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The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of corporate (CG) and Islamic (IG) governance mechanisms on corporate earnings management (EM) behaviour in Oman.

The authors employ one of the largest and extensive data sets to-date on CG, IG and EM in any developing country, consisting of a sample of 116 unique Omani listed corporations from 2001 to 2011 (i.e. 1,152 firm-year observations) and a broad CG index containing 72 CG provisions. The authors also employ a number of robust econometric models that sufficiently account for alternative CG/EM proxies and potential endogeneities.

First, the authors find that, on average, better-governed corporations tend to engage significantly less in EM than their poorly governed counterparts. Second, the evidence suggests that corporations that depict greater commitment towards incorporating Islamic religious beliefs and values into their operations through the establishment of an IG committee tend to engage significantly less in EM than their counterparts without such a committee. Finally and by contrast, the authors do not find any evidence that board size, audit firm size, the presence of a CG committee and board gender diversity have any significant relationship with the extent of EM.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a first empirical attempt at examining the extent to which CG and IG structures may drive EM practices that explicitly seek to draw new insights from a behavioural theoretical framework (i.e. behavioural theory of corporate boards and governance).

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of firm financial and operational characteristics on the level of forward-looking information disclosure (FLID) by Egyptian-listed non-financial companies. The present research also aims to investigate the moderating role of gender diversity on the board of directors.

The sample incorporates the non-financial companies included in the EGX 100 of the Egyptian Stock Exchange (ESE), whose reports were available during the study period from 2013 to 2018. The final sample comprises 49 companies with 294 observations. Statistical analysis is performed using multiple regression analysis.

This study found a significant positive impact of return on assets, leverage, company size and age on the level FLID, while external audit firm type and industry were found to impact the level of FLID negatively. Further, the board gender diversity (BGD) is found to have a moderating impact as it strengthens the effect of financial and operational characteristics on the level of FLID.

The present study has some implications for Egyptian companies, investors in the Egyptian market and regulators in emerging economies, which include paying more attention to BGD when selecting the board members by companies as well as following up the female representation in all the listed companies by regulators.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the moderating role of BGD and its impact on the level of FLID in emerging markets. This extends the disclosure literature as the present study brings new evidence from an emerging market regarding BGD moderating role as early research concentrated on the direct impact of BGD on the level of FLID.

This paper aims to investigate the association among trustee board diversity (TBD), corporate governance (CG), capital structure (CS) and financial performance (FP) by using a sample of UK charities. Specifically, the authors investigate the effect of TBD on CS and ascertain whether CG quality moderates the TBD–CS nexus. Additionally, the authors examine the impact of CS on FP and ascertain whether the CS–FP nexus is moderated by TBD and CG quality.

The authors use a number of multivariate regression techniques, including ordinary least squares, fixed-effects, lagged-effects and two-stage least squares, to rigorously analyse the data and test the hypotheses.

First, the authors find that trustee board gender diversity has a negative effect on CS, but this relationship holds only up to the point of having three women trustees. The authors find similar, but relatively weak, results for the presence of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) trustees. Second, the authors find that the TBD–CS nexus depends on the quality of CG, with the relationship being stronger in charities with higher frequency of meetings, independent CG committee and larger trustee and audit firm size. Third, the authors find that CS structure has a positive effect on FP, but this is moderated by TBD and CG quality. The evidence is robust to different econometric models that adjust for alternative measures and endogeneities. The authors interpret the findings within explanations of a theoretical perspective that captures insights from different CG and CS theories.

Existing studies that explore TBD, CG, CS and FP in charities are rare. This study distinctively attempts to address this empirical lacuna within the extant literature by providing four new insights with specific focus on UK charities. First, the authors provide new evidence on the relationship between TBD and CS. Second, the authors offer new evidence on the moderating effect of CG on the TBD-CS nexus. Third, the authors provide new evidence on the effect of CS on FP. Finally, the authors offer new evidence on the moderating effect of TBD and CG on the CS–FP nexus.

This paper investigates whether the introduction of the 2006 corporate governance code and subsequent amendments constrain corporate earnings management (EM) practices amongst listed companies in Saudi Arabia.

Accounting and corporate governance (CG) data were collected from annual financial reports of a sample of 108 listed companies from 2007 to 2019. Absolute value of discretionary accruals was regressed against tested CG determinants provided in the CG code. The authors also employed other econometric models to check potential endogeneities.

The overall results provide evidence that the 2006/2018 Saudi Arabia corporate governance code (SACGC) does not deter EM practices in public companies.

Regulators and other stakeholders should make a deliberate effort to improve the Saudi CG environment by focussing on governance aspects such as board and ownership structures to ensure the independence of the board to effectively perform its statutory roles, as EM practices persist in the system.

This paper extends the literature on the effectiveness of CG, by providing evidence that CG code does not effectively constrain EM activities in settings where CG structures may exist, but greater importance is attached to informal relationships and other considerations than formal CG mechanisms, as these features usually work against the potentials of the principles of good CG as in the case of Saudi Arabia.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of compliance with, and disclosure of, good corporate governance (CG) practices among UK publicly listed firms and consequently ascertain whether board characteristics and ownership structure variables can explain observable differences in the extent of voluntary CG compliance and disclosure practices.

This study uses one of the largest data sets to-date on compliance and disclosure of CG practices from 2008 to 2013 containing 120 CG provisions drawn from the 2010 UK Combined Code relating to 100 UK listed firms to conduct multiple regression analyses of the determinants of voluntary CG disclosures. A number of additional estimations, including two stage least squares, fixed-effects and lagged structures, are conducted to address the potential endogeneity issue and test the robustness of the findings.

The results suggest that there is a substantial variation in the levels of compliance with, and disclosure of, good CG practices among the sampled UK firms. The authors also find that firms with larger board size, more independent outside directors and greater director diversity tend to disclose more CG information voluntarily, whereas the level of voluntary CG compliance and disclosure is insignificantly related to the existence of a separate CG committee and institutional ownership. Additionally, the results indicate that block ownership and managerial ownership negatively affect voluntary CG compliance and disclosure practices. The findings are fairly robust across a number of econometric models that sufficiently address various endogeneity problems and alternative CG indices. Overall, the findings are generally consistent with the predictions of neo-institutional theory.

This study extends, as well as contributes to, the extant CG literature by offering new evidence on compliance with, and disclosure of, good CG recommendations contained in the 2010 UK Combined Code following the 2007/2008 global financial crisis. This study also advances the existing literature by offering new insights from a neo-institutional theoretical perspective of the impact of board and ownership mechanisms on voluntary CG compliance and disclosure practices.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of audit committee independence, board ethnicity and family ownership on earnings management in Malaysia.

The effect of audit committee independence, board ethnicity and family ownership on corporate governance is investigated via 1,206 firm-year observations between the fiscal years of 2004 and 2009 of Bursa Malaysia listed firms. Panel data regression analysis is used to analyze the relationship.

The findings of this study fail to associate the role of audit committee independence as proposed under RMCCG (2007) in curtailing earnings management activities, thus supporting the findings on power distance scores that power granted to the top management may result in less effective independent directors. Nonetheless, in support of the alignment effect theory, family ownership is found to reduce earnings management activities. The findings show that corporate governance is more effective in developing country family firms due to their long history of family reputation and the importance of institutional culture factors.

This study focuses on board ethnicity, family ownership and its influence on earnings management.

This study offers insights into the importance of family institutional structures on corporate governance reforms in Malaysia as Malaysian family firms are mostly traditional firms that have built their reputation and strength in the industry for many generations.

This study aims to provide empirical evidence on the role of corporate governance mechanisms in reducing earnings-management practices in Islamic banks in Asia.

This study used 28 Islamic banks in Asia, which were listed on the stock exchange from 2013–2017. The research method used quantitative regression with data on the characteristics of Islamic banks taken from the websites of each bank. This study used discretionary loan loss provision as a proxy for measuring earnings management.

The results show that only the audit committee size has a significantly negative effect on earnings management. An independent audit committee has a negative, but not significant, effect. The difference expectation signs cannot be interpreted further.

Only a few components of corporate governance were tested in this study. Therefore, it is expected that future studies will include more components.

In general, the components of corporate governance that include the characteristics of the board of directors and the audit committee have a varied effect on reducing the earnings-management practices in Islamic banks, except audit committee size. In practice, audit committee size should have an important role in earning management reduces.

This may be the first paper that studies the effect of corporate governance on earnings management in Islamic banks in Asia.

This study aims to investigate the pragmatic issues on the radical call for the establishment of an external Shariah auditor (ESA) in the governance framework of Islamic banks (IBs).

From 11 well-established Malaysian IBs, 16 internal auditors were interviewed to provide an in-depth understanding on how ESA can provide greater assurance to stakeholders in Malaysian IBs.

This study reported mixed acceptance from internal auditors on the proposed additional governance layer to be undertaken by the ESA. Generally, internal auditors reluctantly agreed that Shariah auditing by the ESA would enhance the quality of Shariah assurance but maintain several practical concerns regarding lack of guidelines on Shariah auditing, the additional cost to be borne by IBs and the possible tensions between the ESA and Shariah board (SB) amid the diverse Shariah interpretations available for experts in the field.

The critical point on the manifestation of an ESA in the contemporary IB practice brought by this study highlights the need for regulation and policy promulgation that embrace a comprehensive approach to Shariah audit process within the religio-ethical dogma of Islamic banking and the pragmatic approach to banking.

This study provides evidence on the expected role and competency of an ESA and explores the implications produced by its implementation in Malaysian IBs. This study also clarifies how IBs should delineate the role of Shariah assurance from SB to ESA.

This study aims to investigate the monitoring role of ownership structure (OWS) on real earnings management (REM) practices; previous studies primarily examined the effect of OWS on accrual-based earnings management.

The sample of this study is 490 companies listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange during the period 2013–2016 (1,960 company-year observations). The regression of a feasible generalized least square was used for data analysis. The authors use three regression models ordinary least squares, panel-corrected standard errors and Driscoll–Kraay standard errors to corroborate the findings and also examine alternative REM measures.

Analysis of the data shows that family, foreign and institutional ownership has a positive link with the quality of financial reporting and, to a large extent, is capable of alleviating REM. The findings also indicate that some form of OWS significantly affects REM, corroborating existing theories on corporate governance (CG) and the perspectives of practitioners.

The evidence concerns the significant role played by the OWS in reducing REM activities. The findings are useful in support of regulatory activities, particularly in the design of policies to regulate the OWS. The results may also provide useful insights to inform other policymakers, investors, shareholders and researchers about the active role of family, foreign and institutional investors in monitoring Malaysia's public listed companies (PLCs) to strengthen CG practices. This also leads to less REM and enhances the quality of financial reporting.

To the authors' knowledge, this work is pioneering research from a developing country, specifically from Malaysia, to investigate the manner in which all possible OWSs influence REM. More importantly, the study recommends that regulators and researchers do not envisage OWS as a holistic phenomenon.

This study investigates the relationship between companies with military directors and audit fees in Indonesia.

Using upper echelon and audit pricing theories, the authors examine military directors' roles in the demand for and supply of auditing services. The authors use Indonesia as their research setting as their military forces have a long history of involvement in business. The study sample includes 898 firm-year observations on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2014–2018.

The authors find a negative relationship between military connections and audit fees. This is consistent with auditors assessing lower audit risk and charging lower audit fees to companies that have leaders with military experience. The study findings are strongest where there is military experience on the board of directors and where the military experience is from the Army.

This study extends the literature on the benefits of military experience in company leadership, especially in the context of auditing research. The study findings also have implications for the selection of board candidates and auditor risk assessments.