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This study aims to investigate the relationship between the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs’) masculinity, CEO characteristics (accounting background, turnover and ethnicity/race) and earnings management (EM) in Malaysia. It also examined the moderating effect of the CEOs’ ethnicity/race (Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera) on the relationship between CEO masculinity and EM.

The analyses were based on a panel data set of 260 corporates listed on the Bursa Malaysia from 2009 to 2019. Python/code was used to calculate the facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR), while testosterone (TESTN) was calculated based on CEO age and fWHR. To estimate the results, panel data analysis with a fixed effect model was used.

The result shows that fWHR and TESTN have a significant positive effect on EM. CEO race has a significant impact on EM, implying that non-Bumiputera CEOs are more likely to be associated with EM. There was no statistically significant evidence that race moderates the relationship between CEO masculinity and EM.

The research contributes to the growing evidence in the field of neuroscience that it is possible to infer aspects of an individual’s behavior based on their facial structure and their TESTN levels. The findings provide new evidence supporting Malaysian Government policies in reducing masculinity on boards of directors and senior executive positions, which will positively affect the integrity of financial reports.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first research to explain whether the ethnicity/race of CEOs is related to EM and whether it has a significant moderate effect on the relationship between masculinity and EM.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants and the intention to use information technology (IT) audit technologies.

The research model explores the external and internal factors that influence IT audit usage in Saudi Arabia. The external factors include IT audit education, professional support provided by professional accounting and auditing bodies, external pressure and social factors. The internal factors include the firm’s organizational support, complexity of accounting information systems, IT audit competency, adoption risk, ease of use and readiness. These factors affect the intention to use IT audits, represented by the perceived benefits and intention to use IT audits, which in turn affect IT audit usage. The study uses structural equation modelling to estimate a sample size of 261 respondents.

The findings suggest that internal factors significantly influence both IT audit usage and intention to use IT audits. However, the external factors exhibit insignificant associations with IT audit usage. The findings also indicate that IT auditors in Saudi Arabia heavily rely on Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word and email/Outlook as essential IT audit tools. However, the findings reveal that there is still a role for specialized IT audit tools such as generalized audit software and Audit Command Language but this usage is marginal.

The present study provides significant insights for auditors, companies’ boards, professional bodies and policymakers to enhance the development and usage of IT audits. The study revealed the absence of supportive external factors that policymakers and professional bodies should exercise in this regard. The findings also indicate that IT audit education and capacity programmes are required to promote competency and adoption of IT audit technologies.

The study contributes to IT auditing by identifying significant factors influencing IT audit adoption. It underlines the relevance of internal and external determinants and perceived benefits as drivers of IT audit adoption. The current study provides an original piece of research that highlights a comprehensive investigation of the determinates of IT audit usage in a developing country that is shifting towards artificial intelligence and IT advancements.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of country-level governance on sustainability performance, taking into account the effect of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and board characteristics.

This study uses panel data analysis using fixed effect models to investigate the influence of country-level governance on sustainability performance while considering the effect of SDGs and board characteristics. The sample comprises 8,273 firms across 41 countries during the period spanning from 2016 to 2021. The sample is divided into two categories based on the score of SDGs.

The findings of this study show that countries with high SDGs score have better overall country-level governance and board attributes which have a statistically significant positive impact on sustainability performance. However, for those countries with low SDGs, political stability shows a statistically insignificant and negative impact on sustainability performance, while government effectiveness indicates a statistically insignificant positive impact on sustainability performance.

This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between country-level governance, SDGs, board characteristics and sustainability performance. The study also highlights the importance of considering the effect of SDGs on the relationship between country-level governance and sustainability performance. The findings of this study could be useful for policymakers and firms in improving their sustainability performance and contributing to sustainable development.

This research aims to examine the impact of RPTs and board of directors' characteristics on the market value of Indian listed banks. Further, this study evaluates the moderation effect of board composition on the association between RPTs banks’ market value.

The sample size consists of 38 banks listed on Bombay stock exchange. The current study is based on secondary data for ten years from 2010 to 2019. Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) was used for estimating the results.

Subsidiary transactions, board of directors' size, composition, diligence, promoters, remuneration and banks' size and leverage have a significant impact on the market value of Indian listed banks. Further, board of directors' composition positively moderates the association between RPTs and banks value measured by Tobin's. Furthermore, corporate governance characteristics have a significant impact on RPTs measured by total RPTs and all subsidiary transactions.

This research is limited only to listed banks whose data are available in the ProwessIQ database, which makes it difficult to generalize the findings on other unlisted banks. This research helps policymakers, investors and creditors to categorize RPTs into different groups to identify the harmful and beneficial once to the bank. The findings suggest that policymakers, investors and creditors should not consider all key personal transactions as harmful transactions; instead, the policymakers, investors and creditors should consider all subsidiary transactions as harmful in the absence of independent directors.

The present study contributes to the existing literature on RPTs by evaluating the interaction effect of board composition on the association between related party transactions and banks' value. Further, this research focuses on the financing industry; Indian banks, which has not been sufficiently researched in comparison to the non-financing industries.

The main aim of the present study is to assess the moderating effect of joint audit (JA) on the relationship between audit committee effectiveness (ACEFF) and audit quality (AQ) in Egypt.

The sample included 61 non-financial corporations listed on the Egyptian Exchange from 2016 through 2020. The results are estimated using panel data analysis with fixed-effect models.

The findings exhibit that audit committee (AC) independence, ACEFF; and audit firm size negatively affect AQ. Conversely, the influence of AC meetings on AQ is positive and significant. The findings also reveal that JA moderates the relation between the ACEFF and AQ.

The study offers theoretical contributions to corporate governance mechanisms, JA; and AQ by using data from listed firms in Egypt. The study is the first one that examines the moderating role of JA on ACEFF and AQ.

The study has practical implications for investors, board members, practitioners, academicians; and policymakers. Moreover, the study contributes using a composite measure for the ACEFF score.

The findings, supported by agency, resource dependence; and signaling theories, contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between ACEFF, AQ; and JA. The evidence about JA is still unknown in developing countries. Further, revisiting AQ with different measures, particularly accounting conservatism, has not been a subject of prior studies.

This study aims to investigate the impact of corporate characteristics on leverage in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) non-financial listed firms.

A sample comprising a balanced panel for eight years from 2009–2016 for four Gulf countries is used. In total, 85 non-financial listed companies have been selected using a non-probability sampling technique. Corporate characteristics are represented by return on assets (ROA), return on equity, return on capital employed, market value-added, Tobin-Q, liquidity and firm size. The study used fixed and random effect models to estimate the results.

The findings of the study revealed that both ROA and FSIZE have a significant negative effect on leverage. However, market value-added, return on capital employed and Tobin-Q exhibited a statistically significant positive effect on leverage. Further, the results indicated that Qatar is better than kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Oman and the UAE. In addition, evidence noted that KSA is better than both UAE and Oman in terms of the overall impact of corporate characteristics on the leverage. However, this effect is not statistically significant.

This study provides an open insight for managers, bankers, financial analysts in the GCC countries and some other developing economies by highlighting the relationship between corporate characteristics and leverage in an emerging market.

The current study provides an important insight into corporate characteristics and leverage. By so doing, it provides an attempt to identify the factors influencing corporate financing behavior taking into consideration different issues such as different proxies of firms’ profitability, market capitalization, market value added and liquidity, which provides original evidence from Gulf countries emerging markets. These countries are characterized by low tax rates and high liquidity. High liquidity may reduce the cost of borrowing and debt financing may not be a huge burden on firms’ profits. This makes the investigation of leverage and corporate characteristics, particularly, firms’ profitability and liquidity, very important. Therefore, the study tries to bridge an existing gap in the body of literature of capital structure and debt financing in Gulf countries emerging markets.

This study aims to investigate the factors associated with the intention to use information technology in audit (ITIA) in Iraq.

The study uses a quantitative approach based on a questionnaire survey of 186 respondents. The study population includes respondents who are board members, senior executives, internal auditors and information technology (IT) assistants in various Iraqi organizations from different sectors. Structural equation modeling has been used to estimate the results.

The findings exhibit that most auditors in Iraq use basic IT software. However, among several specialized and advanced IT audit software packages, only generalized audit software is used by about 20%. The results also indicate that social factors significantly and positively impact auditors’ and practitioners’ perceptions of ITIA use. Moreover, the results reveal that companies and auditors who use or audit complex accounting systems perceive higher benefits and intent to adopt ITIA. However, the results report that organizational support, professional support, competency and IT education have an insignificant effect on ITIA adoption.

The originality of the present research lies in several aspects. First, the research study focuses specifically on Iraq, which is an emerging and less developed country influenced by social and economic. This research context provides a unique perspective and contributes to the understanding of ITIA adoption in less developed countries. The study investigates how external factors, including social and external pressure and the support of government professional bodies, affect the adoption of ITIA. Further, it assesses the influence of firms’ specific factors such as management support, level of competency and complexity of accounting information systems. Second, the study uses a quantitative approach with a questionnaire survey from various Iraqi organizations and sectors. The specific sample composition adds originality by capturing insights from different levels of organizational hierarchy and diverse professional backgrounds. Third, the findings shed light on the current IT usage in auditing practices in Iraq, highlighting that most auditors use basic IT software and the limited adoption of specialized IT audit software packages. Finally, the study’s originality is also reflected in its contribution to expanding knowledge on the perceived benefits and challenges associated with ITIA adoption in less developed countries. By emphasizing the need for broader awareness of emerging technology-enabled auditing software and considering the unique characteristics of less developed countries, the research provides valuable insights and implications for practitioners, policymakers and researchers.

The global economy has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has placed greater responsibility on companies to fulfill their obligations to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) amid the crisis. This chapter investigates the role of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) attributes in improving a firm's CSR in the emerging economy of Jordan and how the COVID-19 pandemic modifies this relationship. Using a Jordanian sample of 655 firm-year observations during the 2014–2021 period, the research results show that older CEOs, well-educated CEOs, CEOs' remuneration, and CEOs' ownership positively correlate with CSR reporting. However, long-tenured CEOs are associated with lower CSR initiatives. The subsample analysis findings also validate the significance of CEO attributes in improving CSR practice during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the prepandemic period. These findings are beneficial for the regulatory setters to understand better whether CEO attributes are linked to engagement in CSR-related information. This research is among the limited number of studies that have explored how CEO attributes impact CSR reporting for the stakeholder's welfare. Moreover, it uniquely concentrated on contrasting the findings before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study aims to analyze the effect of financial soundness on financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya.

The study used dynamic panel model to analyze data from commercial banks for the period 2009 to 2020. The study was modeled on the concept of CAMEL approach using five CAMEL variables as financial soundness indicators. Four indicators that is, net interest margin (NIM), earnings per share (EPS), return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) were used as measures of financial performance.

Generalized method of moments results established that financial soundness had a statistically significant effect on NIM, ROA and ROE. It was also found that asset quality and earning quality had a statistically significant effect on net interest margin. In addition management efficiency had significant effect on ROE. However, the study established that capital adequacy, asset quality, earning quality and liquidity had a statistically insignificant effect on ROA and ROE respectively while capital adequacy, management efficiency and liquidity had statistically insignificant effect on NIM.

Bank managers should put into place effective financial policies to govern changes in CAMEL variables to ensure optimal banks' financial soundness to facilitate positive growth in banks' financial performance.

The current study is modeled on the concept of the CAMEL approach by employing the five CAMEL variables as financial soundness indicators. In addition, the study contributes to local literature by examining banks in a developing economy to provide reliable and relevant information on their differences to monitor their dynamics in financial soundness and financial performance which could not be provided by regional or global studies.