scholarly journals Political connections, political uncertainty and audit fees: evidence from Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fawad Ahmad ◽  
Michael Bradbury ◽  
Ahsan Habib
Keyword(s):  
Political Stability ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Stable Form ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Business Risk ◽  
Political Uncertainty ◽  
General Measure ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between political connections, political uncertainty and audit fees. The authors use various measures of political connections and uncertainty: political connections (civil and military), political events (elections) and a general measure of political stability (i.e. a world bank index). Design/methodology/approach The authors measure the association between political connections, political uncertainty and audit fees. Audit fees reflect auditors’ perceptions of risk. The authors examine auditors’ business risk, clients’ audit and business risk after controlling for the variables used in prior audit fee research. Findings Results indicate that civil-connected firms pay significantly higher audit fees than non-connected firms owing to the instability of civil-political connections. Military-connected firms pay significantly lower audit fees than non-connected firms owing to the stable form of government. Furthermore, considering high leverage as a measure of clients’ high audit risk and high return-on-assets (ROA) as a measure of clients’ lower business risk, the authors interact leverage and ROA with civil and military connections. The results reveal that these risks moderate the relationship between political connection and audit fees. Election risk is independent of risk associated with political connections. General political stability reinforces the theme that a stable government results in lower risks. Originality/value The authors combine cross-sectional measures of political uncertainty (civil or military connections) with time-dependent measures (general measures of political instability and elections).

Accounting conservatism, corporate governance and political connections

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nor Farizal Mohammed ◽  
Kamran Ahmed ◽  
Xu-Dong Ji
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Board Independence ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between accounting conservatism, corporate governance and political connection in listed firms in Malaysia where political influence plays a significant role in the capital market and in many business dealings. Design/methodology/approach By utilizing 824 firm-year observations comprising large listed companies over a period of four years from 2004, this study uses ordinary least squares regression models to investigate the relationship between accounting conservatism, corporate governance and political connections in Malaysia. Multiple measures of conservatism developed by Basu (1997) and Khan and Watts (2009) are employed. Findings The results show evidence of accounting conservatism (bad news being recognized earlier than good news) in Malaysia. Further, the results reveal that better corporate governance structure in terms of board independence is positively associated with accounting conservatism while management ownership is negatively associated with it. However, political connection has a negative moderating effect on the positive relationship between accounting conservatism and board independence. The results also suggest political connections have a positive association with firm’s future performance. Originality/value This study is the first in investigating the effect of political connections on accounting conservatism in Malaysian context and how political connections negatively affect the monitoring role of the corporate boards. By directly measuring political connection and controlling for various corporate governance mechanisms and firm-specific attributes, this study contributes to enhance the authors’ understanding of the political influence in financial reporting quality and firm performance in an emerging market setting.

Corporate political connections, agency costs and audit quality

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arifur Khan ◽  
Dessalegn Getie Mihret ◽  
Mohammad Badrul Muttakin
Keyword(s):  
Agency Costs ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Agency Cost ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The effect of political connections of agency costs has attracted considerable research attention due to the increasing recognition of the fact that political connection influences corporate decisions and outcomes. This paper aims to explore the association between corporate political connections and agency cost and examine whether audit quality moderates this association. Design/methodology/approach A data set of Bangladeshi listed non-financial companies is used. A usable sample of 968 firm-year observations was drawn for the period from 2005 to 2013. Asset utilisation ratio, the interaction of Tobin’s Q and free cash flow and expense ratio are used as alternative proxies for agency costs; membership to Big 4 audit firms or local associates of Big 4 firms is used as a proxy for audit quality. Findings Results show that politically connected firms exhibit higher agency costs than their unconnected counterparts, and audit quality moderates the relationship between political connection and agency costs. The results of this paper suggest the importance of audit quality to mitigate agency problem in an emerging economic setting. Research limitations/implications The findings of this paper could be of interest to regulators wishing to focus regulatory effort on significant issues influencing stock market efficiency. The findings could also inform auditors in directing audit effort through a more complete assessment of risk and determining reasonable levels of audit fees. Finally, results could inform financial statement users to direct investments to firms with lower agency costs. Originality/value To the knowledge of the authors, this study is one of the first to explore the relationship between political connection and agency costs, and the moderating effect of audit quality of this relationship.

scholarly journals Too much reciprocity?

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 473-491
Author(s):  
Zhe Sun ◽  
Qi Ai
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Chinese Multinationals ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Using the evidence of Chinese outbound mergers and acquisitions (M&As) enacted between 2006 and 2014, this study aims to investigate the role played by home political connections on the cost implications of Chinese multinationals. It also examines whether home political connections – at different levels and of different configurations – impact the operational cost of Chinese multinationals. Design/methodology/approach The data were analysed using a multivariate regression model. To examine their heterogeneous effect on Chinese multinationals, the political connection data were further split into higher and lower level political connections and in chief executive officer (CEO) and chairperson political connections. Findings This study implies the negative effect of home political connections on the internationalisation of Chinese multinationals. At the same time, the impact of lower-level political connections is stronger than that of their higher-level counterparts. Moreover, CEO political connections have a stronger effect on the operational costs of Chinese multinationals than their Chairperson equivalents. Originality/value By unravelling the “black box” of Chinese internationalisation from the social exchange perspective, through the informal political connection networking ties between Chinese firms and the government, this study advances emerging market multinational theory, contributes to the understanding of the heterogeneous nature of political connections and sheds new light on social exchange theory from the perspective of the emerging phenomenon of Chinese internationalisation.

The relationship between the companies’ political connections and audit fees

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 1123-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Salehi
Keyword(s):  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
The Political ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Inverse Effect ◽  
Political Relationships ◽  
Auditor Selection ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the political connections of companies are correlated with auditor selection, audit fees and abnormal audit fees. Design/methodology/approach The research data contains 756 observations of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2011-2019. In this study, the relationship between companies with political relationships and the selection of a qualified auditor, audit fees and abnormal audit fees are reviewed. The regression used for test the hypotheses. Findings The results of hypotheses testing indicate that there is a positive and significant correlation between the political relationships of companies and certified auditor selection, auditing fees and abnormal audit fees. In addition, the political relationships of companies have a significant and inverse effect on the relationship between institutional ownership and auditing fee and abnormal audit fees. It was also found that there is a positive and significant correlation between companies and political relationships and abnormal audit fees. Originality/value So far several studies conducted on audit fees, however, no study conducted on the relationship of political relationship of the companies with audit fees and the results of the current study may bridge the gap in the current field.

Are independent directors’ political connections valuable?

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanyu Chen ◽  
Wenzhe Zheng ◽  
Yimiao Huang
Keyword(s):  
Firm Value ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Independent Directors ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Exogenous Shock ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Negative Effect

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use difference-in-difference method (DID) to study the influences of independent directors’ political connection on firm value. Design/methodology/approach File No. 18 by the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee requires that the leading cadres in party and government offices are not allowed to act as independent directors; this restriction applies to retired officials as well. As a result, many listed companies lose the political connections of officers as independent directors. This paper takes it as an exogenous shock to evaluate the influence of the political connection of independent directors on firm value, effectively alleviating the endogeneity problem existing in previous studies. Findings The research finds the following: under the policy of compelled resignation, the loss of political connection of independent directors has a prominent negative impact on firm value; and compared to state-owned enterprises, the firm value of private enterprises receives a greater negative impact. However, the political advantage of state-owned enterprises is not obviously influenced. In the regions with worse external market environments, due to a greater reliance on resources brought about by political connection, the policy has a much greater influence on their listed companies. Research limitations/implications The study faces several limitations, each of which represents a potential research direction. First, our analysis is based on the policy effects on the firm’s current Tobin’s Q and finds a negative effect of losing political connections. However, the long-term effects are still unclear, as some studies find a negative effect of political connections. Second, the paper focuses on one channel in which political connections may affect firm value. Other channels, such as subsidies and loans from state-owned banks, which need more granular data, should be explored in the future. Practical implications The use of DID model can better objectively evaluate the implementation effects of ban policies and alleviate endogenous problems, which is also enlightening for further perfection of the system of independent directors in the A-share market. Social implications It enriches existing researches of the value of independent directors from the perspective of political connection, which is conducive to understanding the influence and channel on the firm value after the loss of political connection and the value of independent directors in the corporate governance in a more comprehensive and accurate manner. Originality/value This paper extends the relevant research on the value of the political connection of independent directors from the perspective of political connection and enlightens the evaluation of the effect of ban policies.

scholarly journals Political connections: a threat to auditor independence?

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Effiezal Aswadi Abdul Wahab ◽  
Mazlina Mat Zain ◽  
Rashidah Abdul Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Auditor Independence ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Panel Regression ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether political connections further impair auditor independence by investigating the relationship between non-audit fees and audit fees and as to whether political connections moderate such relationship. Design/methodology/approach – This study employs panel regression analysis. The panel data set consists of 379 firm-year observations for three years from year 2001 to 2003. Findings – Based on 379 firm-year observations for the period of 2001-2003, grounded on two proxies of political connections namely politically connected firms and the proportion of Bumiputras directors, the authors find a positive and significant relationship between non-audit fees and audit fees, and the relationship becomes weaker, only for Bumiputra-dominated firms connected firms. Originality/value – This study contributes to the extant literature by examining the role of political connections in the context of auditor independence. In addition, this study is conducted in Malaysia, which provides a unique institutional environment with the existence of political connections that is built on ethnic grounds.

Political connections and firm value: an analysis of listed firms in Sri Lanka

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henk Berkman ◽  
Vidura Galpoththage
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Firm Value ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Events ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to use a portfolio-time-series approach to examine the impact of five important political events on the value of politically connected firms in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach – This study examines five major political events to test if political connections affect market value of listed companies in Sri Lanka. Results show that despite numerous news articles and public perception suggesting otherwise, there is no convincing evidence which indicate that political connections increase firm value in Sri Lanka. Findings – The empirical results provide no evidence that political connections increase firm value in Sri Lanka. Further tests indicate that the government is not biased towards politically connected firms when granting major projects. The authors also fail to find a relation between Tobin’s Q and the level of political connection after including several common control variables. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature on the value of political connections by using a robust event study methodology and a novel setting: Sri Lanka in the period around the end of the civil war.

Institutional environment, political connections of partial state ownership, and performance

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 856-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zengji Song ◽  
Abraham Nahm ◽  
Jun Yang
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Environment ◽  
State Ownership ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Partial State ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether substantial differences in institutional environment in China lead to different levels of demand for political connection. Design/methodology/approach – Using a data set of 296 listed private sector enterprises (PSEs) in China, the authors empirically investigate the effects of institutional environmental factors upon political connection. Findings – The authors find that the lower the level of regional property right protection, the more powerful the government intervention, and the slower the economic development, the more motivated the PSEs were to build relationship with the government via partial state ownership. However, the degree of local corruption was not correlated with the demand for political connection. The authors also find that partial state ownership in PSEs exerted a positive effect on performance. Originality/value – Deviating from previous literature that has been mostly concerned about the economic consequences to firms caused by political connections, this paper examines the reasons for political connection among Chinese PSEs. The authors introduce a new dimension of political connection, namely, partial state ownership in PSEs.

Political connections, media impact and state-owned enterprises: an empirical analysis on corporate financial performance

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Giosi ◽  
Marco Caiffa
Keyword(s):  
Stock Prices ◽  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Political Roles ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to assess the differential impact on the stock market of statements made by and information about directors and companies who are politically connected, compared to directors and companies with no political connections. The authors also analyze the role played by state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which the authors have identified as politically connected companies because most board members are appointed by political authorities. Furthermore, the boundaries and institutional environment within which SOEs operate are likely to be different from private companies.Design/methodology/approachThe sample is composed of over 60,000 news articles on the boards of directors (both with political roles and without political roles) of listed Italian companies in the period 1998–2013. On that sample the authors run a regression analysis under the signaling theory approach.FindingsResults suggest a positive effect on market capitalization associated with individual political connections. This effect decreases when the political connection extends to the whole enterprise although it still remains, while a negative effect is associated with state-controlled enterprises. The impact of negative news content does not change depending on whether a board member has a political role or not.Originality/valuePrevious research has demonstrated a causal link between stock prices and their reaction to corporate news (Engelberg and Parsons, 2011; Peress, 2014), but no studies have quantified the different reactions that occur when the news mentions politically connected companies and individuals who hold a political role.

IPO initial return in Pakistan: influence of country-level institutional quality

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Waqas Mehmood ◽  
Rasidah Mohd-Rashid ◽  
Abd Halim Ahmad ◽  
Ahmad Hakimi Tajuddin
Keyword(s):  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Institutional Quality ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Initial Return ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe present study investigated the influence of country-level institutional quality on IPO initial return using World Bank Governance indices.Design/methodology/approachThis study analysed 84 IPOs listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange between 2000 and 2017 using cross-sectional data. The impact of country-level institutional quality on IPO initial returns was examined using ordinary least square, robust least square, stepwise least square and quantile regression.FindingsEmpirically, the values of political stability, government effectiveness and regulatory quality were positively significant, whereas rule of law and control of corruption were negatively significant in explaining the intensity of IPO initial return. The results also show the presence of significant risk in the market. Hence, investors were compensated with higher initial returns for weak country-level institutional quality. The results also reveal that improving country-level institutional quality would improve the financial market transparency, thereby reducing IPO initial returns.Originality/valueNo studies have been conducted regarding the influence of country-level institutional quality on IPO initial return in Pakistan. This study is a pioneering study that seeks to give insights into the link between these variables in the context of Pakistan.

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