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This chapter examines corporate governance–related financial reporting issues in the context of globalization. Over the past few decades, the process of globalization has substantially altered the fields of corporate governance and accounting. More specifically, Anglo-American models of corporate governance and financial reporting have received increasing momentum in emerging economies, including China. However, a review of relevant studies suggests that there is limited research examining the implementation of Anglo-American concepts in various countries regardless of their growing acceptance. This monograph extends the existing literature by comprehensively investigating the adoption of internationally acceptable principles and standards in China, the largest transitional economy that has different institutional context from Anglo-American countries. In addition, the review has a number of implications for developing the theoretical framework, and determining the research methodology for the monograph.

Capacity development in fragile environments in Africa has often proven to be a complex undertaking. This has largely been because of existing knowledge gaps on what exactly causes fragility of states, the economy and society. The liberal peace development model that generally informs post‐conflict reconstruction and capacity development has a limited conception of fragility by narrowly focusing on the national dimensions of the problem, promoting donor‐driven solutions, emphasizing minimal participation of beneficiary actors in the identification and prioritization of capacity development needs, and by subcontracting the design and management of projects and programs. The resulting capacity development impact has generally been disappointing. In the absence of homegrown strategic plans, stakeholder participation and ownership, international development partners have all too often addressed capacity gaps by financing training, supply of equipment and professional exchanges of parliamentarians and parliamentary staffers. These efforts usually achieved their presumed number targets but tended to ignore addressing the larger issues of political economy within which capacity development take place. However, the recent re‐conceptualization of parliamentary capacity development as a development of nationally owned, coordinated, harmonized, and aligned development activities seems to be gaining growing attention in Africa. As the experience of Rwanda eloquently demonstrates, capacity development is essentially about politics, economics and power, institutions and incentives, habits and attitudes – factors that are only partly susceptible to technical fixes and quantitative specifications. These structural factors have to be negotiated carefully and tactfully.

This paper discusses the evolution of sustainability reporting and the role of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in relation to the social and environmental accounting (SEA) literature calling for a revolution in the standardization of sustainability reporting and the inherent complexities. This paper focuses on the future role of GRI in light of the changes resulting from harmonization supported by the International Sustainability Standards Board and the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group’s draft European Sustainability Reporting Directive.

Building on Bourdieu (1983, 1992) and SEA studies, the authors adopt a critical and qualitative approach to theorize power dynamics in the sustainability reporting field. After identifying the main issues arising from the complexity of the sustainability reporting standards and practices according to SEA scholars, the authors connect them with Bourdieu’s (1992, 1983) field theory to discuss the future role of GRI.

The findings suggest two distinct but intertwined roles that GRI could play in the future, namely, power related and theoretical/technical, aimed at engendering revolutionary rather than evolutionary changes in sustainability reporting.

This study offers practical implications for GRI to strengthen its future role in sustainability reporting standardization.

The limited time available to mitigate the disastrous consequences of non-sustainable business on society and the environment calls for urgently addressing the complexities of sustainability accounting to foster a positive impact on society and the environment.

The authors’ reflections reclaim the SEA literature as central to identifying sustainability complexity and Bourdieu’s (1983, 1992) notions of power as key to understanding the role of GRI in the sustainability field. Furthermore, this paper emphasizes the intersection of different critical concepts, including power, complexity, value, capital and materiality.

The purpose of this paper is to integrate conventional corporate governance (CG) mechanisms into the Islamic banking framework in order to examine their impact on Islamic banks (IBs) financial performance (IBFP) within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) context.

The study uses a sample of 22 full-fledged IBs operating in the GCC countries over an 11-year period from 2005 to 2015. Using panel data approach, the paper develops an empirical model consists of five CG mechanisms and three control variables. The model parameters are estimated using feasible generalized least squares framework.

The results show that five internal CG mechanisms have statistically significant relationship with IBFP, measured by Q-ratio. Insider shareholding is found to be positively associated with IBFP, while institutional and government shareholdings are found to be negatively related to Q-ratio, the results being consistent with the agency theory, strategic alignment theory and property rights theory, respectively. Moreover, the results reveal that large board size and CSR engagement negatively influence IBFP, once again lending support to agency theory and trade off theory, respectively. The control variables, namely, leverage, size and age are also found to have a statistically significant relationship with IBFP.

IBs are urged to ensure transparency in the provision of innovative products fundamentally in contrast to conventional banking products as well as cater to the untapped markets by weaving Islamic values into the existing CG fabric, as a feasible solution to remain competitive.

The paper examines the relationship between internal CG mechanisms and financial performance of listed and non-listed full-fledged IBs operating in the GCC countries.

The aim of this paper is to investigate a number of factors that are theoretically associated with convergence toward best practices in internal auditing.

The paper defines best practices as internal audit tools and techniques that are used by at least 67 percent of the internal audit functions (IAFs) in the USA. A sample of 26 countries and data from 1,708 IAFs were used in this study.

The paper finds evidence of a high degree of de facto convergence of internal auditing practices toward US best practices. It also finds that IAFs in emerging countries converge more rapidly to best practices than IAFs in developed countries. Finally, the use of the Institute of Internal Auditors' (IIA) Standards and an external quality assessment in the past three years are found to be positively and significantly associated with convergence toward US best practices.

The most important limitation of the data used in the study is that they reflect respondents' perceptions, which may deviate from reality. Also, data were only available for one‐half of the emerging countries listed in the MSCI Global Standards Index. Limitations aside, this study has significant implications for future research investigating various factors associated with emerging countries rapidly converging toward US best practices.

The results support the IIA's efforts to unify internal auditing practices around the world via its Standards. However, the additional analysis shows that the impact of the Standards is rather limited. The results also imply that formal assessment of internal auditing practices results in a more substantial change in the adoption of best practices.

The convergence of internal auditing is a part of the convergence of corporate governance practices which has become a topic of interest in academic research. While internal auditing has developed over a relatively long period of time in developed countries, such development must take place over a shorter period of time in emerging countries to catch up with developed countries. The current study's findings indicate that convergence of internal auditing practice is not context‐free.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between a firm's internal audit function (IAF) and the quality of its financial reporting. Since regulations on corporate governance were introduced, numerous national and international bodies have emphasized the fundamental role of the IAF in the financial reporting process, especially since it generally leads to higher quality reporting.

The paper uses questionnaires sent to internal audit directors of Spanish banks.

Banks with high quality financial reporting have greater collaboration between internal and external auditors in the annual audit. Greater involvement of internal audit in reviewing financial reporting leads to improved quality financial reporting.

Besides the usual caveats of survey research, there are limitations to this study. First, the problem of response bias may exist. Second, the 66 per cent survey response rate may mean that respondents have larger or better‐developed internal audit functions, affording them more opportunity or motivation to respond to the survey. Hence, the results obtained through the survey may not be generalizable to non‐respondents.

The findings are relevant for bank regulators, management, boards of directors, and investors. In the current discussion on transparency, integrity and quality of financial reporting, these findings help define the issues.

Previous empirical studies analyse the quality of financial reporting with actors in the corporate governance mosaic (board of directors, audit committee and external audit), but they do not do so directly with the IAF. This paper extends prior banking literature that analyses quality financial reporting along with other variables, but not internal audit.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the application of budgeting and accounting bases and their relation to financial accounting reporting systems through a comparative survey of three South-Eastern European countries (Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina – the Entity of the Republic of Srpska).

The in-depth analysis based on the study of related literature and comprehensive review of existing indicators of accounting systems leads to the identification and characterization of the most important components of the government accounting systems’ focusing also on the information usefulness in the decision-making processes.

Dual reporting based on different bases is the main feature of the accounting information system of selected countries. Budgetary reports based on a cash basis represent the primary source of information for decision making. Selected jurisdictions started with the preparation and presentation of financial reports based on the accrual/modified accrual basis which was not the result of the informational needs of decision-makers, so the information themselves have become their own purpose.

By exploring the opportunities and obstacles in the implementation of the accrual basis in the selected countries, the paper contributes to the development of the EPSAS project.

This paper contributes to the literature on the application of various budgeting and accounting bases, with an emphasis on research of the similarities and differences of the reporting methods, for the purpose of distinguishing more easily two basic types of reports and, consequently, identifying their appropriate use.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the internationalization market of higher education (HE) globally and HE field. It examines the internationalization status of HE in Jordan as influenced by institutional perspectives as an example from developing countries.

This paper adopts a quantitative research design that includes a statistical and SWOT analysis of HE in Jordan. Data were collected from different courses: documents and archival records, websites analysis, surveys, interviews with professors and administrators, and an SWOT analysis as well as TOWS matrix. The latter has been constructed as a picture of internationalized education in the Jordan that can be used as a basis for decision making and strategies for higher education institutions (HEIs).

The study findings reveal that it is important for Jordan to endorse itself as an “education hub” in the Middle East and to educate its community to the level of skills required by globalization. The challenges of internationalizing HE are revealed by the SWOT analysis and TOWS matrix that highlight a wide range of opportunities and strengths that encourages the Jordan HE system to accelerate internationalization. The opportunities include overall improvement in the quality of education, the diffusion of technology and creating a globally competent workforce. The internationalization status in Jordan HE is still in its embryonic stage. The HE should take serious steps toward the internationalization including admission of international students, foreign postgraduate students, international accreditation, global ranking, online education and smart education. These steps will help the universities leaders to improve their universities position internationally and financially.

The findings reveal implications for HE policy and strategy in the development of internationalized HE in the Jordan. The study shows how SWOT analysis and TOWS matrix can provide a solid platform against which particular case studies can be measured in terms of opportunities for and challenges of development. It also provides institutional perspectives with practical implications, focusing on some of the critical issues in this developing field for HE policy and strategy alike. A major threat to the Jordan progress in developing its HE sector identified in this study is external accreditation being seen as a signal of high quality, when more realistic standards are perhaps more relevant to the local population.

The paper is one of the very few studies in the area of the internationalization of HE in the Jordan that can contribute to the sustainability of the international dimension of HEIs. The opportunities and threats recognized in this paper can inform strategy for more balanced development of the Jordan’s internationalized HE, and for raising the quality of education overall.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the important role played by corporate governance in de facto International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) convergence, and to provide empirical evidence that audit quality mediates the degree of IFRS convergence.

The paper develops a model showing the role of corporate governance in converging national accounting standards with the IFRS, and empirically tests the model using a sample of Chinese listed companies with B‐shares. Both analysis of variance and multiple regressions are employed to test the hypotheses.

Effective internal corporate governance helps companies to be more aligned with IFRS and thus provide high quality financial information. Furthermore, audit quality as an external governance factor mediates the relationship between internal corporate governance and IFRS convergence.

The paper extends research findings, as shown in the literature, by showing the role of corporate governance in the IFRS convergence, especially the mediating effect of audit quality. In addition to accounting standards, global convergence of auditing standards and corporate governance is imperative if de facto convergence of accounting standards is to be achieved.

The paper highlights the effect of corporate governance and the interaction between internal and external corporate governance in achieving IFRS convergence, which has been largely ignored in the literature. Based on the results, the paper proposes an explanation for the mixed results shown in the literature.