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The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of internal control weaknesses on accounting conservatism in Chinese listed firms. It also investigates the relationship between the demand for external audit and accounting conservatism, and whether additional assurance of internal control reports (ICRs) can mitigate the negative impact of ICWs on accounting conservatism.

An empirical research approach is taken through the use of ordinary least squares (OLS) models and hand-collected internal control weakness data from ICRs released by Chinese listed firms.

The results of this paper show that the existence of ICWs has a negative effect on accounting conservatism in China. Further, the results demonstrate that both accounting-related and non-accounting-related ICWs affect accounting conservatism. The authors also find that there is a complementary relationship between accounting conservatism and the demand for additional assurance of ICRs, and additional assurance of ICRs can mitigate the negative impact of ICWs on accounting conservatism.

This study provides timely evidence to Chinese regulators of the possible economic consequences of the official implementation of internal control standard in China from 2012. The findings of this paper can also benefit regulators around the world and, in particular, the regulators in emerging markets that are considering implement regulations similar to the US SOX.

The paper demonstrates that a wider scope of ICWs, including non-accounting-related ICWs, also has a significant impact on accounting conservatism. Therefore, this research provides a more general evidence on the relationship between internal control quality and accounting conservatism.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of the internal control reporting (ICR) requirements imposed by Sections 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The lessons learned are then applied to the current financial crisis.

The Coase Theorem is applied to the events leading up to the collapse of Enron and the enactment of SOX. The paper then analyzes the efficacy of the various examples of ICR regulation, both pre‐ and post‐SOX, noting the ways in which they effectively mitigate transaction costs and the ways in which they over‐regulate.

US investors continue to invest in foreign markets despite the fact that those markets maintain less demanding ICR requirements than those required by Section 404. Moreover, investors do not respond negatively to Section 404 disclosures. The research demonstrates that Section 404 does not provide useful information in the minds of investors. Considering Section 404's ineffectiveness and the burdensome costs it imposes on reporting companies, it is clear that Section 404 is an example of over‐regulation and should be repealed.

The transaction costs that caused the collapse of Enron and the enactment of SOX bear strong similarities to those causing the more recent subprime mortgage crisis. The lessons learned from the enactment of SOX Section 404 are directly applicable to the current financial crisis and should be noted moving forward.

By utilizing a law and economics perspective, the paper more clearly demonstrates how Section 404 is an example of over‐regulation and draws links to the current economic crisis.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 required companies to report on the effectiveness of their internal controls over financial reporting. Auditors also must attest to, and report on, the assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting made by the management of the company being audited. The purpose of this paper is to provide analyses of audit fee costs and material weaknesses reported for companies of different sizes after the effective date of Section 404 and suggest approaches to reduce SOX 404 compliance costs.

Quantitative analysis and deductive reasoning are used to evaluate audit costs associated with Section 404.

Audit fees have been increased substantially, particularly during the first year a company complied with Section 404, and have not been dropped substantially after the first year of compliance. Companies with sales of less than $1 billion reported significantly more material weaknesses than larger companies.

This paper documents audit costs after the SOX Section 404 effective date, the typical types of material weaknesses reported, the proportion of companies of different sizes reporting material weaknesses, and describes approaches to reduce compliance costs.

The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act (which has been amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) provides:

The paper aims to study and compare the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) annual (AR) and intellectual capital reports (ICR) with an earlier study. The paper seeks to analyse the reporting practices of intellectual capital (IC) within this organisation.

The case study organisation is an Australian not‐for‐profit (NFP) organisation and the study took place over three years. A content analysis of ARCBS AR and ICR between 2002 and 2005 was conducted. Several interviews were conducted with a number of key ARBCS staff during 2006 to identify why and how they reported IC information.

The findings indicate a greater focus on internal and external capital with less focus on human capital. The frequency with which certain internal, external and human capital elements occur in ARCBS reports can be explained by macro, meso and micro factors which affect the organisation and influence the information it provides to its stakeholders. It was found that the AR addressed the concerns of multiple stakeholder groups, whereas the ICR are more targeted towards specific audiences.

This paper examines ICR and IC frameworks in the context of the NFP sector. Few prior studies consider this sector.

The study aims to report empirical evidence on the impact of mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in India on the voluntary intellectual capital reporting (ICR) and its value relevance. The study also tests the effect of term-weighting schemes used for information retrieval studies in the domain area of ICR.

The study uses computational linguistics tools to measure ICR by Indian firms in the period 2014–2019. The study developed term frequencies for 23 ICR attributes using bag-of-words methodology from the annual reports. The word counts were used to construct two distinct measures of ICR, quantity and quality, deploying different term-weighting schemes, equal weighting and the term frequency-inverted document frequency (TF-IDF) weighting, respectively. A combination of parametric and non-parametric tests has been employed to examine the different hypothesis.

The quantity of ICR was found to have increased post-IFRS adoption. However, the quality of ICR had fallen significantly, which resulted in the loss of value relevance of ICR. Firms making higher disclosures but of inferior quality experienced suboptimal market returns. Variation in inter-firm ICR has reduced. Size effect and sector effect continue but have attenuated. The study acknowledges the enormous impact of term-weighting schemes, used for information retrieval studies, in the domain area of ICR.

The study strongly adds to the momentum in favour of a formal ICR standard to improve its quality, restore its value relevance and facilitate more effective decision-making where the valuation of a firm is a critical input. The study presages the firms not to make poor-quality disclosures to avoid suboptimal stock performance.

The study sheds light on the impact of the adoption of post-IFRS on ICR in India. The study establishes the effect of term-weighting schemes, used for linguistic studies, in the domain area of ICR and adds to the literature by explaining one of the critical reasons for the dichotomy in ICR trends.

This paper aims to examine the patterns of intellectual capital reporting (ICR) of large listed firms in a developing nation, Sri Lanka. The aim of this study is to highlight the differences in ICR practice between developing and developed nations.

The paper begins by examining each of the top 30 firms by market capitalization listed on the Colombo stock exchange in 1998/1999 and 1999/2000. Using the content analysis method, it reviews the annual reports of these firms to determine the types of intellectual capital (IC) items reported in Sri Lanka. It then compares these findings with a similar study undertaken in Australia during the same period.

The findings in this paper highlight the need for a uniform ICR definition and a reporting framework that provides comparative and consistent reporting under the auspices of a regulatory body. ICR differences were identified between Sri Lankan and Australian firms, and it is argued that these differences can be attributed to economic, social and political factors.

This paper highlights important policy issues for Australia, Sri Lanka and other nations. These issues are even more pertinent in the light of the gradual international adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), formulated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

Most papers on intellectual capital reporting have focused on firms in developed countries. This paper offers insights into comparative reporting practices between a developed and a developing country.

In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still be covered by the Act if she were employed on like work in succession to the man? This is the question which had to be solved in Macarthys Ltd v. Smith. Unfortunately it was not. Their Lordships interpreted the relevant section in different ways and since Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome was also subject to different interpretations, the case has been referred to the European Court of Justice.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the intellectual capital reporting (ICR) practices of listed non‐financial companies in Bangladesh as an example of a South Asian developing country, and to empirically investigate some company characteristics as determinants of such practices.

This is an empirical study of ICR by 90 listed companies in Bangladesh in 2008‐2009 using content analysis of annual reports. The study uses a weighted disclosure index and ordinary least squares regression analyses to test the association between company characteristics and the extent of ICR.

The study finds that despite the stock market growing significantly during the recession period, there is a tendency of companies not to disclose IC. The study also confirms that size and industry are important attributes to explain the IC disclosure (ICD) issues in Bangladesh. Unlike prior studies, the study finds that the IT sector does not tend to disclose more extensively, and that companies currently fail to disclose many important items such as patents, trademark and copyrights. The result is an indication that companies in Bangladesh are reluctant to disclose IC. The study is also similar to Abeysekera and Guthrie, who found that Sri Lanka is a proactive rather reactive country in terms of ICR. The study also finds ICR depends on the self‐interests of the company.

The scope of this study is limited to single year, 2008‐2009. It would be interesting to replicate this study in other developing countries or a group of developing countries in South Asia that have many similarities to the Bangladesh socio‐economic environment. Nevertheless, the study incorporates the current level of ICR transparency in Bangladesh.

Unlike previous studies, the present study is based on a developing country where the capital market is growing significantly during the recession years. The study also develops a weighted disclosure index in a developing country context, based on the extensive literature of ICD and some new characteristics, namely non‐family ownership, audit committee and liquidity risk.

Motivated by the increased attention on intellectual capital reporting (ICR) from regulatory bodies, practitioners, and researchers and the recent calls for companies to supplement and complement their traditional financial statements with intellectual capital (IC) disclosure, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers of ICR among the companies listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE).

Content analysis was applied to the annual reports of all companies listed on the KSE in 2013. A multiple regression analysis was employed to explore the ICR drivers.

Despite the growing importance of ICR in capital markets, the study findings reveal an overall relatively low level of ICR among KSE-listed companies. In addition, the level of ICR varies significantly between companies. The results show that the level of ICR for all KSE-listed companies in 2013 ranged from 0 to 96 percent and the mean was 28 percent. The multiple regression analysis suggests that older, highly leveraged, larger, and profitable KSE-listed companies are associated with higher levels of ICR. Industrial sector is a partial driver.

Surprisingly, many of the KSE-listed companies do not disclose any IC information in their annual reports. Given the increasingly important role that IC information plays in capital markets, regulatory bodies should encourage, stimulate, and guide companies to report IC information. The findings offer insights as to the drivers of ICR that should improve efforts to develop recommendations that push for greater IC disclosure in corporate annual reports.

The study is the first examination of ICR drivers in Kuwait. It contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence about ICR in a market with specific economic, social, and cultural characteristics. It enhances our understanding of ICR by revealing some of its drivers.