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The purpose of this paper is to examine existing literature, including both academic and practitioner publications, related to Canadian SOX (or C-SOX as it is popularly known). The study discusses the origins of the Act, the underlying motivations for enacting this legislation in Canada and its impact on corporate decisions since its inception in 2003.

The principal focus of this literature review is on C-SOX, its inception, reception, compliance and impact in Canada, both from business’ and investors’ critical perspectives. The authors have followed a two-step process to gather all the articles. First, the authors used a keyword search at Google Scholar and ProQuest (e.g. C-SOX, Canadian SOX, Bill 198, etc.) to gather all the articles. Second, the authors retained articles and abstracts that primarily dealt with the background framework and impact of the legislation. It is to be noted that C-SOX was mainly a reactionary legislation following the adoption of US-SOX in 2002. Any discussion of C-SOX is, therefore, incomplete without referencing the literature related to US-SOX.

In this review paper the evolution of C-SOX over time in Canada, as well as studies on its impacts and criticisms have been summarized. Based on the extensive research that followed the enactment of US-SOX, the authors also provide suggested research directions related to C-SOX in the future.

C-SOX has been relatively underexplored and therefore, not much academic work is available presently. This study highlights this gap in the literature with the hope that researchers will devote their energy to understanding the broader ramifications of major legislations such as C-SOX which will potentially also inform future public policy choices.

This research will help both businesses and investors to understand each other’s perspectives and concerns regarding C-SOX. This paper will also be helpful to policy makers to identify potential areas of improvement in this and future legislative decisions in the future.

Using a qualitative approach this study combines the development of C-SOX as a legislation in Canada, its overall effectivity/drawbacks and explores the areas it impacts, both positively and negatively, along with criticisms and appreciations.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the influence of the Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX) Act of the USA and the Canadian SOX (C-SOX) through the comparison of corporate acquisitions in these two countries.

The final sample includes 1,187 merger and tender offers undertaken by publicly traded (TSX listed) Canadian firms between 1990 and 2016. The authors use standard event study methodology (Patell, 1976) and Berkovitch and Narayanan’s (1993) seminal method to examine announcement period performance and deal motive, respectively.

The findings support the pro-regulation hypothesis which states that stricter regulations are more useful. Cross-listed acquirers exposed to SOX regime performed much better (both short- and long-term) than non-cross-listed counterparts with only C-SOX exposure. These findings are both statistically and economically significant.

This study has direct implications as it provides evidence to the legislatures of the provinces, as well as to the federal government, that stricter regulations are effective and Canada should enact additional corporate legislation. Canada may have fared well in the past, but dynamics are changing and may further change in the future, and therefore, timely and stricter corporate legislation are more appropriate.

This study has direct implications as it provides evidence to the legislatures of the provinces, as well as to the federal government, that stricter regulations are effective and Canada should enact additional corporate legislation. Canada may have fared well in the past, but dynamics are changing and may further change in the future, and therefore, timely and stricter corporate legislation are more appropriate.

This study contributes to the growing literature of SOX-related studies. This is the first study to investigate comprehensively the differences between the two laws enacted by these neighboring countries. As USA and Canada share largely integrated capital markets and are each other’s biggest trading partner, this genre of research has great value. It is a timely study as the Canadian Federal Government is looking into standardizing corporate legislation across provinces and territories.

The purpose of this study is to explore the regulatory framework in China and the extent to which Chinese multinationals have implemented and disclosed their anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) compliance practices. This is done against the backdrop of the evolving international ABC compliance standards.

This study is based on detailed reviews of the ABC compliance standards of international organizations; legislation passed by the USA, the UK and Chinese Governments; seven semi-structured interviews with leading experts in the field; and comparisons of ABC program disclosures of four Chinese with four best-in-class western multinational corporations.

A high level of convergence was found in the ABC standards published by the international organizations. Several positive features were found in the Chinese ABC regulatory frameworks but our findings indicate that there is minimal disclosure around ABC compliance program practices. This paper shows that a transparent disclosure would represent an easy win for Chinese multinational corporations and contribute to raising their reputations internationally.

While there are numerous studies in the law literature on ABC compliance standards and the extent to which they are effective in achieving their objectives, this is an emergent area in management research, to which our study makes a contribution. Future research could explore how other emerging economies are tackling this important issue.

By proactively adopting ABC compliance practices, corporations can seize the ethical high ground and build solid reputations with their stakeholders.

It is believed that this study is the first academic study that compares Chinese and international ABC standards.

This paper aims to use the argument that formal regulations alone may not be the defining factor in improving corporate governance and the decision making process of the BOD.

Based on 20 semi‐structured interviews with board chairs, members of corporate boards, CEOs, and upper/executive management at 12 Canadian companies, a bird's eye view is taken from the top. A content analysis of the interviews was performed. a clear picture about the interaction and behaviour of directors emerged. Subsequently, three objectives that are required for effective decision‐making were developed: knowledge; motivation; and transmission channels/internal control. The analysis offers three critical objectives, which all boards should endeavour to accomplish.

These interviews demystify board process and provide the bases for three critical objectives for effective corporate governance: ascertain and embellish the knowledge base of directors; motivate directors to share and gather information; and ensure clear and fluent transmission channels exist.

The usual board measures such as CEO duality, insider and outsider ratio, number of board members and directors' share ownership may not be the only critical determinants of board effectiveness.

Conventional notions of decision making have neglected key human faculties and individual characteristics that combine to determine organizational outcomes. This paper fulfils a need for research in the area of board processes and board decision making and provides a roadmap to improve corporate governance within organizations.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of internal audit function (IAF) quality on the operational efficiency of Chinese firms.

The authors use regression models with a sample of Chinese listed companies to test their research hypotheses.

The authors find that IAF quality is positively associated with firm operational efficiency. The result is unchanged after correcting for endogeneity via the instrumental variable method and using an alternative measure of firm operational efficiency. The authors show that IAF competence improves firm operational efficiency, but the relationship between IAF independence and firm operational efficiency is insignificant. Additionally, they find that IAF quality can only significantly improve firm operational efficiency in the presence of effective corporate governance at the firm level and strong institutions at the province level. Using path analysis, the authors find that an IAF can improve firm operational efficiency directly or indirectly by promoting firm internal control quality.

The findings of this study suggest the need for a balance between IAF competence and independence to achieve the goals of IAF. Additionally, the authors study suggests that the effectiveness of IAF is contingent on corporate governance and market-based institutions.

The study’s findings contribute to the burgeoning literature on the relationship between IAF and firm operational performance and deepen the authors’ understanding of the role of IAF in an emerging economy whose government plays a major role in promoting and enforcing internal audits. The study also empirically support the Internal Audit Governance Maturity Model proposed by the Institute of Internal Auditors.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how external auditors communicate with audit committees (ACs).

A total of 53 interviews were conducted with participants in the ACs of 22 French companies listed in the CAC 40 index, including external and internal auditors, CFOs, AC chairpersons, and members.

In multiple accountability relationships, external auditors sit in the middle. They therefore use impression management (IM). While AC members expect them to be transparent, they are also expected to preserve managers’ “face” by sustaining impressions of consistency. The construction of impressions of consistency and transparency takes place mainly backstage, through time-consuming teamwork shared by auditors and CFOs. External auditors have power to make things transparent, but the use of such power is tricky, because it can damage relationships with CFOs. External auditors have a difficult “discrepant role” (Goffman, 1959) to play.

This study provides insights into what occurs behind the scenes with ACs, which can help regulators think deeper about relationships between external auditors and ACs.

This research makes contribution to governance, IM, and AC literature. It analyzes the AC process from external auditors’ – rather than AC members’ – points of view. Highlighting the AC process backstage, it shows that IM can be carried out collectively toward an internal rather than external audience and demonstrates that external auditors practice rather than limiting IM.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether foreign directors’ influence on opportunistic behavior among managers varies between Islamic banks (IBs) and conventional banks (CBs). It also examines how religious ethics and morals guide foreign directors to be better monitors.

A panel fixed effects regression is used to analyze the effect of foreign directors on opportunistic behavior among managers in IBs and CBs. The authors use different proxies such as loss avoidance, discretionary loan loss provision and expense preference behavior to measure management opportunistic behavior.

Based on sample of 3,758 bank-year observations for 164 banks over the period 1993-2015, the authors show that the presence of foreign directors in IBs increases boards’ effectiveness in impeding management opportunistic behavior, whereas the presence of foreign directors in CBs reduces boards’ effectiveness in curbing management’s unethical acts. The authors also document that IBs (CBs) with foreign directors demonstrate less (more) earnings management and expense-preference behavior among managers. In addition, the authors’ evidence indicates that the existence of the Shari’ah supervisory boards helps foreign directors be more effective monitors.

The current study focuses on banks only which makes its results subject to sample bias; there are many other forms of financial institutions (e.g. investments, real-estates and mutual funds) complying to the Shari’ah law. Second, owing to the lack of foreign board directors characteristics, the authors cannot investigate the intensity of the specific characteristics that could have specific directions in affecting managerial behavior.

The findings in this paper may help standards-setters, auditors, investors and regulators take appropriate measures and create better policies that reduce managers’ discretion. This could in turn improve information transparency decision-making, monitoring, advising and accounting quality.

The authors’ theoretical framework combines the agency, contingency, resource-dependence, stewardship and stakeholders’ theories and applies them to Shari’ah as an alternative ethical and internal governance mechanism. The authors find that the impact of foreign directors on management opportunistic behavior depends on the corporate religious norms within boards of directors, in particular, suggesting that religious values affect how foreign directors influence bank managers’ behavior.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not the seminal legislation called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) influenced a strategic shift in the merger and acquisition (M&A) market.

The sample consists of 4,839 completed deals undertaken by US acquirers from the Securities Data Corporation’s US M&As database from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 2009. The authors used the standard event study methodology for short-term performance analysis and the Berkovitch and Narayanan (1993) method to identify merger motives.

By following the same acquirers who participated during both pre- and post-SOX periods, the authors find that these acquirers generate 1-1.5 percent more returns for their stockholders around M&A announcement dates and that the motivation has shifted to value maximization (synergy), a notable strategic shift.

All acquirers and targets are public.

This paper adds to SOX-related literature as well as to M&A literature. By analyzing M&A deals, often the largest capital investments for acquirers, this paper shows that, despite criticism of SOX, this legislation fundamentally contributed to a strategic shift in the M&A market.

Purpose – Policymakers hope that comparative effectiveness research will identify examples of widely used therapies that are no better than less expensive alternatives and, consequently, reduce health care spending. Comparative effectiveness research is unlikely to reduce spending if physicians are quick to adopt effective treatments but slow to abandon ineffective ones.

Methodology/approach – We present a theoretical model that shows how physicians will adopt new treatments in response to positive evidence more readily than they abandon existing treatments in response to negative evidence if the marginal costs of production decline post-adoption. We report trends in the use of two common procedures, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for patients with stable angina and routine episiotomy in vaginal childbirth, where comparative effectiveness research studies have failed to find evidence of a benefit.

Findings – Use of PCI and episiotomy have declined over time but are still excessive based on the standards implied by comparative effectiveness research.

Practical implications (if applicable) – The findings suggest that comparative effectiveness research has the potential to reduce costs but additional efforts are necessary to fully realize savings from abandonment.

Originality/value of chapter – There is a large literature on technological adoption in health care, but few studies address technological abandonment. Understanding abandonment is important for efforts to decrease health care costs by reducing use of ineffective but costly treatments.