个世纪七八十年代起愈演愈烈的管理欺诈和审计丑闻,使注册会计师的独立性受到前所未有的质疑,人们越来越重视独立性问题。本文从所有者、管理者和注册会计师三者之间的冲突对审计独立性的影响进行分析,通过对三者之间产生冲突时的力量的对比以及制约冲突的因素的分析,在总结研究成果的基础上提出了基于公司治理结构的注册会计师冲突模式,并就在新的模式下如何保障审计独立性提出了建议。     

Review of empirical research on rotation and non-audit services: auditor independence in fact vs. appearance

Confidence in the processes of corporate reporting and auditing has rapidly decreased recently due to front-page accounting scandals in both the United States and Europe. The goal of audit regulations, such as the Sarbanes Oxley Act in the United States (US) and the 8th Directive in the European Union (EU), is to restore public trust in the auditing process. Along with other regulatory aspects, requirements related to audit partner rotation and bans on providing concurrent non-audit services were implemented to maintain auditor independence, both in fact and in appearance. However, the implementation of audit regulation implies that increased requirements are able to enhance the failed audit function. Empirical research should help to understand the impact of these two regulatory aspects and indicate their effectiveness in maintaining auditor independence. Thus, we outline the newest empirical research related to audit partner rotation and non-audit services and independence in fact or in appearance. Overall, we conclude that prior research does not point to one particular requirement that would most effectively restore trust in the audit function. Rather the existence of multiple threats to auditor independence might demand a combination of several requirements to maintain auditor independence. Thus, more research is needed to investigate the joint effects of different threats to auditor independence, e.?g., non-audit fees and audit partner tenure.     

From network ties to network structures: Exponential Random Graph Models of interorganizational relations

Theoretical accounts of network ties between organizations emphasize the interdependence of individual intentions, opportunities, and actions embedded in local configurations of network ties. These accounts are at odds with empirical models based on assumptions of independence between network ties. As a result, the relation between models for network ties and the observed network structure of interorganizational fields is problematic. Using original fieldwork and data that we have collected on collaborative network ties within a regional community of hospital organizations we estimate newly developed specifications of Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGM) that help to narrow the gap between theories and empirical models of interorganizational networks. After controlling for the main factors known to affect partner selection decisions, full models in which local dependencies between network ties are appropriately specified outperform restricted models in which such dependencies are left unspecified and only controlled for statistically. We use computational methods to show that networks based on empirical estimates produced by models accounting for local network dependencies reproduce with accuracy salient features of the global network structure that was actually observed. We show that models based on assumptions of independence between network ties do not. The results of the study suggest that mechanisms behind the formation of network ties between organizations are local, but their specification and identification depends on an accurate characterization of network structure. We discuss the implications of this view for current research on interorganizational networks, communities, and fields.     

Impact of renewable long-term audit mandates on audit quality

Anglo-American countries like the US and the UK allow companies to switch auditors every year. In contrast, some continental European countries restrict auditor switching by allowing only renewable long-term audit mandates. This paper aims to analyse the impact of renewable long-term audit mandates on audit quality. Audit quality is considered from the viewpoint of the external users of the financial statements. It is questioned whether renewable long-term audit mandates have an impact on the auditor's reporting behaviour and on auditor independence. This research is motivated by the lack of consensus in the literature on the impact of the length of the auditor client relationship on audit quality. Moreover, few empirical studies use publicly available secondary data in order to determine whether perceived threats to auditor independence actually compromise auditor independence. Therefore, our research methodology consists in the development of a logistic regression model in which the explanatory variables are measured using publicly available data. The results of the study suggest that long-term auditor client relationships significantly increase the likelihood of an unqualified opinion or significantly reduce the auditor's willingness to qualify audit reports. A significant difference was also found between the auditor's reporting behaviour in the first two years versus the last year of the audit mandate. Auditors are more willing to issue an unqualified audit report in the first two years of their official mandate than in the last year of their mandate. This could be an indication that the decision to renew the auditor's mandate is already taken and known to the auditor before he has issued his last audit report within his current mandate. The policy implications of these findings could be in favour of mandatory auditor rotation to maintain the value of an audit for the external users. However, given recent theoretic evidence on the adverse effects of mandatory auditor rotation, there is a need to develop alternative measures to safeguard auditors' independence.     

Does Board Independence Affect Audit Fees? Evidence from Recent Regulatory Reforms

To enhance board oversight, since 2002, US legislation has required listed companies to have a majority independent board. This paper uses this legislative change to examine the relation between board independence and audit fees. To provide a clean estimate of this relation, we adopt a difference-in-difference approach using a sample matched on client firm characteristics. We find that greater board independence is insignificantly associated with a change in audit fees when client firms operate in a weak information environment. When the information environment is strong, greater board independence is associated with an increase in audit fees. Our results are consistent with the nascent theory emphasizing information asymmetry and provide insight into the effectiveness of the mandated board independence in relation to audit quality.     

Entrepreneurs or employees: a cross-cultural cognitive analysis

This study examines the influence of the cultural-cognitive dimension - measured through creativity, risk taking and independence - on the probability of becoming an entrepreneur or an employee. Institutional economics is used as theoretical framework of the research. The empirical research uses binomial and multinomial probit models, when controlling for socio-demographic factors and macro variables. Data was obtained from the World Values Survey, for the period 2005-2008, considering a sample of 41 countries and 56,875 individuals. The main findings demonstrate that creativity, risk taking and independence increase the probability of becoming entrepreneur, and decrease the probability of becoming employee. Given that these characteristics facilitate the birth of new ideas, processes, products, and services, it is crucial to learn from entrepreneurs, and to foster such characteristics within organizations. The results have contributions for both researchers and policymakers on new firm creation (entrepreneurship) and on the generation of innovation within organisations (intrapreneurship).     

The Empirical Research on Auditor Independence and Mandatory Auditor Rotation

Using, the method of correlation coefficient, this paper discusses the empirical relationship between audit tenure and audit opinion in annual reports in China A-share market and period of mandatory rotation of auditor. The research finds that the negative correlation between auditor tenure and non-standard unqualified audit opinion is statistically significant, and auditor tenure might impair his/her independence. To enhance auditor independence and improve audit quality, it is necessary to rotate mandatory auditor. The results also fred that consecutive auditing years should not exceed 5 years when the existing auditor has been the auditor of listed company, and mandatory rotation of auditor adapts to the rotation of CPA firms in charge of a client.     

Non-audit Services and Audit Quality: Evidence from Private Firms

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between audit quality in private firms and the provision of non-audit services (NAS) – an issue that has rarely been considered in prior research. The threats to auditor independence are different in private firms compared to public firms. The same is true of the opportunities to use the same knowledge for audit and for NAS. Therefore, the effect of the provision of NAS on audit quality is also likely to be different. In this study, audit quality is measured by discretionary accruals, as well as by managers' perceptions of the extent to which the audit improves accounting quality. The regression analysis is based on 420 surveyed private firms in Sweden and suggests that audit quality is positively associated with NAS in general and accounting services in particular. The findings indicate that the joint provision of audit and NAS do not necessarily result in impaired auditor independence, but rather support the existence of knowledge spillover between the services.     

Building employer solidarity? Britain's experience of coordinated bargaining, 1979 to 1997

The election of the Conservative government in 1979 is seen as a watershed in pay determination in the UK, ending formal pay policies. While the government withdrew, the UK's major employer organisation, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), endeavoured to operate an alternative system of employer coordination on pay between 1979 and 1997. Had this approach succeeded, the UK's approach to pay determination would have become much more aligned to the models adopted within other EU Member States. We analyse the development of this alternative to government‐imposed incomes policy and measure its impact on the growth of earnings. We conclude that, despite the CBI's policy, the actions of individual employers suffered from classic market failure until the British economy was subjected to mounting competitive pressures from the international environment.     

The Influence of Board Composition on Sustainable Development Disclosure

Despite knowing the potential effect of social reporting on firms' continuity, there is limited research into the influence of the composition of boards of directors on CSR disclosure. This paper adds to the emerging CSR literature empirical evidence by examining how board composition relates to a firm's social and environmental disclosure as well as the implementation of social policies. Using a sample of FTSE 350 firms for the period 2007–2012, the results show that higher board independence facilitates the conveying of firms' good citizenship image through enhancing societal conscience. The results also show that female participation on boards is favorably affecting CSR engagement and reporting as well as the establishment of ethical policies. Hence, the research suggests that boards with higher female participation and independence boost the legitimacy of CSR reporting. Board gender diversity and independence facilitates directing part of the firm's scarce resources toward value maximizing social projects and subsequent reporting on these. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Unemployment: Is Government Macro- Economic Policy Impotent?

Persistent calls from the CBI, TUC and other corporatists for government 'action' to relieve unemployment are based on the Keynesian belief that government can trade off unemployment against inflation. Professor Rowley analyses the fallacy and argues for the dismantling of institutional barriers in the labour market.     

审计师与管理者博弈下的审计独立性与审计质量——纵横国际的例证分析

审计独立性与审计质量始终是审计研究领域的核心问题。本文以纵横国际为例,采用博弈论的方法,从审计师与公司管理者的较量角度审视审计独立性与审计质量的关系。我们认为:制度对审计独立性和审计质量的影响并不是直接的,而是通过影响审计师在与客户管理当局的博弈中的决策行为而对审计独立性发挥作用,然后带来审计质量的变化。     

公司治理与债务成本——来自深交所A股上市公司的经验证据

本文以2002-2005年间深圳证券交易所1525家A股上市公司为样本,实证检验了公司治理结构与上市公司债务成本的关系。研究发现,第一大股东持股比例、董事会独立性与总债务成本和银行贷款债务成本显著负相关。表明第一大股东、独立董事能有效降低债权人面临的代理冲突。研究还发现,高管持股比例和控制人类型对总债务成本和银行贷款债务成本具有不同影响。