The Perceptions and Determinants of Auditing and Reporting Quality in the Asia‐Pacific Region

A country's institutional environment significantly influences perceptions of auditing and reporting quality (ARQ) at the national level. Relying on a relatively unique measure of ARQ, collated by the World Economic Forum, we evaluate the influence of nine key isomorphic pressures on the ARQ in 26 Asia‐Pacific countries. The results suggest that six of these (the efficacy of the corporate board, securities exchange regulations, reliance on professional management, protection of minority interests, adoption of international financial reporting and prevalence of foreign ownership) have a highly significant influence on the perception of ARQ whereas adoption of international standards on auditing is only moderately significant. However, contrary to expectations, our findings do not support the argument that the efficiency of legal frameworks and political systems significantly influences the perceptions of auditing and reporting quality in the Asia‐Pacific region. These results should be of use to investors and the accounting profession in evaluating economic environments.     

The relationship between tourism,CO2 emissions and economic growth: a case of Mediterranean countries

This study explores the impact of tourism on economic growth considering CO₂ emissions utilizing panel data techniques for a sample of Mediterranean countries. The cointegration tests reveal that there is a positive long-run equilibrium between tourism, CO₂ emissions and economic growth. This positive long-run relationship may suggest that tourism increases the level of CO₂ emissions and has a statistically significant impact on economic growth in Mediterranean countries. Emirmahmutoglu and Kose (2011. Testing for Granger causality in heterogeneous mixed panels. Economic Modelling, 28(3), 870–876.) test results reveal that the tourism-led growth hypothesis, which suggests that tourism contributes to economic growth, is valid for Egypt, Italy, and Spain. Additionally, there exists a bidirectional relationship between tourism and economic growth both in Morocco and Turkey.     

Comparing the Strength of Auditing and Reporting Standards and Investigating their Predictors in Europe and Asia

The World Economic Forum conducted an opinion survey to determine the strength of auditing and reporting standards (SARS) in 133 countries. It then assigned a score for SARS to each country as one of its global competitive indices. This is a unique dataset on SARS at country level. Using this dataset, this paper compares SARS scores for 72 countries (41 European and 31 Asian). A multi‐phase regression analysis is employed to empirically investigate the predictors of SARS using five sub‐models. Findings from the study support existing theory and add new findings to the auditing and reporting literature at a regional level. It suggests that there are nine predictors of SARS which are similar for both Europe and Asia but with different magnitude. In Asia the efficiency of the legal framework and the size of the foreign export market are also significant predictors of SARS compared to Europe.     

Multinational Enterprises,Technology Diffusion,and Host Country Absorptive Capacity: A Note

Abstract

Previous empirical studies show mixed support for the hypothesis that the impact of technology diffusion from multinational enterprises (MNEs) on host country productivity growth depends on host country absorptive capacity. One explanation is that the results of these empirical studies are sensitive to the measures of absorptive capacity used. This paper contributes to the empirical literature by investigating average years of schooling and total factor productivity gap as measures of host country absorptive capacity in 38 developed and developing countries. Panel data regression equations are estimated using a cross-sectionally heteroskedastic and timewise autoregressive (CHTA) model. The paper has two main results. The first result does not support the hypothesis that the technology diffusion from MNEs has a positive impact on the productivity growth in developing countries. The second result is that the total factor productivity gap is more appropriate than average years of schooling to measure host country absorptive capacity. This may suggest that the results of previous studies that used average years of schooling should be interpreted with caution.     

The Negative Impact of Additional Legislation on Corporate Stewardship

Many jurisdictions worldwide have reacted to the global financial crisis by implementing new or improved corporate legislative requirements. These would impact upon company directors and audit committee members. This study examines the attitudes of Australian members of these two groups to nine United Kingdom proposed amendments to corporate legislation. Both groups were predominantly opposed to additional legislation (failing to see how it could improve current stewardship) and indicated they would be less comfortable in their current roles. The implications are significant. Additional legislation, although well intentioned, may have negative impacts on stewardship, as requirements may deter good corporate citizens from retaining or seeking office.     

Privatization of health care services in Canada: Reform or regress?

The emergence of the privatization of health care services as one of the dominant health policy issues in many western industrialized countries is no doubt related to a number of factors, including rising health care costs, fiscal crisis in the form of budgetary deficits, charges of public waste and mismanagement and underfunding, the onset of a new era of political and fiscal conservatism, and professional and corporate antipathy to certain aspects of publicly financed health insurance schemes. The paper discusses the meaning of privatization and stresses the importance of recognizing the different forms of privatization and the need to assess these forms against well specified health policy objectives. Current and proposed forms of privatization in Canada are described and evaluated. It is concluded that there are sound arguments against privatization through user fees for insured physician and hospital services. As for the other forms of privatization there are confusing and inconsistent findings that preclude a definitive conclusion as to the wisdom of a general push for privatization. It is stressed that there are not many empirically established facts about the likely effects of privatization and the many claims about the virtues of privatization are far from substantiated by careful research. In the absence of such evidence the push for reprivatization seems, as some critics have pointed out, ideologically motivated.     

Land contamination risk management in Cameroon: A critical review of the existing policy framework

Land affected by contamination from human activities has been identified as a major environmental problem in developed countries and there are established mechanisms for identifying, prioritising, characterising, assessing and remediating the land so that risks to human health and environmental receptors are minimised. However, comparative mechanisms and approaches for sustainable land management are often lacking in developing countries such as Cameroon. This paper presents a critical review of the existing policy framework in Cameroon in relation to environmental management, particularly land contamination.It is established that in Cameroon, there is an acute lack of comprehensive information on land contamination from economic development and industrialisation, inadequate legal and institutional framework, weak enforcement capacity and unsatisfactory coordination between various stakeholders towards sustainable land management practices. The coastal town of Douala, which has the highest level of industrial activity in the sub region is used to demonstrate how dealing with land contamination is a public health priority and requires attention in the context of sustainable development. The United Kingdom (UK) regulatory policy framework on land contamination risk management is used to show how land contamination issues and risk management approaches, including conceptual site models, could be introduced into the sustainability discourse in Cameroon. A number of recommendations including proposals for a radical overhaul of the current regulatory policy framework are formulated and presented. Specifically, the creation of an independent Cameroon Environment Protection Agency (CEPA) that will be the main regulatory body responsible for developing and implementing the policy proposals in this paper is advocated.