Media coverage and financial restatements: evidence from China

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Radwan Hussien Alkebsee ◽  
Ahsan Habib

PurposeDrawing on the premise that the media play a vital corporate governance role, this paper aims to investigate the association between media coverage and financial report restatements.Design/methodology/approachBased on a sample of Chinese listed companies over the period 2011–2015, the authors use ordinary least squares regression as well as a number of additional tests. To mitigate the endogeneity issue, the authors use a two-stage Heckman test and a propensity score matching model.FindingsThe authors document a negative and significant association between media coverage and restatements, suggesting that firms with high media coverage engage less in financial restatements. The authors further explore the moderating effects of internal control quality and state ownership on the association between media coverage and restatements. Regression results reveal that the governance role of the media is more pronounced for state-owned enterprises than for private firms. However, no significant difference in the disciplining effect of media coverage is found for firms with high, versus low, internal control quality.Originality/valueThe role of the media in corporate governance and financial reporting quality has been well documented. In emerging economies, such a role has been overlooked. As a result, the purpose of this study is to fill that void. Furthermore, prior research ignores the impacts of state ownership and the internal control environment on the media's governance role.

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 589-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sawsan Saadi Halbouni ◽  
Nada Obeid ◽  
Abeer Garbou

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the role of corporate governance and information technology in fraud prevention and detection within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach This study uses a survey of financial accountants and internal and external auditors to assess their perceptions of the effectiveness of IT and corporate governance as measured in terms of the audit committee’s effectiveness, internal audit functions, external audit functions, culture of honesty and employee training programmes in preventing and detecting fraud in the UAE. Findings The results indicate that corporate governance has a moderate role in preventing and detecting fraud in the UAE and that IT has the same role as traditional fraud prevention and detection techniques. The results also show no significant difference between internal and external auditors in their use of technological and traditional techniques during the course of audits. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that the senior management and boards of directors must better understand the importance of their oversight function. The finding that a culture of honesty has a low positive impact on fraud prevention and detection in the UAE indicates that chief executive officers and boards of directors must make more efforts to set the “tone at the top” to improve the corporate environment in terms of integrity and ethics, among other factors. Furthermore, as IT and traditional techniques provide the same function, senior management and boards of directors must be alerted to the importance of developing systematic approaches to fraud investigation that involve greater reliance on technological approaches. Practical implications The moderate role of corporate governance suggests that senior management and boards of directors must better understand the importance of their oversight function to meet their obligations and fiduciary responsibilities to stakeholders. Furthermore, greater adoption of IT to detect and prevent fraud contributes to developing a systematic approach to fraud investigation, capable of identifying unusual activity using effective software. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on the role of corporate governance and IT in preventing and detecting fraud, particularly for Middle Eastern countries and other emerging nations. The study may provide insights to academics and practitioners in the UAE and their international counterparts.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Ouyang ◽  
Jiuchang Wei ◽  
Yu Xiao ◽  
Fei Wang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of media attention on corporate disaster relief. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a matched sample research design, which is considered more appropriate than a random sample design for studying events that have low-occurrence rates in general. For each donor firm in the Yushu earthquake, the authors matched the firm with a non-donor firm in the same industry and with a firm size of within ±30 percent of the total assets in the year prior to the year of the occurrence of the Yushu earthquake. Then, using the Baidu engine, which is the most popular Chinese search engine, the authors captured the online media attention to the donor firms and their disaster relief. Findings The authors found that media attention drove corporate disaster relief. Research limitations/implications Although the authors highlighted the role of the media as an important stakeholder in influencing corporate disaster relief, the authors did not fully explore the media’s influence. Future research should delve more deeply into the impact of the tenor of media coverage on corporate disaster relief. Originality/value This study reveals that the media, a particularly powerful stakeholder, can be a corporate disaster relief driver in China.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1007-1020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Koutoupis ◽  
Michail Pazarskis ◽  
George Drogalas

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the role of internal audit with respect to Auditing Corporate Governance Statements based on a practical approach. Moreover, it examines the application of internal control best practices in the Athens publicly listed firms based on a series of related statements.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted all large and medium capitalization publicly listed companies via a research questionnaire which forms a basis of a descriptive research analysis. The methodology is based on the best worldwide acceptable practices as represented by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations internal control – integrated framework, as well as the relevant laws and regulations and best practices with respect to Corporate Governance Statements.FindingsThe research concludes that internal auditors limit their role in verifying compliance with the relevant laws and regulations rather than adopt a consulting role toward the improvement of the content and quality of Corporate Governance Statements information. Also, it contributes to the corporate governance research by verifying that the effectiveness of internal controls contributes to sound corporate governance practices.Practical implicationsInternal auditors depending on the organization they serve may adopt different roles regarding Corporate Governance Statements preparation, review and audit such as consultative which may add value to the quality of Corporate Governance Statements.Originality/valueIt is the first research regarding quality characteristics of the Corporate Governance Statements and the role of internal audit in Greece, and it provides the basis for further research among European Union countries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 573-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liselotte Englund ◽  
Filip K. Arnberg

PurposeThe media is an important part of disaster management, yet little is understood about their interplay with the disaster survivors. The purpose of this paper is to examine disaster survivors’ long-term retrospective views of their experiences with journalists and the media coverage.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 22 Swedish adult survivors (of 49 eligible) from a ferry disaster in the Baltic Sea, in which only 137 of the 989 people onboard survived, were interviewed after 15 years about their experiences of meeting journalists in the immediate aftermath and the media coverage in a long-term perspective. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.FindingsSurvivors from the Estonia ferry disaster described a wide array of experiences from their contacts with the disaster journalists and being exposed in the media. From their experiences, four categories were extracted. The categories were common for both their media contacts and their media exposure: strain, support, rationality and evasion. The survivors’ experiences were both negative and positive.Research limitations/implicationsThese accounts of disaster survivors’ experiences from an event 15 years ago provide an interesting comparison for future studies of contemporary disasters.Originality/valueThis study provides important perspectives on the role of disaster coverage in the media and documents how disaster survivors retrospect on the media as both a burden and a resource.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 627-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Wu ◽  
Lei Gao ◽  
Xiao Li

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between earnings management and media reports, assess the roles played by the media in determining the reputation mechanism and examine whether the media has an influence on executives’ behavior in the case of earnings management. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses Chinese A-share listed firms from the period 2008 to 2012 to test the research questions using regression analyses. Findings Although the Chinese Stock Markets are still immature compared to those of developed countries, the media seems to play a role in affecting executives’ decisions about dabbling in earnings management. Specifically, firms receiving more media attention are more likely to undertake earnings management. Furthermore, negative media reports result in even higher levels of earnings management activities, indicating that managers tend to use earnings management to achieve earnings goals to reduce or relieve the pressure they feel from the media and to remedy any reputation loss. Moreover, the authors have found that firms whose CEOs have higher reputations are more likely to manage earnings and they are more likely to be affected by negative media reports. Similar results were found for state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Originality/value This study analyzes how the level and tone of media coverage affect earnings management rather than just assessing the overall effect of media coverage on earnings management. This paper verifies that the reputation mechanism of the media works in China, but it leads to different results than those experienced in developed countries. Reputational benefits have been introduced into the equation for measuring the governance effect of the media to derive a more in-depth analysis of the reputation mechanism. This paper is among the first to link news coverage and state ownership with earnings management.


2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1292-1314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Keay

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate that notwithstanding the fact that stewardship theory embraces things like trust of directors, their professionalism, loyalty and willingness to be concerned for the interests of others, as well as rejecting the foundations of classic agency problems that are asserted by agency theory, board accountability is as relevant to stewardship theory as it is to agency theory. Design/methodology/approach The paper applies the theory underlying board accountability in corporate governance, which is so often applied both in the corporate governance literature and in practice with agency theory in mind, to stewardship theory. Findings While the idea of accountability of boards is generally associated with an explanation and conceptualisation of the role and behaviour of directors as agents within classic agency theory, the paper demonstrates that board accountability is a necessary part of board life even if the role of directors is explained and conceptualised in terms of stewardship theory. Practical implications The paper suggests some accountability mechanisms that might be employed in a stewardship approach. Originality/value While many authors have talked in general terms about board accountability and its importance, this is the first paper that has engaged in a substantial study that links board accountability directly with stewardship theory, and to establish that accountability is necessary.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedicte Millet-Reyes ◽  
Nancy Uddin

Theoretical basis The impact of corporate governance on internal controls and quality of financial disclosures. Research methodology Analysis of a real financial fraud event for a non-US multinational corporation. The case relies on accessing and analyzing annual reports for the firm, both before and after the fraud. Additional information on industry governance characteristics are provided in the case itself so that students can compare the firm to the industry. Case overview/synopsis This business case is centered on the analysis of Schneider Electric, a French multinational corporation, which had to restate their financial statements in 2011 because of accounting fraud. Following this event, Schneider undertook major changes in their board structure to improve internal control mechanisms. This pedagogical business case familiarizes students with international differences in ownership and board structure and emphasizes potential corporate governance changes after financial statement fraud. Complexity academic level Managerial finance, corporate finance, international finance, auditing. This case is more appropriate for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses.


Author(s):  
Lamis Jameel Banasser, Maha Faisal Alsayegh

The study aimed to identify the role of accounting mechanisms for corporate governance in reducing creative accounting practices in telecommunications sector companies in Riyadh city. A descriptive analytical approach was followed to conduct the field study. Sample of the study consisted of members of the audit committee, internal auditors, accountants from the surveyed telecommunications’ sector companies, and the external auditors in the audit offices that specialized on auditing the examined sample of companies. Questionnaire was used as a data collection method. Results showed that activating the role of accounting mechanisms for corporate governance can greatly contribute in limiting creative accounting practices. As they are controlling mechanisms that capable of protecting companies, shareholders and stakeholders from any manipulation or misleading information in the financial statements. Further, internal audit plays a major role in limiting creative accounting practices by examining and evaluating the effectiveness of the internal control system. Furthermore, the independence and competence of the external auditor and his commitment to the rules of conduct and ethics of the profession contribute greatly in limiting creative accounting practices in the examined companies. The study recommended the necessity of holding specialized training courses for members of audit committees, internal auditors and external auditors on methods of detecting creative accounting practices to combat and reduce them.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Flynn ◽  
Irina Harris

Purpose The media is an important actor in public procurement, but research on its role is limited. This paper aims to investigate how the media has engaged with public procurement, using UK newspapers as a case example. Design/methodology/approach The method consisted of searching Nexis database for news articles on public procurement; automatic extraction of article attributes such as length, section, authorship; and manually coding each article for its theme and industry context. This produced quantitative indicators about the extent and focus of press coverage on public procurement. Findings Press coverage of public procurement increased between 1985 and 2018. The focus of coverage has been on governance failure and socio-economic policy. Governance failure, which includes corruption, cronyism and supplier malpractice, is associated with construction, outsourcing and professional services sectors. Socio-economic policy, which includes supporting small suppliers and favouring domestic industry, is associated with manufacturing, defence and agriculture. Research limitations/implications The analysis included UK media only. While the trends observed on the extent and focus of public procurement news coverage likely reflect the situation in other countries, international comparative research is still required. Practical implications Government officials should be more proactive in countering the “negativity bias” in news coverage of public procurement by showcasing projects where value-for-money has been achieved, services have been successfully delivered and social value has been realised. Social implications The media accentuates the negatives of public procurement and omits positive developments. The end-result is a selective and, at times, self-serving media narrative that is likely to engender cynicism towards public procurement. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study on media coverage of public procurement. It highlights that while there are similarities between media and academic treatment of public procurement, particularly in relation to its socio-economic side, the media emphasises governance failings and negative developments to a greater extent.


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