Corporate Governance from a Cross-Country Perspective and a Comparison with Romania

This paper investigates corporate governance from a cross-country perspective and makes a comparison with Romania. There are studies that examine the corporate governance issues related to Romanian companies, but these studies provide only qualitative and descriptive accounts of the research topic, with limited cross-country analysis. The present paper complements the literature by producing a quantitative analysis of cross-country corporate governance and makes a comparison with Romania. For this purpose, a set of corporate governance indicators from a large sample of 39 advanced and developing countries was collected for the 2006–2020 period. In terms of corporate governance dimensions, it was found that Romania underperforms other developing countries in the dimensions of director liability and ownership and control, while it outperforms them in the dimensions of corporate transparency, disclosure, and shareholder rights. The results indicate that the stagnant corporate governance scores and the low development level of stock markets stand out as important business challenges for the country. The correlation and regression analyses show that stock market development is closely associated with corporate governance dimensions and, overall, corporate governance scores matter greatly for the economic growth of countries, such as Romania, which can benefit greatly from the improvement of corporate governance codes and practices in the private sector.

Problems of Islamic Banks in Kuwait: client’s perspective: مشكلات البنوك الإسلامية الكويتية حسب مدركات العملاء

This study aims to investigate the problems perceived by Islamic banks (IBs) clients, by applying on three banks. Using a questionnaire survey method, this study examines the perceptions of a sample of 110 IBs clients in Kuwait, measuring 34 problems classified under three broad categories: Managerial problems, communication and public relations problems, financial and credit problems. The paper presents descriptive statistics and analytical analyses. The most important managerial problems were: excessive administrative expenses, delays when visiting the branch, low investment opportunities offered that match clients’ needs and capabilities customers, lack of attention to the quality of services. Regarding the communication problems, the top problems were: distinguishing between clients based on their influence and banks interest, exaggerating the benefits of the services and not fully disclosing disadvantages and risks, weak communications between the bank and clients, unclear understanding of Islamic finance instruments such as Musharakah, Murabahah, and Mudarabah, week information disclosure regarding new investment opportunities. In terms of financial problems, the study revealed that top ones are: the rise in commissions and the profit margin of loans and other services, strict guarantees and credit requirements for financing, defaults in ATM machines or lack of available cash in them, and low financing opportunities for SMEs. Further, the study shows that there are no significate differences between different IBs as perceived by clients. The female and younger client groups were more expressing than male and older clients in terms of perceived problems compared to males and older sample groups. Based on the research findings, the paper provides several recommendations such as: providing qualified human resources that develop and innovate high quality products and services which meet clients’ needs and expectations. Moreover, IBs should take the advantage of the latest (FinTech) applications. Finally, applying corporate governance codes would help solving many raised problems and mitigate their impact. Besides, it would improve the efficiency of IBs management and business ethics practices.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Performance in SMEs: Empirical Evidence from Cameroon

We examined the mediating effects of corporate governance and image on CSR and performance link. We find CSR positive related to firm performance but insignificant. We further established CSR and FP are positive and insignificant without the existence of CI and CG but becomes significant with the inclusion of both mediating variables. Therefore, corporate governance codes and principles should be enhanced in Cameroon, since CSR engagement helps in better governance practice through establishing good internal controls and monitoring that ultimately enhances a firm financial performance. Several policy recommendations were discussed.

Corporate Governance and Risk Management: Lessons (Not) Learnt from the Financial Crisis

The paper aims to understand if and which lessons have been learned since the financial crisis of 2007–2008, highlighting the main deficiencies which still affect the corporate governance and risk management systems more than a decade after. A survey was performed by collecting the answers to 15 questions about corporate governance and risk management practices, given by a representative sample of 200 finance professionals (100 from the USA, 50 from Italy, 50 from the UK). The survey allows saying that corporate governance codes and risk management approach, even though improved and implemented over the past decade, still present problems in terms of principles or application. The results provide insights into how corporate governance issues are addressed and how financial institutions and regulators learn and adapt from a crisis. The paper also gives new perspectives on corporate governance, indicating where regulators need to focus on to rethink the governance mechanisms.

The compliance evolution of the corporate governance codes in emerging European countries – a content analysis perspective

Research Question: Does the corporate governance codes from 18 Emerging European countries respect the European Commission recommendations? Motivation: The corporate governance is a wildly debated topic in the literature but only few studies are addressed to the level of compliance between the corporate governance and the European Commission recommendations, especially in emerging countries. Idea: The objective of this study is to analyse the corporate governance codes form eighteen Emerging European Countries and examine if these countries comply with the recommendations of European Commission regarding corporate governance by using the content analysis technique. The main research proposition is to identify how many out of the 32 recommendations included in this analysis are fulfilled by the corporate governance codes from the Emerging European Countries and how these developed during time. Data: Data sample consists of 18 corporate governance codes from Emerging European Countries, which are examined in the context of the recommendations of European Commission COM-284, and the next years updates from 2004 (2004/913/EC), 2005 (2005/162/EC) and 2009 (2009/384 and 385/EC), divided into five group, covering 32 recommendations. Tools: The latest versions of corporate governance codes from each country, from 2004-2020, were downloaded, collecting the data manually from each corporate governance code using the content analysis technique. Findings: The results illustrate that Slovenia and Czech Republic are the countries with the highest compliance degree, while Poland and Estonia are the countries with the least fulfilled recommendations Contribution: This paper provides a general overview regarding the level of compliance of the corporate governance codes and European Commission recommendations, thus being a starting point for researchers who will further study this subject. Secondly, we have contribute to the limited studies that analysed the evolution of corporate governance codes following the best practices for the companies issued by European Commission.

Does Corporate Governance Practices Effect on Cost of Debt: Cross-Country Comparison of Pakistan and India

This study empirically examines the association between corporate governance practices and the cost of debt in Pakistan and India. By law, both Pakistani and Indian firms are required to publish their annual reports with recommended Corporate Governance Codes. Corporate governance practices were pivotal in the U.S. stock market crash of 1929. In this study, we used data from 2014 to 2017 of published compliance from 100 nonfinancial companies in Pakistan and India. This study discloses the essentiality of better corporate governance to decrease the cost of debt and offers additional empirical evidence through a comparative analysis of the links between corporate governance and the cost of debt in Pakistan and India. Keywords: corporate governance, cost of debt, Pakistan, India

Does Governance Affect Compliance with IFRS 7?

Although there has been considerable research on the impact of corporate governance on corporate voluntary disclosure, empirical evidence on how governance affects compliance with mandatory disclosure requirements is limited. We contribute to governance and disclosure literature by examining the impact of corporate governance on compliance with IFRS 7 for the banking sector in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). We use a self-constructed disclosure index to measure compliance with IFRS 7. We use regression analyses to examine the impact of board characteristics, audit committee characteristics and ownership structure on compliance with IFRS 7. Using a sample of 335 bank-year observations for GCC listed banks over the period 2011–2017, we report evidence that corporate governance variables affect compliance with IFRS 7. However, the significance of these variables depends on the type of the regression model used. Our findings suggest that governance matters for mandatory disclosure requirements. So to improve the level of compliance, regulators, official authorities, and policymakers should intensify their efforts toward improving corporate governance codes, following up their implementation and enhancing the enforcement mechanisms.

Corporate Governance Codes and Intellectual Capital: Evaluating the Performance Impacts among Government-Linked Companies in Malaysia and Singapore – A Panel Data Analysis

The objective of this study was to examine and compare the effects of corporate governance (CG) and intellectual capital (IC) between Malaysia Government-Linked Companies’ (M-GLCs) and Singapore Government-Linked Companies’ (S-GLCs) firm performance (FP). Panel data analysis was employed to analyse the impact of CG’s variables and IC’s variables on FP. FP was measured by Return on Total Assets (ROA), Tobin’s Q and Earnings Per Share (EPS). Data was gathered from the website of Bursa Malaysia and the Stock Exchange of Singapore from 2005 to 2018. The sample size of this research was 60 GLCs which comprised of 34 M-GLCs and 26 S-GLCs. There were a total 840 firm year observations. Results indicated that CGs of S-GLCs have greater impact on FP when compared to M-GLCs while the findings of the IC of M-GLCs have greater impact on FP compared to S-GLCs. This research was helpful in offering further insights of CG practices and IC efficiency to the Government, Board of Directors, policy makers, shareholders and stakeholders.