Convergence of corporate governance in Malaysia and Thailand

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Abdulla Al Mamun ◽  
Yousre Badir

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there is a firm-level corporate governance (CG) convergence in two emerging economies, namely Malaysia and Thailand in post-Asian financial crisis periods, and how the level of convergence is moderated by different firm-specific factors. Design/methodology/approach – Using data collected from annual reports of top Malaysian and Thai companies in two point of times 2005 and 2008, this research examines the attributes of board of directors to find the firm-level CG convergence. This study, based on prior literature, identified firm-specific factors to assess their moderating impact on the level of convergence. This paper exploits beta and sigma convergence technique to measure the CG convergence. Findings – Results show that top Malaysian and Thai companies have developed internal CG practices in similar way with increasing board independent, separate board leadership, important board committees, board education, and participation in the post-crisis reform regime. Accordingly, there is a firm-level CG convergence within companies of an individual country, i.e. intra-convergence, and companies across the countries, i.e. inter-convergence. Notwithstanding, the study does not find the unconditional convergence in all CG variables. Additionally, it observes that the firm-level CG convergence is moderated by firm-specific factors. Practical implications – Outcomes of the study have the implication to understand the complicated changing aspects of internal CG practices in emerging economies which, in turn, can help to formulate and implement effective CG structure so that firms can tackle adverse effects of any further economic crisis. Because this paper highlights that the firms in these emerging economies have enough room yet to improve their CG practices to become internationally competitive. Originality/value – This paper demonstrates how internal CG practices may evolve and converge in emerging Southeast Asian economies. Results related to moderating factors of firm-level CG convergence contribute in literature by exploring a new dimension of CG convergence.

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Oliveira ◽  
Rogério Serrasqueiro ◽  
Sara Nunes Mota

Purpose This paper aims to assess the risk reporting practices extent to which firm’s and corporate governance characteristics explain risk-related disclosures (RRD) motivations across two European Latin countries (Portugal and Spain). Moreover, drawn on elements of agency, legitimacy, resources-based perspectives and institutional theory, this study also intends to assess whether the influence of corporate governance mechanisms on risk reporting is mediated by strategic/institutional legitimacy interests. Design/methodology/approach From a sample of 60 non-finance Portuguese and Spanish companies with securities traded on the Euronext Lisbon stock exchange market and on the Madrid stock exchange market, respectively, at December, 2011, the Corporate Governance reports and the “risk/risk management” sections of the Management reports included on consolidated annual reports for 2011 were manually content analysed, according to prior literature. Further, multiple linear regressions were used to assess the potential relationships between corporate governance mechanisms and risk reporting. The paper’s theoretical framework draws on elements of agency, legitimacy, resources-based perspectives and institutional theory. To understand the risk reporting practices of Portuguese and Spanish non-finance listed companies, the paper conducts a content analysis of 60 consolidated annual reports for 2011. Findings Results indicate that visible companies, operating in a country with a weaker legal environment, and during periods of financial distress disclose more discretionary RRD, basically to contextualize their negative outcomes. Some corporate governance mechanisms were crucial to improve risk information. Originality/value The paper goes beyond prior literature work and assesses whether the theoretical framework grounded on agency, legitimacy, resources-based perspective and institutional theory is suitable in explaining RRD in an under-researched setting (European Latin countries, such as Portugal and Spain, with low agency costs and different corporate governance models). Moreover, the analysis embraces a wider and homogeneous range of internal and external corporate governance mechanisms and uses a period in which both countries were severely affected by a sovereign debt crisis with negative impacts on company’s liquidity and financial risks. A research setting like this has not been studied hitherto.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stoyu I. Ivanov ◽  
Matthew Faulkner

PurposeRecently, multiple examples of large firms acquiring real estate have polarized investors. Who are the firms investing in real estate and what are their characteristics? How does this investment in owning commercial real estate relate to cash holding policies? Is owning commercial real estate associated with better credit ratings? This study questions commonly held beliefs in finance that firms prefer to lease their real estate rather than own it and examines what are the differences in outcomes between the choices.Design/methodology/approachThe authors identify three testable hypotheses based on the research questions and prior literature. The authors use univariate and multivariate analyses to test these hypotheses along with thorough robustness and addressing of endogeneity issues to confirm that our results hold in a variety of settings. The authors employ new proxies of real estate to the literature from Bloomberg and firm level data from Compustat.FindingsThe authors show that more firms within the S&P 500 choose to own commercial real estate. The authors also find many significant differences in corporate characteristics between firms who own real estate and those who do not, such that firms with real estate ownership have significantly: higher growth opportunities, higher R&D expenses, higher working capital levels, lower capital expenditures, higher leverage and higher cash flow. Firms with corporate real estate (CRE) ownership hold less cash. Contingent on real estate ownership, firms have higher cash holdings as their real estate holdings increase. Last, firms with commercial real estate ownership have higher credit ratings.Originality/valueOne of the main contributions of this study is in the use of a new specific proxy using data on corporate land, buildings and construction in progress, which to the best of our knowledge has not been done in the past. Other studies focus on aggregate property, plant and equipment data which blurs the CRE ownership picture. Additionally, the authors provide an underexplored variable of CRE ownership to its impacts of cash holdings and credit ratings, which had yet to be uncovered.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Krenn

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explain under what circumstances firm-level adoption of codes of good corporate governance will more likely be superficial rather than substantive in nature. The article contains lessons for any agency or country that attempts to implement deep and lasting changes in corporate governance via codes of good corporate governance. Design/methodology/approach – The article reviews the literature on compliance with codes of good corporate governance and develops a conceptual model to explain why some firms that have formally adopted a code of good governance decouple this policy from its actual use. Findings – Decoupling in response to the issuance of codes of good corporate governance will be more attractive to firms and also more sustainable under the following conditions: firms’ compliance costs are relatively high firms’ costs of outright and visible non-compliance are relatively high and outsiders’ compliance monitoring costs are relatively high. Originality/value – The article contributes to the debate on compliance and convergence and provides policymakers with a conceptual framework for assessing the likelihood of successful regulatory change in corporate governance.


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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 444-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.G. DeBoskey ◽  
Yan Luo ◽  
Jeff Wang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of board gender diversity on the transparency of corporate political disclosure (CPD). Design/methodology/approach Two empirical proxies, CPD transparency and policy transparency, are constructed from a data set jointly produced by the Center of Political Activity and the Carol and Lawrence Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research. The CPD transparency score measures the level of transparency in voluntary corporate disclosure of the amount of political contributions and the identity of the recipients as well as the titles and names of the executives who authorize the political spending. The policy transparency score measures the level of transparency in the voluntary disclosure of the policies governing corporate political spending. Board gender diversity is measured by the percentage of women on the board of directors. Findings Higher proportions of female directors are associated with more transparent disclosure of political contributions after controlling for a set of corporate governance and firm-level variables. Originality/value This study is the first to examine whether and how gender-diversified boards enhance the transparency of CPD. It contributes to the literature by providing evidence that gender-diversified boards enhance corporate governance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaeyon Chu ◽  
Kyongsun Heo ◽  
Jinhan Pae

Prior literature suggests that the effect of adopting the International Financial ReportingStandards (IFRS) could vary by country-specific or firm-specific factors. In particular, we focus onthe effect of the strength of corporate governance of a firm, a firm-specific characteristic, prior tothe adoption of IFRS. Specifically, we use the Korea Corporate Governance Stock Price Index, ametric for the corporate governance structure in Korea, to examine whether the corporategovernance structure influences the effect of IFRS adoption on the analyst’s earnings forecasts inKorea. We find that the beneficial effect of IFRS adoption on analyst forecast errors is observed forfirms with moderate corporate governance prior to IFRS adoption, but not for firms with superioror inferior corporate governance. We interpret our findings such that firms with strong or weakcorporate governance do not benefit from IFRS adoption, because firms with strong corporategovernance already had transparent information system prior to IFRS adoption and firms withweak corporate governance failed to implement IFRS properly.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tawida Elgattani ◽  
Khaled Hussainey

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of the accounting and auditing organisation for Islamic financial institution (AAOIFI) governance disclosure on the performance of Islamic banks (IBs). Design/methodology/approach The ordinary least squares regression model was used to test the impact of AAOIFI governance disclosure on the performance of 126 IBs from 8 countries that mandatorily adopt the AAOIFI standards for three years (2013–2015). In this regression model, return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) are the dependent variables, while AAOIFI governance disclosure is the independent variable. Corporate governance mechanisms, firm characteristics, year dummy and country dummy are used as control variables. Findings This paper found an insignificant relationship between AAOIFI governance disclosure and IBs performance. Research limitations/implications This study highlighted the implication that the current research may help IBs and encourage them to disclose more information in annual reports, especially those related to AAOIFI governance standards because following good corporate governance leads to good financial performance. The major limitation of the paper is that it is only focussed on two measurements of bank performance – ROA and ROE; it would be good to use other firm performance measures, such as profit margin. Originality/value This study provides new empirical evidence on the impact of AAOIFI governance disclosure on IBs performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Vadasi ◽  
Michalis Bekiaris ◽  
Andreas Andrikopoulos

Purpose This paper aims to explore internal audit effectiveness through its contribution to corporate governance. Namely, the authors attempt to investigate the impact of internal audit professionalization on internal audit’s contribution to corporate governance. Design/methodology/approach Using a research framework informed by institutional theory, the authors predict that internal audit’s contribution to corporate governance is associated with factors related to internal audit professionalization. To investigate the arguments, the authors combine data from a survey of 49 listed companies in the Athens Stock Exchange with publicly available information from annual reports. Findings Empirical results indicate that internal audit professionalization affects internal audit effectiveness, as internal audit’s contribution to corporate governance is improved for organizations where internal audit function complies with internal auditing standards and internal auditors hold professional certifications. The findings also suggest that internal audit’s contribution to corporate governance is shaped by some company-specific characteristics, namely, CEO duality and audit committee quality. Practical implications The results have implications for internal auditors who wish to increase the efficiency of their work, corporate governance mechanisms such as the board of directors and the audit committee, which can use the findings of this study to better respond to their responsibilities concerning internal audit and regulators who can also benefit to strengthen areas with substantial impact on internal audit’s contribution to corporate governance. Originality/value This paper contributes to the academic discussion on the role of internal audit in corporate governance and complements the work of other researchers in the field of internal audit professionalization. This study tries to fill a gap in the literature on the effect of internal audit professionalization elements on internal audit’s contribution to corporate governance.


2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 578-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basil Al-Najjar ◽  
Suzan Abed

Purpose – This paper aims to witness the importance of corporate governance mechanisms and investigates the relationship between the quality of disclosure of forward-looking information in the narrative sections of annual reports and the governance mechanisms for non-financial UK companies. Design/methodology/approach – Computerized content analysis using QSR NVivo 8 is used to measure the extent of forward-looking information in the narratives of the annual reports for 238 companies listed in the London Stock Exchange. Cross-sectional regression analysis is used to examine the impact of the corporate governance mechanisms on forward-looking information. Findings – The results show that board size and the independence of the audit committee are associated with the level of voluntary disclosure of forward-looking information. Research limitations/implication – One limitation of this study is that in controls for the effect of the financial crisis period, by selecting a representative year for a five-year period, 2006. The authors argument in using this year is based on the fact that the main variables of interest do not vary significantly with time, the cross-sectional analysis of the selected period will provide a fair view of the last five year-period. Practical implications – The authors report the importance of some governance practices in the UK, such as the role of the board members as well as the importance of audit committee independence. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the literature by using computerized content analysis to examine the relation between corporate governance mechanism and disclosure quality of forward-looking information using sample of companies before financial crisis period. The authors also examine governance mechanisms that are under-researched in the field of forward-looking disclosure.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waleed M. Albassam ◽  
Collins G. Ntim

Purpose The study aims to examine the effect of Islamic values on the extent of voluntary corporate governance (CG) disclosure. In addition, the authors investigate the effect of traditional ownership structure and CG mechanisms on the extent of voluntary CG disclosure. Design/methodology/approach The authors distinctively construct Islamic values and voluntary CG disclosure indices using a sample of 75 Saudi-listed firms over a seven-year period in conducting multivariate regressions of the effect of Islamic values on the extent of voluntary CG disclosure. The analyses are robust to controlling for firm-level characteristics, fixed-effects, endogeneities and alternative measures. Findings The authors find that corporations that depict greater commitment towards incorporating Islamic values into their operations through high Islamic values disclosure index score engage in higher voluntary CG disclosures than those that are not. Additionally, the authors find that audit firm size, board size, government ownership, institutional ownership and the presence of a CG committee are positively associated with the level of voluntary CG disclosure, whereas block ownership is negatively associated with the extent of voluntary CG disclosure. Practical implications The study has clear practical implications for future research, practice and broader society by demonstrating empirically that corporations that voluntarily incorporate Islamic values into their operations are more likely to be transparent about their CG practices and thereby providing new crucial insights on the effect of Islamic values on voluntary CG compliance and disclosure. Originality/value This is the first empirical attempt at explicitly examining the effect of Islamic values on the extent of voluntary CG disclosure. The authors also offer evidence on the effect of traditional CG and ownership structures on the extent of voluntary CG disclosure.


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