Transparency report disclosure practices of large- and medium-sized audit firms in South Africa

Research purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the corporate governance practices disclosed by large- and medium-sized audit firms in South Africa, with a particular focus on transparency reports. Audit firms serve the public interest.Motivation for the study: This study was motivated by recent corporate failures in South Africa, such KPMG, VBS Bank, and Steinhoff, to mention a few.Research approach/design and method: The research approach followed for this study consists of a mixed method approach. Qualitative secondary data were obtained from publicly accessible information published on the websites of the audit firms. The data, which consisted of the firms’ transparency reports, were analysed through content analysis. The results were then converted into quantitative data.Main findings: The main findings reveal that audit firms in South Africa do not disclose sufficient corporate governance information in their transparency reports. There are inconsistencies between audit firms.Practical/managerial implications: In South Africa, audit firms do not have a corporate governance code for audit firms, and thus audit firms are not disclosing the relevant corporate governance information to their stakeholders.Contribution/value-add: This article contributes to the limited literature available on audit firm governance. Based on the findings, the study proposes best practice recommendations and regulatory and statutory recommendations regarding audit firm governance.

THE INFLUENCE OF BOARD CHARACTERISTICS AND STATE HOLDING ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DISCLOSURE, EVIDENCE FROM VIETNAMESE LISTED FIRMS

Analysing the nexus between board diversity, CEO power, state holding, and corporate social responsibility disclosure in an emerging country: Vietnam, where some listed firms are held significantly by the State, is the fundamental objective of this study. In order to achieve this goal, we employed regression analysis using panel data. While board diversity consists of board gender diversification and board independence and CEO (executive) power, consisting of executive duality, executive holding (ownership), and deputy CEO, and state ownership are explanatory variables, and CSR disclosure is a dependent variable. The sample contains of 166 Vietnamese listed firms at the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) for 2014−2016. After performing regression analysis, the result revealed that the proportion of female directors, deputy CEO, and state holding had a significant correlation with CSR publication. In contrast, the proportion of independent directors, CEO duality, and CEO ownership was found to be insignificant. Our research adds to the research on firm governance and CSR in several approaches. First, the paper adds to the study on the advancement of research toward corporate social responsibility and firm governance and CEO features impress on it. Second, our research expands CSR literature in developing countries, which has not been treated in detail. Fourth, this research advances and adds literature to some theories, including agency theory and resource-based view theory.