The Demand for External Audit Quality: The Contribution of Agency Theory in the Context of Cameroon

This study examines the effect of agency theory on the demand for external audit quality in Cameroon. Specifically, it looks at the impact of shareholder/manager agency cost, shareholders/creditors agency cost, and majority/minority shareholders agency cost on external audit quality demand in Cameroon. The focus is on a sample of 171 companies drawn from the regions of Littoral, Centre and North-West using questionnaires. We assess the explanatory power of agency theory on the demand for a better quality of audit in the Cameroonian context by modelling external audit quality as a function of agency costs. The logistic regression analysis allows us to study the nature of any possible interaction. The analysis shows that while an increase in shareholder/creditor agency cost and an increase in shareholder/manager agency cost negatively affect the demand for audit quality, the majority/minority agency cost and the size of the audited client positively and significantly affect the demand for audit quality.

Leverage and Family Firms

This chapter analyses the relationship between ownership structure and leverage, providing an integrated theoretical approach that combines traditional financial theories, agency theory, and recently developed theories relating to non-financial preferences. The results show that, after controlling for endogeneity, being a family firm has a positive effect on the propensity to incur debt. These findings add to the existing body of literature and underline the need for a multi-theoretical approach when explaining the capital structure of family firms. The authors apply panel data methodology to control for individual heterogeneity of family firms. The chapter uses a sample of Spanish firms operating in the tourism industry.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE THEORY AND MODEL : A CONCEPTUAL OBSERVATION

This paper outlines the conceptual, contextual and disciplinary scope of the rapidly evolving topic of corporate governance. The aim of this paper is to make a study of different theories and models of corporate governance that have been used globally by analysing strengths and weaknesses for each one. This is to determine which one is the best theory and model and if it can be adopted to different economic systems. Corporate governance theory has tended to look to this theory to guide the decisions of the board of directors in curbing excessive executive power in the hands of management. While useful for this purpose, the Agency Theory provides limited guidance on corporate governance in real life situations which are far more complex. With the blurring of the roles of the principal and the agent, the currently prevalent governance framework, based on the Agency Theory has become self limiting and ineffective. Efforts to supplement the Agency Theory with alternative theoretical frameworks such as the Stakeholder Theory and the Stewardship Theory have, at times, tended to place the board of directors in conflict with their legal obligations to work in the interests of the shareholders. A governance model based on the concept of Trusteeship, while providing fresh insights, suffers from problems in implementation and remains a goal . These alternative frameworks have, therefore, not been of much practical use to the board members in helping them to decide what constitutes the “right” decision. We need new theoretical insights that will take us towards a comprehensive theory of governance. This paper seeks to highlight the various theoretical frameworks for corporate governance.

A study of knowledge use effectiveness in IS department–A human agency perspective

PurposeInformation technology changes rapidly, and the market trend flow changes even faster. The information systems (IS) department in a technological oriented environment has to ensure that the plans or solutions made by the IS department can align with organizational strategy to avoid resources waste, and adaptability is a crucial issue for an IS department too. This study believes that adaptability and alignment of the IS department are ambidexterity. The concept of knowledge use effectiveness (KUE), based on the human agency theory, proposed a research model mainly founded on intellectual capital, human agency theory, and contextual ambidexterity, and used intellectual capital (including human, structure and relational capital) as a framework to find the antecedents of knowledge usage.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducts an empirical research method and collects 150 valid cases from the IS department employees in Taiwan.FindingsThe results of this study are: (1) KUE in an IS department significantly improves the ambidexterity; (2) intellectual capital has a positive influence on KUE; (3) despite human capital having no influence on iteration, iterational KUE has no influence on adaptability.Originality/valueFor academics, this study has developed KUE through a novel perspective and uses the concept of the human agency to articulate the characteristic of KUE, and thus has combined the intellectual capital, human agency and contextual ambidexterity into a research model. For managers, they should learn that KUE has a positive effect on the IS department ambidexterity, composed of alignment and adaptability. By knowing that, they can understand the concrete elaboration of KUE much better. Therefore, enhancing the process of knowledge usage can be a practical and useful way of improving an IS department performance.

The appearance of agency theory in the publications of Polish authors – the need to expand research in behavioral accounting

Purpose: The aim of the article is to assess the use of agency theory by Polish authors in articles in the field of accounting published by the end of 2020. Methodology/approach: The study was carried out using a structured literature review, which is a recognized method of conducting literature analysis, also in the field of accounting. Findings: The results of the review show little use of agency relations in empirical re-search. Both in theoretical and empirical research, the issues in financial reporting were most often addressed. In most publications, agency theory constitutes the theoretical back-ground for the considerations, while there is a lack of research that focuses on the impact of the agency relationship between the owner and manager or between employees at vari-ous levels on accounting. The empirical studies analyzed only external factors that influ-ence decision-making, while there is a gap in studies that focused on individual human characteristics. Research limitations/implications: The structured literature review covers articles pub-lished between 1993 and 2020 written by Polish authors. Originality/value: The originality of the article arises from the identification of shortcom-ings in the publications of Polish authors in contrast to global achievements, in particular in the fields of management accounting and behavioral accounting. Thus, we indicate the directions of further development of research already carried out by the few Polish authors. The guidelines concern the development of research in the field of behavioral accounting, which will deepen the knowledge about the impact of the principal-agent relationship on the decisions people make in creating reporting and management information. Keywords: agency theory, agency relation, behavioral accounting, SLR, literature review.

PENGARUH CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, DAN KEPEMILIKAN MANAJERIAL TERHADAP NILAI PERUSAHAAN PERBANKAN YANG TERDAFTAR DI BURSA EFEK INDONESIA PERIODE 2018 – 2020

Pengaruh CSR, GCG, Dan Kepemilikan Manajerial Terhadap Nilai Perusahaan Perbankan Yang Terdaftar Di Bursa Efek Indonesia Periode 2018 – 2020. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk membuktikan pengaruh corporate social responsibility, good corporate governance, kepemilikan manajerial terhadap nilai perusahaan pada perusahaan perbankan yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia tahun 2018 – 2020. Penelitian ini memakai 2 teori yaitu teori keagenan (agency theory) dan teori triple bottom line. Sampel dalam perusahaan ini berjumlah sebanyak 14 perusahaan perbankan selama 3 tahun selama tahun 2018 - 2020 dan menghasilkan total sampel sebanyak 42 perusahaan perbankan. Teknik pengambilan sampel pada penelitian ini memakai metode purposive sampling. Dalam penelitian ini, peneliti memakai metode analisis linier berganda dalam program SPSS versi 25. Hasil penelitian mengungkapkan bahwa corporate social responsibiliity berpengaruh positif terhadap nilai perusahaan dengan, good corporate governance berpengaruh positif terhadap nilai perusahaan dengan, kepemilikan manajerial berpengaruh positif terhadap nilai perusahaan.

Inward internationalisation and cross-border acquisitions by EMNEs: The moderating role of ownership heterogeneity

<p>Unlike Advanced Economy Multinational Enterprises (AMNEs), Emerging Economy Multinational Enterprises’ (EMNEs) dominant participation in international trade and investment is a recent phenomenon. Still, EMNEs are found to adopt bold strategies in the early stages of their internationalization and show path departure in the selection of their entry mode, such as cross border acquisition (CBA). CBA is not only a widely adopted EMNE internationalisation strategy but also distinguished EMNA internationalisation behaviour from that of AMNEs. CBA, entailing a high level of risk, requires considerable experiential knowledge that EMNEs lack. This knowledge deficit increases the perceived cost and risk associated with internationalisation and decreases the likelihood of engaging in foreign investment. There is a gap in the knowledge around how EMNEs compensate for their lack of experiential knowledge and how this experiential knowledge influences EMNEs’ adoption of CBA. Drawing from organisational learning as a theoretical lens, this study proposes that learning from inward internationalisation facilitates EMNEs’ CBA decisions. From an organisational perspective, experiential knowledge, especially externally sourced, is valuable when the acquired knowledge fits the recipient organisations’ existing dominant logic and values. Therefore ownership structure, such as family, institutional or corporate ownership, acts as a boundary condition and may influence the impact of inward internationalisation on CBA decisions. This idea is grounded in agency theory. This study argues that EMNEs compensate for their lack of internationalisation experiential knowledge through inward internationalisation (externally sourced experiential knowledge) which serves as a resource based antecedent leading EMNEs to make risky CBA decisions. Further, from an agency theory perspective, the study proposes that inward internationalisation – CBA relationships are likely to vary for different types of ownership categories. The study uses a quantitative approach to test the hypotheses in an Indian context. India, being a large emerging economy, provides an appropriate backdrop to test the study’s conceptual model. For this study, a sample of 369 CBAs conducted by 205 public listed companies from 2009 to 2017 was collected from the SDC platinum database. The sample generated a panel of 1845 firm-year observations. Through a negative binomial regression analysis, it is found that inward internationalisation has a positive impact on the likelihood of Indian MNEs’ CBA decision. Regarding the moderating effect of ownership, it is found that family ownership reduces the impact of inward internationalisation, whereas foreign institutional ownership increases the impact of inward internationalisation. No moderating effects are found for domestic institutional ownership, nor are they found for domestic or foreign corporate ownerships. This research contributes to the understanding of the EMNEs’ risky internationalisation behaviour through CBA. The present study adds to this stream of research by focusing on inward internationalisation and ownership structure influencing risky CBA decisions. In doing so, it contributes to organisational learning literature by suggesting that the impact of experiential knowledge may not necessarily be the same across the firms. This heterogeneity is attributable to EMNEs (knowledge acquiring organisation) who show varying motives, objectives and governance structure depending on their ownership structure. By examining the boundary condition of ownership heterogeneity, this study also contributes to Principal–Principal (PP) agency theory that ownership concentration along with owner’s identity is not only confined to strategy formulation but also extends to entry mode (CBA) decisions. Goal incongruence due to PP conflict between owners also decides whether experiential knowledge acquired from inward internationalisation fits with the firms or not in the resulting CBA decision. Finally, this study provides deep insights on different owners’ attitudes and their supporting or confining roles in moderating the impact of inward internationalisation on Indian EMNEs’ risk-taking behaviour during internationalisation.</p>

Inward internationalisation and cross-border acquisitions by EMNEs: The moderating role of ownership heterogeneity

<p>Unlike Advanced Economy Multinational Enterprises (AMNEs), Emerging Economy Multinational Enterprises’ (EMNEs) dominant participation in international trade and investment is a recent phenomenon. Still, EMNEs are found to adopt bold strategies in the early stages of their internationalization and show path departure in the selection of their entry mode, such as cross border acquisition (CBA). CBA is not only a widely adopted EMNE internationalisation strategy but also distinguished EMNA internationalisation behaviour from that of AMNEs. CBA, entailing a high level of risk, requires considerable experiential knowledge that EMNEs lack. This knowledge deficit increases the perceived cost and risk associated with internationalisation and decreases the likelihood of engaging in foreign investment. There is a gap in the knowledge around how EMNEs compensate for their lack of experiential knowledge and how this experiential knowledge influences EMNEs’ adoption of CBA. Drawing from organisational learning as a theoretical lens, this study proposes that learning from inward internationalisation facilitates EMNEs’ CBA decisions. From an organisational perspective, experiential knowledge, especially externally sourced, is valuable when the acquired knowledge fits the recipient organisations’ existing dominant logic and values. Therefore ownership structure, such as family, institutional or corporate ownership, acts as a boundary condition and may influence the impact of inward internationalisation on CBA decisions. This idea is grounded in agency theory. This study argues that EMNEs compensate for their lack of internationalisation experiential knowledge through inward internationalisation (externally sourced experiential knowledge) which serves as a resource based antecedent leading EMNEs to make risky CBA decisions. Further, from an agency theory perspective, the study proposes that inward internationalisation – CBA relationships are likely to vary for different types of ownership categories. The study uses a quantitative approach to test the hypotheses in an Indian context. India, being a large emerging economy, provides an appropriate backdrop to test the study’s conceptual model. For this study, a sample of 369 CBAs conducted by 205 public listed companies from 2009 to 2017 was collected from the SDC platinum database. The sample generated a panel of 1845 firm-year observations. Through a negative binomial regression analysis, it is found that inward internationalisation has a positive impact on the likelihood of Indian MNEs’ CBA decision. Regarding the moderating effect of ownership, it is found that family ownership reduces the impact of inward internationalisation, whereas foreign institutional ownership increases the impact of inward internationalisation. No moderating effects are found for domestic institutional ownership, nor are they found for domestic or foreign corporate ownerships. This research contributes to the understanding of the EMNEs’ risky internationalisation behaviour through CBA. The present study adds to this stream of research by focusing on inward internationalisation and ownership structure influencing risky CBA decisions. In doing so, it contributes to organisational learning literature by suggesting that the impact of experiential knowledge may not necessarily be the same across the firms. This heterogeneity is attributable to EMNEs (knowledge acquiring organisation) who show varying motives, objectives and governance structure depending on their ownership structure. By examining the boundary condition of ownership heterogeneity, this study also contributes to Principal–Principal (PP) agency theory that ownership concentration along with owner’s identity is not only confined to strategy formulation but also extends to entry mode (CBA) decisions. Goal incongruence due to PP conflict between owners also decides whether experiential knowledge acquired from inward internationalisation fits with the firms or not in the resulting CBA decision. Finally, this study provides deep insights on different owners’ attitudes and their supporting or confining roles in moderating the impact of inward internationalisation on Indian EMNEs’ risk-taking behaviour during internationalisation.</p>