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The study aims at reviewing a synthesis of disclosure, transparency, and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) implementation in an attempt to provide directions for future research. Prior research overwhelmingly supports that the IFRS adoption or effective implementation of IFRS will enhance high-quality financial reporting, transparency, enhance the country’s investment environment, and foreign direct investment (FDI) (Dayanandan, Donker, Ivanof, & Karahan, 2016; Gláserová, 2013; Muniandy & Ali, 2012). However, some researchers provide conflicting evidence that developing countries implementing IFRS are probably not going to encounter higher FDI inflows (Gheorghe, 2009; Lasmin, 2012). It has also been argued that the IFRS adoption decreases the management earnings in countries with high levels of financial disclosure. In general, the study indicates that the adoption of IFRS has improved the financial reporting quality. The common law countries have strong rules to protect investors, strict legal enforcement, and high levels of transparency of financial information. From the extensive structured review of literature using the Scopus database tool, the study reviewed 105 articles, and in particular, the topic-related 94 articles were analysed. All 94 articles were retrieved from a range of 59 journals. Most of the articles (77 of 94) were published 2010–2018. The top five journals based on the citations are Journal of Accounting Research (187 citations), Abacus (125 citations), European Accounting Review (107 citations), Journal of Accounting and Economics (78 citations), and Accounting and Business Research (66 citations). The most-cited authors are Daske, Hail, Leuz, and Verdi (2013); Daske and Gebhardt (2006); and Brüggemann, Hitz, and Sellhorn (2013). Surprisingly, 65 of 94 articles did not utilise the theory. In particular, four theories have been used frequently: agency theory (15), economic theory (5), signalling theory (2), and accounting theory (2). The study calls for future research on the theoretical implications and policy-related research on disclosure and transparency which may inform the local and international standard setters.

An overview of the impact of dementia that focuses on underdeveloped countries across the globe, and migrant and minority ethnic communities within the developed world. Increased longevity increases the risk of dementia and brings new challenges in terms of cultural perspectives and cultural obligations in the care of elders. The chapter examines these challenges in detail and their consequences in planning for support and care.

The transition from large to small working age cohorts and perpetually increasing longevity presents major challenges to pension systems around the world. In this context, the Danish system has been highlighted as particularly adequate and sustainable, although often developed more as element in macro-economic and fiscal policies than pension visions and certainly enabled and bolstered through other policies, such as fixed exchange rates, debt reduction, wage restraint, employment maximation and tax reform. The combined effect of six distinctive pension policy features places Danish pensions in the super-league of national systems: (1) a generous minimum pension providing all residents with basic old age security; (2) progressive redistribution resulting from the integration of public and private pension benefits; (3) high occupational pension coverage, with sizable contributions offering immediate membership, vesting and full portability of rights; (4) the tax regime, where investment return taxation substantially reduces the fiscal pressure from tax-exempting gross income in the build-up period and deferral of income tax until benefits are paid out, secures a revenue windfall at the height of ageing; (5) the linking of pensionable ages to life expectancy, which aims to lower pension costs, increases labour supply, growth and tax revenue and (6) the regime for third pillar schemes preventing their use in tax planning. Although the Danish pension experience has its obvious peculiarities, lessons for other governments can be found in the public‒private benefit integration, the tax regime, the life expectancy indexing of pensionable ages and the use of pensions in economic policies.