scholarly journals Capital structure, corporate governance, and the effect of Sarbanes-Oxley

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Bertus ◽  
John S. Jahera Jr. ◽  
Keven Yost

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act represented a major legislative action designed to increase transparency and accountability in U.S. corporations. Within the context of agency theory and corporate governance, the expectation is that the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley impacted the agency relationship of firms and hence affected the corporate governance structure. With these changes, the question arises as to the capital structure decisions of corporations which have previously been shown to be related to agency measures and corporate governance. It is the objective of this research to examine the capital structure of U.S. firms as they relate to corporate governance measures and to determine the effect, if any, of Sarbanes-Oxley.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1724-1731

The board of directors typically selects and removes officers, initiates fundamental changes, determines capital structure, adds, amends, or repeals bylaws (such as mergers and divestitures), declares dividends and sets the compensation for officers and management. The segregation of duties involves assigning different employees to perform functions so that an employee acting alone is prevented from committing an error or concealing a fraud in the normal course of their duties. Four types of functional responsibilities should be segregated: the authority to execute transactions, the recording of transactions, custody of the assets affected by the transactions and periodic reconciliation of existing assets to recorded amounts. There are several studies on the influence of corporate governance in developed markets relating to a variety of aspects. However, in the context of the Jordan market, such researches are rare. The paper analyses the governance practices of 13 Jordanian listed banks listed. The main findings of the study are that there is a positive relationship between board sizes and earnings management (EM) through discretionary accruals, that there is no relationship between independence and segregation of duties, and that EM through discretionary accruals and board size mediates the association between corporate governance structure and (EM) through discretionary accruals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 1647-1660
Author(s):  
O.N. Likhacheva ◽  
A.S. Belikevich

Subject. In the uncertain market environment, the optimal structure of capital is getting more important because it influences the competitiveness of a firm, its financial sustainability and solvency and, consequently, a success. Herein we dwell upon the hypothesis presuming the existence of capital structure determinants. Objectives. We review empirical studies on the subject, analyze determinants of the Russian companies’ capital structure. Methods. The study is based on the systems approach and methods of statistical analysis. Results. It is necessary to monitor how capital is shaped and formed. We investigated proceedings on factors influencing the capital structure and discovered relevant hypotheses, carrying out the correlation analysis of such factors. Conclusions and Relevance. It is especially important to examine factors influencing the capital structure, and find the appropriate format for the economy struggling through the crisis. The coronavirus pandemic unavoidably reshapes the global economic landscape, which has already been under the pressure of deglobalization processes (trade wars, repudiation of oil contracts). The correlation analysis did not reveal any relationship of the variables in question (the company’s age, ROE, ROA, MOEX, key rate, GDP, PPI) and the capital structure. Further research should be devoted to other factors and consider the unreasonableness and psychological background of managers’ behavior who make decisions concerning the capital structure.


2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Russ ◽  
Gary John Previts ◽  
Edward N. Coffman

Presenting evidence from a 19th century corporation, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company (C&O), the paper shows that issues of corporate governance have existed since the first corporations were established in the U.S. The C&O used a stockholder review committee to review the annual report of the president and directors. The paper shows how the C&O stockholders used this committee to supplement the corporate governance structure. The corporate governance structure of the C&O is also viewed from a theoretical structure as espoused by Hart [1995].


2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Russ ◽  
Gary J. Previts ◽  
Edward N. Coffman

Canal companies were among the first enterprises to be organized in the corporate form and to require large amounts of capital. This paper examines the stockholder review committee of a 19th century corporation, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company (C&O), and discusses how the C&O used this corporate governance structure to monitor and improve financial management and operations. A major strength was the concern and dedication of the stockholders to the company, while a major weakness was the political control exerted by the State of Maryland. The paper provides an historical perspective on corporate governance in the 19th century. This research contributes to the literature by providing detailed workings and practices of a stockholder review committee. The paper documents corporate governance efforts in archival sources that provide an early example of accountability required in a corporate charter and the manner in which the stockholders carried out this responsibility.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanaa A. El-Habashy

This study aims to investigate the characteristics of corporate governance that impact the capital structure decisions in listed firms in Egypt, to test the efficiency of the research results conducted in the developed Western countries in an emerging economy. A sample of 240 observations from the most active non-financial companies collected in the period 2009-2014 was used for hypothesis testing. Multiple regression models (OLS) were used for data analysis. Seven variables are used in measuring the attributes of corporate governance; they are the managerial ownership, institutional shareholding, shares owned by a large block, board size, board composition, separation of CEO/Chair positions and audit type. Four ratios were calculated for measuring the capital structure, they are long-term and short-term debt to assets, total debt to assets and debt to equity. The results suggest that corporate governance attributes have a significant impact on the capital structure decisions of listed Egyptian companies. In addition, firm-specific factors such as profitability, tangibility, growth opportunities, corporate tax, firm size and non-debt tax shields influence the choice of capital structure in Egypt. The results showed the same relationship with what was obtained in developed Western countries. The paper offers some contribution in the literature and helps to understand the impact of corporate governance on Egypt's capital structure as an emerging economy.


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