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This study aims to examine whether the impact of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) on audit fees differs between early and late adopters.

The authors use robust econometric estimation on a sample of 314 firms from both early and late IFRS adopting countries.

The authors find that IFRS is positively and significantly associated with an increase in audit fees for early adopters, but the impact is very weak for late adopters and insignificant in some cases. The results on auditing time suggest that increase in audit fees around IFRS adoption is due to an increase in audit reporting lags. After accounting for pre- and post-years, the authors find that the relationship between IFRS and audit fees, as well as audit time for late adopters, is significant only in the adoption year. However, early adopters experience a significant increase in audit fees and audit time in the transition year to one-year post-adoption.

The findings imply that countries that are yet to adopt IFRS are less likely to experience a significant increase in audit fees audit time. Hence, is probable that the benefit of IFRS will outweigh the cost.

The results, therefore, suggest that early adopters paid a premium for been the first users of IFRS, which is consistent with any innovation. The study provides new insights by demonstrating that the consequences of IFRS differ between early and late adopters.

Innovation is regarded as a crucial determinant of growth and development in South Africa, and small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) have been earmarked as instruments for the achievement of the socio-economic goals and innovation as set out in the National Development Plan. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of innovation on SMME performance in South Africa.

The empirical analysis was conducted using the quantile regression technique to examine the effect of innovation on the performance of firms at different sales levels. Data from the World Bank's enterprise survey was used for the analysis.

The results of the empirical analysis showed that R & D expenditures have a positive and significant effect on performance for firms with higher sales (high growth or larger firms). There is evidence that the introduction of new products/services promotes performance for low growth/ smaller firms.

The empirical results imply that innovation is crucial for SMMEs’ development and growth. However, smaller/low growth firms are not able to spend on R & D due to a lack of funds which could be the reason for their low survival rate. More support needs to be provided to smaller firms with lower sales growth, given the large financial outlay required for R & D expenditures. Despite the lack of funding for R & D expenditure, smaller firms are encouraged to introduce new products and methods of production that do not require major financial outlays.

There is scant empirical evidence on the impact of innovation on firm performance in South Africa. Most studies investigate the challenges faced by SMMEs and the different types of innovation approaches used by firms. Furthermore, the study employs the quantile regression approach which highlights the effect of innovation on firms of different sizes.

This study examines the nature of the relationship between board structures (BSs) and intellectual capital (IC) of banks in Africa.

Using annual data from financial statements of 366 banks from 26 African countries from 2007 to 2015, the study estimates IC using the value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) and BSs using board size, board independence and board gender diversity. The system generalized method of moments and panel-corrected standard error estimation strategies are used to estimate panel regressions.

There is a significant negative relationship between board independence and intellectual capital. The results also indicate that the IC of banks does not depend on board size and board gender diversity.

The study's findings provide evidence of the extent to which BSs have been instituted to support investments in intellectual capital as a means of improving the performance of banks in Africa.

This study provides some empirical evidence from Africa's banking sector to justify that banks with better IC have boards that are less independent. This study is one of the few studies that employs many countries' data.

This study empirically investigates the relationship between goodwill assets and capital structure (i.e. debt ratio) of firms and the moderating effect of financial market development on the relationship between goodwill assets and capital structure.

This research applied a quantitative method. The article collects large samples of listed firms from 23 developing and nine developed countries and applied the panel data techniques. This research used firm-level data from the DataStream database for both developed and developing countries. The study uses 4,912 firm-level data from 23 developing countries and 4,303 firm-level data from nine developed countries.

The findings reveal a significant positive relationship between goodwill assets and capital structure in developing countries, but goodwill assets have a significant negative relationship with capital structure in developed countries. Moreover, financial market development positively moderates the relationship between goodwill assets and the capital structure of firms in developing countries. The results inform firm managers that goodwill assets serve as additional collateral to secure debt financing. Moreover, policymakers should formulate a debt market policy that recognizes goodwill assets as additional collateral for the purpose of obtaining debt capital.

The study has several implications. First, goodwill assets are identified as a factor of capital structure in this study. Fixed assets have been identified as one of the drivers of capital structure in previous research, although goodwill assets are seldom included. Second, this article shows that along with demand-side determinants, supply-side determinants also play an important role in terms of the firms' choice about the capital structure. Therefore, firms should take both the demand-side and supply-side factors into consideration when sourcing for external financing (i.e. debt capital).

The study considered goodwill as a component of capital structure. The study analysis includes a large sample of enterprises, including 4,912 big firms from 23 developing countries and 4,303 large firms from nine industrialized or developed countries, which adds to the current capital structure information. Furthermore, a large sample size increases the results' robustness and generalizability.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current capital budgeting practices in Bangladeshi listed companies and provide a normative framework (guidelines) for practitioners.

Data were collected with a structured questionnaire survey taking from the chief financial officers (CFOs) of companies listed in the Dhaka Stock Exchange in Bangladesh. Garnered data were then analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques.

The results found that net present value was the most prevalent capital budgeting method, followed closely by internal rate of return and payback period. Similarly, the weighted average cost of capital was found to be the widely used method for calculating cost of capital. Further, results also revealed that CFOs adjust their risk factor using discount rate.

The findings of this study might help the firms, policymakers and practitioners to take a wise decision while evaluating investment projects. Additionally, this study’s findings enrich the existing body of knowledge in the field of capital budgeting practices by providing more reliable and comprehensive analysis taking samples from a developing economy.

With data from the 2003 and 2005 National Minority Business Owners Survey, we examined the extent to which minority business owners differ from nonminority business owners in their reported use of adjustment strategies, and the relationship between the use of adjustment strategies and perceived business success. The sample consisted of 193 African American, 200 Mexican American, 200 Korean American, and 210 white business owners. Mexican American and Korean American business owners reported higher levels of adjustment strategy use than African American and white business owners. The ordinary least squares show that reallocating family resources to meet business needs and reallocating business resources to meet family needs were negatively associated with perceived business success, whereas hiring paid help was positively associated with perceived business success.

The cultural and legal differences between foreign acquirers and African target firms can be substantial. There is also a large variation in cultures and legal systems within Africa. However, there is limited research on merger and acquisition (M&A) performance by foreign firms in Africa. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by exploring the “spillover by law” hypothesis (Martynova and Renneboog, 2008) that focuses on the influence of the external environment on the governance and performance of foreign M&As in Africa.

The data set covers 415 M&A transactions by foreign firms in Africa during the period of 1999–2016. Dynamic data covering the country’s legal, cultural and political environment are collected from the World Bank, the Heritage Foundation and Transparency International.

The authors find that the legal environment significantly affects the returns of bidders on African firms. For complete acquisitions, bidder returns are significantly higher when the bidder’s country has higher shareholder protection and higher creditor protection compared with the target firm’s country. The results show that the effects are significant when there is a full control change (including a change in the target firm’s nationality) but not in the case of partial control transfers. The results are consistent with the “spillover by law” hypothesis.

The authors contribute to the literature on cross-border M&As by separately studying the valuation effects of full, majority and minority changes in control; by being the first study of the legal spillover effects in Africa; and by being the most extensive study of the legal determinants of the valuations of non-African acquirers of African firms.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight important contemporary themes in international marketing strategy from the perspective of Sub-Saharan African firms.

The approach adopted is a review and synopsis of the existing body of research on international marketing research in Sub-Saharan Africa, and a discussion of the manuscripts included in the special issue.

International marketing in Sub-Sahara Africa is growing steadily, driven largely by rapid changes in socio-economic and demographic characteristics of consumers in this market. The growing appetite of multinational enterprises to explore new growth opportunities on this continent and the increasing intra-Africa cross-border transactions is driving unique approaches to international marketing that are predicated on using non-traditional means to produce, communicate and distribute products and services.

While the international marketing opportunities and challenges discussed in this paper are not exhaustive, the paper highlights important research themes that need consideration regarding international marketing research in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This introductory paper emphasizes the unique international business landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa and discusses its international marketing strategy implications. The paper further draws attention to a number of unanswered research questions that require additional research, and thus bring Sub-Saharan Africa to international marketing scholarly enquiry.