Females on board and sustainability performance in a developing country: Evidence from Egypt

This study aims at filling the existing research gap by scrutinizing the influence of females on management boards on sustainability performance in a developing country using cross-sectional data from the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) of non-financial companies over the period 2012–2019. To the best of our knowledge, the analysis is considered one of the earliest empirical studies that tests the relationship of females on management board and sustainability performance in Egypt. Our results indicate that female representation on board has a positive impact on sustainability performance, which demonstrates that companies that have females on their boards have a better sustainability performance. Moreover, board size and independence enhance sustainability performance. Thus, this study has imperative repercussions on users and companies’ boards in Egypt, which recommend that current Egyptian regulatory bodies would take further steps that may significantly impact the environmental, social and corporate governance imminent in Egypt

The use of management accounting in western Austrian family businesses: An empirical analysis

Within the scope of this study, western Austrian companies were analysed for the use of management accounting (MA). From the sample of 692 family enterprises in western Austria, relevant variables were collected to explain the use of MA and the differences between enterprises with and without MA were examined using logistic regression. The most important drivers for which the probability of using MA increases are the size of the company and the presence of a third-party manager. In addition, the results show that the older the management and the more likely it is to be female, the probability of using MA decreases. The results partially confirm the theoretical assumptions of the resource-based view (RBV) and the principal-agent theory (PAT). However, both approaches cannot provide a complete explanation for the use of MA, because the entanglement of family, ownership, and possessions means that other variables are relevant, which should be tested using other theory strands. The study is the first to deal with the problems faced by western Austrian family businesses. It could be confirmed that certain variables, which also had explanatory power in earlier studies, can also explain the use of MA in this study. In addition, it could be shown that gender and management training do not play a role in explaining the use of MA

Editorial: A diversified outlook at the theory and practices of corporate governance

The recent issue of the Corporate Ownership and Control journal (volume 19, issue 1) covers the following key themes: accounting standards, corporate governance and social responsibility, public sector governance, financial management and firm performance. The authors represent a range of developed and developing countries, making this issue of the journal truly international.

Earnings management, corporate governance, and ownership structure of Philippine initial public offerings

Prior studies examined the effect of corporate governance variables on discretionary current accrual, the most widely used measurement of earnings management. The principal-agent conflict implies that the size of the board, the percent of independent directors, CEO duality, and auditor prestige limit discretionary current accruals (DCA). This paper extends past studies by examining the effect of ownership structure on discretionary current accruals. The study determines the level of income-increasing earnings management of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the Philippines and the factors that explain it. Particularly, the paper examines the effect of ownership concentration and largest shareholder ownership on discretionary current accruals. The study uses a final sample of 105 IPO firms in Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) from 2008 to 2018. Employing the modified Jones’s (1991) model to measure discretionary current accrual and multiple regression analysis, the study finds -4.19% discretionary current accrual on the average. It also reveals that the 2002 Philippine Code of Corporate Governance (PCCG) is ineffective in curbing earnings management. In addition, there is an insignificant relationship between the size of the board, CEO duality, ownership concentration, largest shareholder ownership and auditor prestige, and earnings management. Furthermore, the paper finds a significant relationship between the percent of independent directors, industry sector, return on assets (ROA) and cash flow from operations and earnings management.

The effects of corporate venture capital on value creation and innovation of European public owned firms

The practice of corporate venture capital (CVC) has been widely adopted by corporations that invest in highly disruptive start-ups with the aim of fueling innovation and gain strategic advantages. Even if a wide consensus exists on the strategic benefits and performance of CVC investors in the North American venture capital industry, scarce information is available on the European CVC ecosystem. Therefore, the scope of this research is to investigate whether CVC activity, measured as the number of investments, deal size, and the number of realized exits is beneficial for value creation and innovation for European listed companies. Using a panel of CVC investors linked to European listed firms, it is found evidence that CVC activity creates firm value in the period under consideration (2008–2019), confirming North American’s past evidence. Surprisingly, exits convey a negative effect on firm value, suggesting that CVC performance may not be satisfactory enough. Moreover, when considering innovation, evidence is presented that investing in rounds with a higher deal size positively affects investor’s patenting levels, indicating that the later the start-up’s stage in its life cycle, the higher the possibility for the CVC investor to effectively absorb its technology. The relationship is true also for lagged CVC activity, confirming deferred effects on innovation demonstrated on US companies. The findings shed light on the European CVC ecosystem and give room for additional research on CVC investors’ exit performance and co-investors’ benefits on patenting levels

Whistleblowing systems: A systematic literature review on the design specifications and the consideration of the risk for organizational insiders to blow the whistle

Whistleblowing systems as internal company instruments for prevention and detection of compliance violations are increasingly recommended both in academic and practical literature. In the European Union, the discussion is currently activated by the EU legislation for better protection of whistleblowers, which needs to be transferred in national law by the member states end of 2021. This literature review examines the literature for the design specifications developed for whistleblowing systems under consideration of the risk for organizational insiders to blow the whistle. The purpose is to review the design specifications developed in scientific studies, the data basis on which they are built whether and, if so, how the risk for organizational insiders to blow the whistle is taken into account. A comprehensive database of literature has been examined. The result is systematic categorization of the specifications for the design of whistleblowing systems. Moreover, we conclude, that there is a lack of data basis for clear specifications. The research shows that in the design of whistleblowing-systems there is a lack of discussion of the risks for whistleblowers to suffer social and professional disadvantages

Does board structure drive dividends payout? Evidence from the Sultanate of Oman

The study investigates whether corporate board characteristics influence dividends policy in Omani listed firms. It also examines whether this relationship is determined by the recent global oil crisis. Using a sample of 109 listed firms in Muscat Securities Exchange between 2009 and 2019, we find that dividends payout is positively associated with board independence, board activity, and board nationality diversity. Though, no evidence is found that board size and gender diversity have an impact on dividends payout. Interestingly, when controlling for the global oil crisis, none of the corporate board attributes influence dividends payout. This study presents new evidence on the influence of board structure on dividends policy. The findings suggest that the impact of corporate board characteristics on dividends policy is contingent on the surrounding institutional environment (i.e., the recent global oil crisis).

Review of short-run performance of initial public offerings in Australia

This study investigates the short-run performance of initial public offerings in Australia. Based on sources from the Morningstar DatAnalysis database, we analyzed 211 Australian publicly traded initial public offerings (IPO) listed on the Australian stock exchange between January 2011 and December 2015 using multiple regression analysis with dummies to represent industry and listing year. According to our analysis, total market return indicates an IPO underpricing phenomenon whereas secondary market shows an overpricing scenario. Moreover, this analysis supports the contention that short-run performance fluctuations were based on the listing year and industry settings. This study contributes to the literature by analysing the short-run performance of both the primary and secondary markets

Internal control effectiveness: A study of medical institutions

As a healthcare organization, hospitals should professional service to their clients. Therefore, hospitals have obligation to improve overall service quality. In exploring the relationship between hospital budget control and organizational effectiveness, the hospital’s management staff has rich professional medical knowledge, they still have not received the training of general corporate organization and the management technology of corporate management. To improve the effectiveness of the organization, managers in hospitals should have enough experience in management control and rely on peer control. Therefore, internal control is a management process that integrates various management control and evaluation measures within the hospital, this study believes that the management staff of medical institutions should use common standards to evaluate the degree of a hospital operation, management efficiency, and medical quality. An internal control system can be simultaneously built and implemented by the topmost level of management in a hospital. It involves the commercial and business experiences related to an organization’s control, financial, and other systems. It regularly and effectively ensures compliance with management policies while safeguarding assets as well as the completeness and accuracy of safety records. Internal control is an indispensable aspect of the governance norms and methods of many companies. The hospital can also achieve value enhancement and sustainable existence through the continuous operation of the internal control system designed, and the supervision of external audit firms.

Institutional environment, competencies and firm export performance: A study of the emerging country

The study is an attempt to examine the determinants and impact of export propensity and export intensity for firm-level performance in India. The factors determining export propensity are political stability, corruption, and competition from the informal sector while the determinants of export intensity in the present study are identified as a skill of the labour force, the technological capability of a firm, and foreign ownership of technology in a firm in India. A two-stage Heckman selection model has been advanced to investigate the linkage between the export performance of Indian firms with the home institutional environment and firm competencies. Firm-level data of approximately 8,000 Indian firms are used as available from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys (WBES) database. The results indicate that political stability and competition effect export propensity of Indian firms while export intensity is impacted by access to technology and employing skilled labour. The study has important theoretical implications in terms of understanding the exporting behaviour of firms. It indicates that the decision of firms to export and their export performance are interlinked. It is affirmed that export intensity is dependent on firm-specific competencies while institutions indirectly influence the decision of firms to export. The policy measures of Skill India and Make in India strongly favour increased access to the skilled labour force and strengthening the domestic industry which may lead to an increase in the export intensity of Indian firms. The recent institutional measures adopted favour a stable environment of doing business as well as providing firms opportunities to focus and leverage their competencies in the best possible manner. The current nascent steps of policy reforms need to be aggressively implemented for enhanced export capabilities of Indian firms