Corporate aggregate disclosure practices in Jordan

This study reports the results of an empirical investigation of the disclosure behavior of listed companies in Jordan after important changes in economic and accounting regulations. It also reports the relationship between aggregate disclosure (both mandatory and voluntary) and a number of company characteristics (financial and non-financial) for Jordanian companies listed in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). The results of the study revealed that there was a significant increase in the level of aggregate disclosure (its average was 69%) compared to previous studies in Jordan. The extent of mandatory and voluntary disclosures was 83% and 34% respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that firm size, profitability, number of shareholders, listing status, industry type, audit firm size and company age are significant variables in explaining the variation in the level of aggregate disclosure among Jordanian companies. Meanwhile, multivariate analysis showed firm size (sales), profitability (ROE), audit firm size, industry type and listing status, to be significantly associated with the level of aggregate disclosure.     

Impact of stakeholder characteristics on voluntary dissemination of interim information and communication of its level of assurance

Equity of access to information for listed entities is a key principle in an efficient and effective market. Direct mailing is a mechanism for achieving this. This study examines equity of access by identifying the half‐yearly financial information, if any, voluntarily mailed out by Australian listed entities and associated stakeholder characteristics. We find that certain stakeholder characteristics (presence of audit committee and shareholder dispersion) are associated with voluntary mail‐out of half‐yearly financial information, along with certain control variables (size of entity, industry and audit opinion). This study further identifies that there are very few instances of the higher level of assurance (audit) being chosen, and where half‐year information is disseminated there are very few instances of the level of assurance on this information being communicated to shareholders.     

公司特征、外部审计与内部控制信息的自愿披露——基于沪市上市公司2003—2005年年报的经验研究

本文利用沪市非金融业上市公司2003—2005年年度报告中自愿披露的内部控制信息相关数据,立足于公司特征和外部审计角度,针对上市公司自愿披露内部控制信息的决定因素进行了经验研究。研究发现:我国上市公司自愿披露内部控制信息的总体水平较差,但在2003—2005年间有逐年增加的趋势;上市公司是否自愿披露内部控制信息与是否在海外交叉上市、是否聘请"四大"进行外部审计、资产总规模、资产净利率、独立董事人数占董事总人数的百分比显著正相关,与外部审计意见类型显著负相关,与监事会规模、是否设立审计委员会以及样本年度正相关;在影响上市公司内部控制信息自愿披露的因素中,是否海外交叉上市、独立董事占董事总人数百分比和资产净利率是比较一致的显著因素,相对而言,外部审计尚未起到显著的促进作用。     

Characteristics of Organisations Using an Audit for Interim Financial Statements

This study examines the characteristics of companies that choose to have a full audit of their interim financial statements, as distinct from a review. A cross-section of 252 firms that had submitted interim financial reports to the Australian Stock Exchange were selected from the Business Review Weekly (BRW) list of top 1,000 companies. A direct logistic regression analysis was undertaken to assess whether voluntarily adopting an audit was related to size (assets), leverage, minority interest, profitability, industry, and whether the company had used a Big-6 audit firm. The results indicate that the level of leverage is a significant predictor of companies adopting a review, whereas use of a Big-6 audit firm was associated with conducting an audit. In addition, there is some evidence companies in the financial services industry were positively associated with conducting an audit.     

The Impact of Managing Director Changes and Financial Distress on Audit Qualification and Auditor Switching

Abstract:   This study examines the interactive effects of change in managing director/chief executive officer (MD) and financial distress together with five control variables (type of audit firm; audit fees; gearing; time; and company size) on first, audit opinion and secondly on auditor switching. Based on a sample of 297 UK listed companies between 1987 and 2001, we find that companies that are financially distressed and change their MD are most likely to receive a qualified audit report, ceteris paribus . In addition, we find evidence of both familiarity and intimidation threats and that the probability of a switch increases with the severity of qualification.     

VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF SEGMENT INFORMATION BY AUSTRALIAN DIVERSIFIED COMPANIES

This paper reports an examination of economic incentives motivating listed diversified companies in Australia to voluntarily disclose segment information. The study is based on a sample of 65 listed diversified companies. Support is found for ownership diffusion, the level of minority interest in subsidiaries, firm size and industry membership as factors influencing the voluntary disclosure of segment information. No support is found for leverage or diversification into related versus unrelated industries.     

The Importance of Audit Firm Characteristics and the Drivers of Auditor Change in UK Listed Companies

This paper explores the importance of audit firm characteristics and the factors motivating auditor change based on questionnaire responses from 210 listed UK companies (a response rate of 70%). Twenty-nine potentially desirable auditor characteristics are identified from the extant literature and their importance elicited. Exploratory factor analysis reduces these variables to eight uncorrelated underlying dimensions: reputation/quality; acceptability to third parties: value for money: ability to provide non-audit services: small audit firm: specialist industry knowledge; non-Big Six large audit firm: and geographical proximity. Insights into the nature of ‘the Big Six factor’ emerge. Two thirds of companies had recently considered changing auditors; the main reasons cited being audit Ice level, dissatisfaction with audit quality and changes in top management. Of those companies that considered change. 73% did not actually do so. the main reasons cited being fee reduction by the incumbent and avoidance of disruption. Thus audit fee levels are both a key precipitator of change and a key factor in retaining the status quo.     

The Provision of Other Services by Auditors: Independence and Pricing Issues

This research has three objectives: to identify the extent and level of other services provided by incumbent auditors in the Australian business environment; to examine pricing issues by investigating the relationship between fees for other services and audit fees; and to address the question of independence by (a) identifying whether the incidence of audit qualification is related to the level of other services purchased and (b) investigating whether there is a relationship between audit tenure and the level of other services provided. Information on audit fees, fees for other services, size, audit qualifications, industry and auditor (Big 8(6)/Non-Big 8(6)) was obtained from publicly available information for the majority of the top 500 Australian companies listed on the Australian stock exchange between 1986–1990. This study provides evidence that an increasing number of clients are purchasing other services from their auditor. A significant positive relationship between fees paid for other services and audit fees was also identified. No relationship was identified between the level of other services and the type of audit report issued or audit tenure, supporting the view that audit independence is not compromised by provision of the other services.     

上市公司财务敏感区间与项目的审计意见

本文基于我国A股上市公司数据检验了财务敏感区间、项目与审计意见的关系,发现微利区间、重亏区间同非标准审计意见显著正相关,而配股达线区间、应计项目、线下项目同非标准审计意见的关系不显著。此外发现应收账款占总资产比重、资产负债率、以前年度审计意见和事务所变更等因素对非标准审计意见具有重大影响,主营业务收入比重和上市公司规模则对非标准审计意见没有显著影响,现金比率、上市年限、事务所排名等变量影响不具有时间上的一致性和连续性。     

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CHARACTERISTICS AND DISCLOSURE LEVELS IN ANNUAL REPORTS: A META-ANALYSIS

Accounting researchers have investigated associations between corporate characteristics and disclosures in corporate annual reports since 1961. Findings have consistently shown corporate size and listing status to be significantly associated with disclosure levels, while mixed results have been reported for leverage, profitability, and audit firm size. The purpose of the present paper is to integrate prior disclosure studies and to identify the underlying factors that moderate the apparent variation in results. A meta-analysis of 29 studies confirms significant and positive relationships between disclosure levels and corporate size, listing status and leverage. No significant association is found between corporate profitability or size of audit firm, with aggregate disclosure levels. This study also found that in addition to sampling error, the results are moderated by differences in disclosure index construction, differences in definition of the explanatory variables, and differences in research settings.     

Extent of corporate governance disclosure by banks and finance companies listed on Nepal Stock Exchange

Corporate governance disclosure has seen renewed interest by researchers, policy makers, and regulating bodies internationally, but has remained only an emerging construct in Nepal. The primary purpose of this study was to assess the extent of mandatory corporate governance disclosure in Nepal. The secondary purpose was to examine the associations between the extent of disclosures and five firm-specific characteristics. The third purpose was to assess the significant determinants to explain variations of disclosures. The study's sampling frame consisted of 125 banking and finance companies listed on Nepal Stock Exchange. A sample size of 59 companies was randomly selected. On average, companies disclosed 91% of items in the mandatory category, 48% in the voluntary category, and 74% in total. A significant positive correlation existed between governance disclosures and firm characteristics of size, leverage, and foreign ownership. There was no significant relation between governance disclosure and listing age or profitability. With regards to determinants, bank size was a significant predictor of governance disclosure. Three regression models for total disclosures (DScore), mandatory disclosures [DScore (M)], and voluntary disclosures [DScore (V)] with three predictors of size, leverage, and foreign ownership were significant and explained 47%, 24%, and 54% variations respectively in total, mandatory, and voluntary corporate governance disclosures in Nepal. This research provides guidelines to policy makers and standard setters for developing future regulations and accounting policies.     

Information content of mandatory quarterly foreign sales data of U.S. multinational companies under SFAS 131

This paper investigates the information content of mandatorily disclosed quarterly foreign sales data of U.S. multinational companies under SFAS No. 131. We examine two types of companies. Predisclosing companies had voluntarily disclosed quarterly foreign sales data prior to implementation of SFAS No. 131. Non-predisclosing companies had not voluntarily disclosed quarterly foreign sales data prior to implementation of SFAS No. 131. We analyze the behavior of stock prices surrounding the filing date of the 10Q using short-window event study methodology and the market model for the initial years after enacting SFAS No. 131. We discover that the quarterly foreign sales data has information content to investors for both predisclosing firms and non-predisclosing firms except for 1 year. The data has no information content for non-predisclosing companies during the first year of implementation of SFAS No. 131. Except for the first year of implementation of SFAS No. 131, we find no difference in the information content of this data between predisclosing and non-predisclosing companies.     

An analysis of the effect of mandatory adoption of IAS/IFRS on earnings management

This paper examines whether mandatory adoption of international accounting standards, IAS/IFRS, by French companies is associated with lower earnings management. In addition, the impact of six factors that may be related to earnings management level are also considered: the independence and the efficiency of the board of directors, the separation of roles of CEO and Chairman of the board, the existence of an independent audit committee, the existence of block shareholders, the quality of the external audit and the listing on foreign financial markets.Based on a sample of 353 French listed groups relating to the period 2003–2006, our results show that the mandatory adoption of IAS/IFRS is associated with a reduction in the earnings management level. In addition, the independence and the efficiency of the board of directors, the existence of an independent audit committee, the existence of block shareholders, the quality of the external audit and the listing on foreign financial markets are important factors for enforcement of IAS/IFRS in France. Mandatory adoption of IAS/IFRS has decreased earnings management level for companies with good corporate governance and those that depend on foreign financial markets.     

Costs and Benefits of Mandatory Auditing of For‐profit Private and Not‐for‐profit Companies in Australia

This paper addresses the paucity of research surrounding the mandatory auditing of for‐profit private and not‐for‐profit companies in Australia. We document the various mandatory auditing provisions under the Corporations Act and identify over 22 000 companies that lodge audited accounts with the regulator under federal law. In 2011, 6339 large proprietary companies, 186 small proprietary companies, 2797 foreign‐owned companies, 3985 unlisted public companies and 8404 public companies limited by guarantee had an obligation under the Corporations Act to lodge audited accounts. While large proprietary and foreign‐owned companies have an option to apply to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission for audit relief, we estimate that less than 10% are granted audit exemption. We document that since 1995 an additional 1500 large proprietary companies that should have lodged under the size provisions of the Corporations Act have been granted exemption from doing so (i.e., grandfathered), although these firms appear to be subject to an annual audit even though they do not lodge accounts. We estimate the costs and discuss the potential public interest and firm‐level benefits associated with the mandatory auditing of for‐profit private and not‐for‐profit companies in Australia.     

The interaction effects of firm and partner tenure on audit quality†

This paper investigates the impact of firm and partner tenure on audit quality, where audit quality is proxied by discretionary accruals. We study a sample of Spanish listed companies between 2005 and 2011 and address both the individual and the interaction effects of firm and partner tenure. Our study is motivated by the current debate, particularly intense at the EU level, on the impact of the auditor rotation regime on the quality of auditing. We find that, without considering the interaction effects, firm and partner tenure do not seem to play a relevant role as determinants of audit quality. Importantly, the interaction of firm and partner tenure shows stronger effects on audit quality than both forms of tenure separately considered. Finally, our analysis suggests that audit quality is maximized when medium firm and partner tenures interact. However, results for the interaction variables are sensitive to the accruals estimation method.     

监管导因的信息披露质量研究——基于深交所信息披露质量考评结果分析

以深交所信息披露质量考评结果为依据,通过2008～2010年吉林省上市公司与全国上市公司信息披露质量的比较,发现吉林省上市公司信息披露质量低于全国水平。究其原因,与外部监管环境宽松和内部监管机构独立性不足有着密不可分的关系。应从加大处罚力度、强化对注册会计师审计质量的"再监督"、明确内部审计机构的组织隶属地位等方面入手加以治理。     

The determinants of reserves disclosure in the extractive industries: evidence from Australian firms

This paper examines the determinants of reserves disclosure (RD) in the Australian extractive industries. Our regression results indicate that RD are positively associated with variables relating to corporate governance, foreign listing, existence of reserves in foreign jurisdictions, pledging of reserves in debt covenants, leverage and external (Big 4) auditor, after controlling for firm size, subindustry, shareholder concentration and development/production stage. Additional regression testing shows that the existence of reserves in foreign jurisdictions is the most important determinant of RD in Australia. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the extent and rationale behind the RD practices of Australian resource firms.     

Accounting Earnings Announcements and Differential Predisclosure Information

Recent studies have detected an inverse association between a firm's size and the stock price reaction to the firm's accounting earnings announcements, which has been interpreted as evidence that larger firms have relatively richer information sets. This study expands on this work, using two firm-specific factors to capture both the time and flow-per-period elements of information production (period of listing and firm size respectively) and examines whether these variables are a better information proxy than is size alone. After controlling for firm size, a statistically significant inverse relationship between a firm's period of listing and the information content of its annual earnings announcement is detected. The findings have implications for standard-setters as well as for auditors'assessment of the risk associated with audits of newly listed firms.     

公司特征、审计需求与区域性事务所选择影响因素的实证研究

高质量审计度量存在争议①,以区域性事务所作为低质量审计的代理变量②检验低质量审计需求的公司特征,结果表明,公司规模、公司所处地域经济水平以及公司是否有发行外资股与区域性事务所选择负相关,公司负债水平与区域性事务所选择正相关,第一大股东持股比例与区域性事务所选择呈倒"U"型关系,而股权制衡可以在一定程度上制约"一股独大"公司选择区域性事务所.     

会计师事务所规模与审计定价——基于中国本土事务所的经验研究

会计师事务所规模与审计收费之间的关系取决于产品差异化、声誉投资、市场势力等三个因素与规模效应之间何者相对占优。对我国A股上市公司2007～2008年数据检验发现,无论是以业务收入、注册会计师人数还是从业人员人数度量事务所规模,事务所规模与审计收费之间都呈显著的正向关系。这表明,大事务所可以收取更高的审计费用。同时,在我国审计市场,规模效应相对于其他三个因素可能不占优势。