Audit Committee Financial Expertise and Financial Reporting Timeliness in Emerging Market: Does Audit Committee Chair Matter?

This study examines whether audit committee chair with financial expertise enhances the audit committee role in financial reporting quality in emerging market. We investigate this influence by employing the direct effect and moderating effect of audit committee chair with financial expertise on financial reporting timeliness. By using Omani data and the panel data method for two proxies for financial reporting timeliness, we find that audit committee chair with financial expertise enhances the timeliness of financial reporting through making the disclosure of annual reports timely. Further, we report evidence showing that both accounting and nonaccounting financial expertise on the audit committee have a positive and significant influence on the timeliness of financial reporting. We also document that the association between financial expertise and the timeliness of financial reporting is more pronounced when the chair of the audit committee has accounting expertise. This study is among the comprehensive evidence prove that audit committee chair with accounting expertise contributes to the quality of financial reporting in emerging market.

Community in Credit Unions: Has banking regulationimpaired CSR in Australian Customer Owned Banks?

This paper presents a sector scan of a sample of Australian Credit Unions and Mutual Banks to examine the CSR reporting from the perspective of the three pillars model proposed by vanOorschot, de Hoog, van der Steen and van Twist (2013). It is argued that the pillar requiringco-operatives to ensure activities which ‘aim for change’, should promote increasing adoptionof CSR. The paper theorises that regulatory requirements imposed in Australia on all bankinginstitutions carry a higher proportional cost to the customer owned banking sector than theshareholder based commercial banks. This consumption of the limited financial resourcesavailable in this sector of banking services, are inhibiting regional Customer Owned Bankingproviders, as co-operative organisations, to fulfil the required co-operative principle to instigatechange for the betterment of communities. This failure could signal the demise of some entitiesin the jurisdiction of Customer Owned Banking.

Initial Evidence on the Association between Local Government Fiscal Distress and Environmental Protection Programs

The purpose of this study is to explore the commitment of local governments to environmental programs when fiscal distress is predicted. We hypothesize that commitment to environmental programs diminishes when the local government is experiencing fiscal distress. The regression model results indicate that local governments with high levels of debt were less likely to I mplement environmental programs and that a larger population and higher revenue are factors directly related to the commitment of local government to environmental programs. Communities that are more populous and less fiscally stressed are more likely to benefit from a local government that implements and sustains environmental programs. These results have implications for the stakeholders of local communities and broader implications for the global effort toward environmental protection and sustainable communities.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Stakeholders’Perception of Foreign Corporation in Ghana

The study investigated the perception of Ghanaian stakeholders of the nature of CSR expected of foreign corporations, operating in Ghana. It is and empirical survey of opinion and perception, data for which was collected using questionnaires distributed to stakeholders. The operational data within the questionnaires were collected on a Likert scale of 5-1 (for strongly agree to strongly disagree) while relevant options were provided for demographic questions. Descriptive statistics like Mean, Median and Standard Deviation were computed for the operational data and Wilcoxon Sign Ranked Test was used to analyse the grouped data relevant to testing the hypotheses. The study found that stakeholders in Ghana are mindful of CSR of foreign corporations and they expect the corporations to be responsible and responsive. Also, the study showed that ethical, legal, environmental and corporate citizenship are highly favoured by Ghanaian stakeholders, while philanthropy is the least favoured. Specifically, quality and quantity of goods and services at a fair price, reward and welfare for employees topped the list favoured priorities, while stakeholders less favoured participation by foreign companies in philanthropy and politics and public policy. The study thus recommended a better focus on the favoured items.

An International Comparison of Corporate Social Responsibility

As globalization has increased, so have the increased pressures and expectations for companies to participate in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Using a new database, SustainalyticsGlobal Platform (SGP), we examined how a globalized economy affects CSR rankings,including the categories of environmental, social, and governance for 4,643 companies in thesix international regions of Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America andSouth America. We found that the regions of Africa, Europe and South America hadconsistently higher CSR scores for Total CSR and all categories, followed by North America,while the regions of Latin America and Asia-Pacific had the lowest CSR scores. Additionally,we found that the CSR category of governance had the highest CSR scores while theenvironmental category has the lowest.

Social Compliance Accounting A Book Review

The book is an 11 chapter research based book. It starts with the outset of social accounting. A comparison on the understanding of social accounting shows that the scope of social accounting is the society and/or environment. A short discussion about social accounts and social accounting are presented after the definitions of social accounting. Social reporting is presented as the parts of social accounting. A social report can involve the disclosure of products, consumer interests, employee interest, environment and community development. Interactions with community for social reporting are part social reporting. The interactions can be in detailed manner as in Deegan (2007). Following the introduction to social reporting is the overview of prior social accounting research. These discussions constitute Chapter 2. Chapter one is about an overview of the gap that the book tries to fill, i.e. social compliance evaluation with MNCs as the research cases.

Eco-Efficiency and Sustainable Development as Efforts to Produce Environmentally Friendly Product: An Exploratory Case Study

The issue of climate change, global warming and environmental damage caused by the production process lead to many changes in manufacturing technology, in the understanding of environmental concern or environmental awareness. Eco-efficiency is a concept that requires companies to concern the environment, and is then forwarded to the concept of sustainable development which requires current generations think and act for not passing the environmental damage to future generations. This study was aimed to answer whether a go-international company has environmental awareness, how they understand, interpreted, and applied these eco efficiency and sustainable development concepts. The research methodology used is Yin’s non positivist exploratory case study research in PT. Semen Indonesia. The results showed that although the company has already understood and implemented eco-efficiency, and other environmental friendly program, such as Japanese 5’ S (Seiri, S eiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke mean Tidiness, Order liness, Cleanliness, Standardiza tion, and Discipline); Triple Bottom Line (Profit, People and Planet), and other programs. The implementation of such programs leads to the application of sustainable development concept.<br />The research’s implications is academically it will enrich management accounting literature by introducing environmental-based management accounting, and push academicians to restructure the content of management accounting subject as well as it will inform companies to aware to possible environmental problem in their production process.

Board Structures and Financial Performance of UK Top Firms: An Investigation of the Moderating Role of the Directors’ Compensation

Although several studies have empirically investigated the connection between corporate governance structures and financial performance, evidence from the literature indicates that findings from these studies are inconsistent, hence inconclusive. In this light, some scholars suggest that the inconsistency in the findings could be an indication that there is factor(s) moderating the relationship between the two variables. For this reason, we investigate how corporate board structures relate to financial performance and the effect of directors’ financial compensation on such relationship using samples of the UK top firms. The findings of the study suggest that board composition is positively associated with financial performance (Tobin q). Other than that, the study also indicates that the effect of directors’ financial compensation interacts positively with board composition to influence financial performance. By implication, this finding demonstrates that financial rewards to the outside directors play an inevitable role in influencing the relationship between corporate board and financial performance.

A Critical Analysis of Social Responsibility Practices in Alcohol Advertising Campaigns

Culture plays a role in creating young alcoholics and has been at the center of debates about the impact of alcohol advertising on patterns of consumption. This research addressed the impact of alcohol advertising on local culture and its social implications in a developing economy. Stakeholders, including young people and marketing representatives from an alcohol producer in Country X, were examined to determine their perspectives of the use of alcohol advertising strategies. The findings were consistent with previous academic research and expectancy theory that indicate alcohol advertising can influence the normative behavior of young persons and their attitudes toward the use of alcohol. That is, alcohol producers can only claim to be socially responsible if their marketing strategies considers the concerns of the wider community. The Country X alcohol producer in this study, this claim requires organizational change to make the company more closely aligned to industry best practices.

Accountability and Control: Canada’s First Nations Reporting Requirements

This paper explores the accountability relationship between the Government of Canada and First Nations Bands arising from Program Devolution. Reporting requirements associated with this relationship have been characterized in a 2002 Report of the Auditor General of Canada as burdensome and of little use to many of the First Nations communities that are compelled to meet them. This study examines the reporting requirements used in the Auditor General ’s report and drawing on institutional theory and accountability literature develops a theoretically informed argument positioning Program Devolution, as it was practiced, as a colonizing undertaking that undermines self-government.<br /><br />