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This paper aims to examine the level of disclosure on content elements of integrated reporting (IR) in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales higher education institutions (HEIs). The authors suggest that integrated thinking is an internal process that organizations can follow to increase the level of disclosure on IR that can be used as an effective mechanism to enhance accountability with stakeholders.

International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) guidelines and content analysis are used to analyze IR content elements in HEI reports from 2014-2016.

The results indicate a significant increase in the trend and extent of IR content elements. The HEI-specific characteristics examined, such as establishment of HEI; adoption of IR framework and governing board size are all statistically and positively associated with IR content elements disclosure. This paper introduces signalling theory to explore the idea that appropriate communication via integrated thinking can close the gap between the organization and its stakeholders via increased level of disclosure on IR content elements.

The results will assist policymakers and regulators to assess the benefits of voluntary implementation of IR at HEIs and evaluate possible mandatory implementation of IIRC guidelines. Second, the findings can assist managers of institutions interested in implementing IR.

This study recommends universities to explicitly address IR issues in reporting, as this will increase their impact as leaders of educational thought in addition to their roles as partners, advisors, counselors and assessors.

This study explores whether HEIs in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales provide disclosure on IIRC content elements as a reflection of integrated thinking and whether the connectivity and interdependence between different departments will help to signal to stakeholders how HEIs create value for society.

This study aims to examine how female directors on corporate boards and audit committees, and auditor affiliations (Big 4 versus Egyptian firms affiliated with foreign auditors), influence audit fees. This examination is driven by the global call for increased female representation in leadership roles and its potential implications for audit quality and financial transparency.

A sample of non-financial companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange is used for the period 2011–2020. The authors used multivariate regression models, the Heckman two-stage and tokenism to support the analysis.

The results are threefold. First, this analysis reveals that female directors, whether on corporate boards or audit committees, are more likely to choose higher-quality audits in the form of high audit fees. Second, both Big 4 firms and Egyptian audit firms affiliated with foreign auditors are positively associated with audit fees and earn significant audit fee premiums. Third, a minor difference in audit fee premiums could be attributed to the existence of female directors.

Future research may expand the analysis performed in this study by investigating the characteristics related to female directors (e.g. education, experience and age) on audit fees.

This study suggests insights for regulatory bodies, corporate decision-makers, auditors and corporate governance researchers. For instance, this study reveals that the Big 4 are not homogenous and provide different audit quality levels along with significant audit fee premiums.

This study extends and contributes to the growing literature on female representation in corporate leadership. First, this study adds to the limited research in Egypt by examining the effect of female board representation on audit quality. Second, this study adds to the extant literature on the gender of financial experts by demonstrating that female financial expert is more likely to demand high-quality audits. Finally, the results have significant implications for policymakers. For instance, this study reveals that the Big 4 are not homogenous and provide different audit quality levels along with significant audit fee premiums.

This paper aims to examine the link between audit(or) type and restatements in Egypt, a complex and multifaceted auditing market. The usual big 4 versus non-big 4 comparison is insufficient as Egypt has a unique mix of private audit firms, one governmental agency (Accountability State Authority) and mandatory/nonmandatory audit services, including single, joint and dual audits.

The study uses a sample of listed companies in Egypt and analyzes the impact of auditor type and audit type on explicit, implicit and total restatements. The study uses logistic regression model to examine the underlying relationship.

Results show no relationship between auditor type and audit quality, positive association between non-big foreign CPA firms and total/implicit restatements and mixed results for the impact of dual audits on audit quality. The study found no link between auditor type and audit quality in Egypt. Egyptian audit firms linked to non-big 4 foreign Certified Public Accounting firms were positively linked to total and implicit restatements. Joint audits did not improve audit quality and were directly related to total and explicit restatements. Dual audits showed mixed results, positively associated with implicit restatements but inversely associated with explicit restatements.

The study provides valuable insights into the complexities of the auditing market in emerging markets and offers valuable insights for stakeholders in the financial statement users, audit firms and governmental agencies.

This study aims to investigate the impact of corporate governance (CG) mechanisms on financial risk reporting in the UK.

The study uses a panel data of 50 non-financial firms belonging to 10 industrial sectors listed on the London Stock Exchange in the period 2011-2015. Multivariate regression techniques are used to examine the relationships.

The findings of this study reveal that CG has a significant influence on financial risk disclosure. Specifically, it is found that block ownership and board gender diversity have a positive effect on the level of corporate financial risk disclosure (FRD). While there is no significant relationship between board size and corporate FRD.

This study has significant implications for policy-makers, investors and regulators. Evidence of growing FRD implies that efforts by several stakeholders have had some positive impact on the level of FRD in the firms examined. Examples of such changes include, namely, increasing board size and gender diversity acting as effective firm level advisors and monitors of FRD. As a consequence, regulators and policymakers should continually pursue reforms to encourage firms to follow CG principles that are promoted as good practice.

This study adds to the emerging body of literature on CG–risk disclosure relationships in the UK context using content analysis. The study also highlights that gender diversity enhances FRD.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of the existing literature on corporate governance (CG) aspects of the Malaysian market. It offers insights into the phases of Malaysian CG, identifies crucial gaps in the literature and outlines an agenda for impending research.

Following a systematic literature review approach, a final sample of 125 studies from Scopus and Web of Science databases was used in this study. These studies were selected based on quality assessment criteria. Then, the sample literature was evaluated in terms of journals, methodology, theories, modelling, research outcomes and CG characteristics.

The results show that there is a growing interest among researchers to further explore CG aspects in Malaysia due to the continuous development of the Malaysian CG codes. Likewise, the review reveals that the majority of prior studies are quantitative and were carried out using archived data from non-financial firms. Also, the existing literature has primarily focused on the outcomes of CG, especially firm performance.

Overall, the results show that there is ample room for future research. The present paper identifies a number of methodological problems and concerns, and discusses the implications of these problems, while also providing recommendations for future research. The main caveat is that the authors use scholarly papers published in academic journals only, but this approach offers them with opportunities for considerable further developments.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study contributes to the literature by being the first of its kind to concentrate on the Malaysian context. It provides a comprehensive knowledge assessment of the Malaysian CG research and offers advice regarding improvements in research, policy and practice by identifying possible knowledge gaps. Consequently, this study provides a cohesive story of the past and a road map for future research on Malaysian CG.

This study aims to explore the auditors’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt, with a focus on how their demographic characteristics – specifically gender, work experience and audit firm size – affect their ability to identify key audit matters (KAMs).

The study used exploratory factor analysis to develop an index for evaluating auditors’ proficiency in distinguishing KAMs from non-KAMs, followed by multivariate regression analysis to analyze the impact of auditors’ demographics on this ability.

The study’s findings are significant as they highlight the influence of auditors’ gender and work experience on their capability to correctly classify KAMs. However, the size of the audit firm showed no significant effect on the auditors’ decision-making efficacy in identifying KAMs.

While the study illuminates critical aspects of audit judgment during unprecedented times, it acknowledges limitations, including its geographical focus on Egypt and reliance on self-reported data. The implications stress the need for audit firms and regulators to consider auditors’ demographic characteristics when formulating policies to enhance audit quality and reliability during crises.

This research breaks new ground in the auditing literature by shedding light on the distinct role of auditor demographics in shaping audit opinion during crises. It is one of the pioneering studies to quantitatively assess the impact of auditors’ gender, experience and firm size on KAM identification in a global health crisis. It provides a unique perspective on audit practices in emerging economies.

This paper aims to empirically analyse specific characteristics of an audit committee that could be associated with the likelihood of corporate fraud/scandal/sanctions.

The sample includes all firms that were investigated by the Financial Reporting Council through the audit enforcement procedure from 2014 to 2019, and two matched no-scandal firms. It uses logistic binary regression analysis to examine the hypotheses.

Results based on the logit regression suggest that audit member tenure and audit committee meeting frequency both have positive associations to the likelihood of corporate scandal. Complementing this result, the authors find negative but insignificant relationships amongst audit committee female chair, audit committee female members percentage, audit committee qualified accountants members, audit committee attendance, number of shares held by audit committee members, audit committee remuneration, board tenure and the likelihood of corporate scandal across the sample.

The results should help regulatory policymakers make decisions, which could be crucial to future corporate governance. Additionally, these results should be useful to investors who use corporate governance as criteria for investment decisions.

The authors extend, as well as contribute to the growing literature on the audit committee, and therefore, wider corporate governance literature and provide originality in that it is the first, to the knowledge, to consider two characteristics (i.e. remuneration and gender) in a UK context of corporate scandal. Also, the results imply that the structure and diversity of the audit committee affect corporate fraud/scandal/sanctions.

This study aims to examine the extent to which corporate governance structures and ownership types are associated with the level of corporate social responsibility disclosures (CSRD) in a developing country.

Multiple regression techniques are used to estimate the effect of corporate governance structures and ownership types on CSRD using a sample of Libyan oil and gas companies between 2009 and 2013.

First, the study results suggest that although the level of CSRD in Libya is low in comparison to its western counterparts, ownership factors have a significant positive influence on CSRD. Second, the authors find board meetings to have a positive impact on CSRD. However, the authors fail to find any significant effect of board size and presence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) committees on CSRD. Overall, the results support prior theoretical evidence that pressures exerted by the government and external stakeholders have a considerable influence in promoting firm-level CSRD activities, specifically as a legitimising mechanism in fragile states.

First, this study is based on the annual reports, and it did not examine any other reports or other mass communication mechanism that companies’ management may use to disclose CSR information. Future studies might consider disclosures in other channels, if any, such as the internet, CSR reports, etc. Additionally, this study adopts the neo-institutional theory perspective. Future studies might integrate multi-theoretical lenses to offer a richer basis for understanding and explaining CSRD determinants.

This study contributes to the literature by first providing additional evidence for existing studies, which suggest that on average, better-governed companies are more liable to follow a more socially responsible agenda than poorly governed companies as a legitimising mechanism in fragile states. Also, this study overcomes a major weakness in existing Libyan studies, which have mainly used descriptive data.

This study examines the impact of audit partner tenure on Key Audit Matters (KAM) disclosures within Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. It explores how Hofstede’s cultural dimensions influence this relationship, elucidating the effect of cultural context on auditing practices.

Utilizing a sample of 456 non-financial firms in the GCC from 2016 to 2021, the study employs regression analyses to explore audit partner tenure's influence on KAM disclosures and the moderating effects of Hofstede's dimensions of power distance, individualism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. This affords a detailed examination of individual and cultural impacts on audit quality.

Results reveal a positive relationship between audit partner tenure and KAM disclosures, suggesting that firm-specific knowledge and industry expertise acquired over a long tenure may enhance auditors' ability to identify and report significant matters. Power distance and uncertainty avoidance amplify this effect, whereas individualism diminishes it. Masculinity does not yield significant results.

This study underscores the need for auditing standards to reflect the complex interplay of auditor tenure and cultural dynamics in the profession's global landscape.

This research contributes to the literature on audit quality by highlighting the formative role of individual auditors and cultural characteristics in KAM disclosure practices. It is among the first to quantitatively analyse the intersection of audit partner tenure and culture in the GCC. It provides valuable insights for regulators, practitioners and policymakers seeking to enhance audit practices across diverse cultural environments.

This paper aims to delve into the nuanced relationship between corporate governance dynamics, human capital disclosure and their impact on the competitive positioning of Japanese listed companies. The study primarily examines how these factors influence employee engagement, a critical determinant of overall business competitiveness.

Panel data for Japanese listed companies for FY 2019 to FY 2021 were analysed using multiple regression analyses with two models.

The results indicate that the presence of independent and female board members has a positive impact on human capital disclosure. Surprisingly, employee engagement was found to be negatively related with human capital disclosure, signifying a potential trade-off between transparency and engagement.

Amidst the escalating emphasis on non-financial information and corporate social responsibility, this paper unveils a previously underexplored aspect of Japanese corporate competitiveness. Specifically, this study offers a fresh empirical perspective on the relationship between corporate governance, human capital disclosure and employee engagement in Japanese listed companies, a topic with limited academic research and no legal regulations in Japan. The findings have significant implications for companies seeking to enhance their human capital disclosure and employee engagement practices, especially in light of the growing focus on non-financial information and social responsibility.