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The purpose of this study is to provide a detailed descriptive account and analysis of corporate internet reporting (CIR) practices among non-financial companies listed on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) at two points in time – December 2010 (pre) and December 2013 (peri) political and social unrest in Egypt.

The study developed a disclosure index to determine the extent of CIR practices among all non-financial companies listed on the EGX in December 2010 and December 2013. The study uses ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions and isometric log-ratio transformations for compositional independent variables to empirically examine the factors affecting CIR in Egypt using a modern institutional theory lens.

The findings of this investigation suggest that listed companies in Egypt have started embracing the power of the internet as a disclosure channel, but the extent of these practices increased significantly over the investigated period, with great variations evident among the sampled companies in this regard. Such variations were chiefly dependent on the changing institutional actors over the two time frames. Additionally, the findings show that the time factor is particularly important for a given institutional field to induce a sufficient diffusion of corporate practices, especially in periods with drastic institutional change.

The evidence presented reflects the voluntary nature of CIR practices and the absence of a reinforced regulatory framework for organizing and monitoring such practices, with companies having discretion in terms of the amount and type of information disclosed via their websites. The results should, therefore, provide useful guidelines for regulators and standard-setters in identifying best practices, which, in turn, should allow CIR practices to become more consistent, making them easier to monitor and govern.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines CIR practices at two points in time using a comprehensive disclosure index and a modern institutional theory lens.

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating role of institutional ownership on the relationship between board gender diversity and earnings management (EM) among listed firms in East African Community (EAC) partner states.

The study used a sample of 71 firms listed in the EAC partner states over 2011–2020. Data were handpicked from the individual firm's audited annual financial reports. Based on the results of the Hausman test, the study used the results of the fixed-effect regression model to test the hypotheses. To test the robustness of the results, the study employed an alternative measure of EM and two additional econometric techniques, including the pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) and the system generalized method of moments (GMM).

The empirical findings revealed that female directors improve the board's effectiveness in monitoring managerial roles. Specifically, the results showed a significantly negative relationship between the proportion of women in the corporate board and EM (as measured by discretionary accruals (DAs)). The findings further revealed an inverse relationship between the proportion of institutional ownership and EM. Finally, the results further demonstrated that institutional ownership enhances the role of board gender diversity in mitigating EM among listed firms in the EAC.

The findings of this study may be useful to managers, investors and regulators in assessing the role of institutional ownership and women's participation on corporate boards as a strategy for alleviating unethical manipulation of earnings.

The findings of this study contribute to the growing concern on gender inequality, especially the marginalization of women from the paid labor force and decision-making. The findings highlight the importance of having more women in the corporate board since this may help in mitigating corporate fraud. Similarly, the findings highlight the importance of institutional ownership as a corporate governance (CG) tool.

Previous studies have reported mixed empirical results on whether board gender diversity mitigates EM. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first paper to fill the existing gap by exploring whether institutional ownership moderates the relationship between board gender diversity and EM among listed firms in the EAC.

This study investigates and compares the earnings management strategies of financially distressed and non-distressed banks.

Using a regression analysis, this study examines a sample of banks operating in the MENA region. We focus on real earnings management strategies via commission and fee income (CF) and accrual-based earnings management strategies via loan loss provisions (LLP). A subsample analysis was performed, lagged dependent variables and additional control variables were included as a robustness check.

The findings consistently reveal a more extensive use of real earnings management strategies via CF among distressed banks than among non-distressed ones. Specifically, banks smooth their income via CF under distress conditions. However, LLP-based earnings management strategies are only implemented in healthy banks. These behaviors persist in banks that operate under different monitoring systems and institutional settings.

This study marks its entry into the literature debate on accounting and non-accounting decisions that influence bank financial reporting. It argues that, in the presence of financial difficulties, bank managers define earnings management strategies based on the probability of being detected, rather than looking at their costs.

From a prudential perspective, the findings suggest the need for prudential rules to supervise the reporting of CF income associated with high fees or discount incentives used intentionally by bank managers to convince clients to delay or accelerate payments and, consequently, affect reported earnings.

This study adds to the literature by investigating the effect of bank financial distress on both real and accrual-based earnings management to provide a comprehensive analysis of bank earnings management strategies in the presence of financial difficulties.