Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of managerial ownership in relation to agency theory in the Malaysian business environment. In addition to examining the total managerial shareholdings, this study also investigates the association between direct and indirect managerial shareholdings with agency costs. Design/methodology/approach: The data for the study is obtained from two sources, namely primary (questionnaire) and secondary (annual reports) data. The sample companies are 235 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia for the financial year ended 2006. Multiple regression analysis is used to estimate the relationship between the variables. Findings: The results of the study indicate that managerial ownership in various segments has an inverse relationship with total monitoring costs as predicted in agency theory. This finding is consistent with earlier studies in western countries and supports the convergence of interest hypothesis. Originality/value: This study gives a unique contribution to corporate governance studies relating to the effect of ownership structure in relation to agency theory in Malaysian companies, one of the countries in Asia. Previous studies claimed that it is unknown whether the agency theory findings in western countries have equal impact in Asian organizations. Previous literature also indicates that there is a possibility that given the cultural differences, the typical nature of agents in agency theory may not be the case with regard to non-western countries. Thus, this study provides evidence that support prior research findings in western countries relating to the effect of managerial ownership on the agency relationship which is reflected in its agency costs.

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of profitability and leverage on the relationship between eco-efficiency and firm value. Design/methodology/approach The study extends the Ohlson’s model on value relevance using the hierarchical regression analysis to establish the moderating effects of the firm-specific variables. The sample includes 667 non-financial firms from the Bursa Malaysia, as of 2013. The data for eco-efficiency were extracted from content analysis of the annual report, whereas the financial data were retrieved from the data stream. Findings The study provides support for the stakeholder theory that purports that managers must develop a relationship with stakeholders by embarking on environmental friendly practices to maintain a positive firm value. The study shows a positive association between eco-efficiency and the value of the firm and provides support for a positive moderating relationship for profitability in the relationship between eco-efficiency and firm value, whereas there was no significant effect for leverage in the relationship. Research limitations/implications It should be noted that, first, the data comprised exclusively Malaysian companies. Including firms from similar developing countries with varying institutional make-up and culture would enhance the understanding of the subject. Second, considering that the data for this study is cross-sectional, it may not be sufficient to draw strong causal influences. The study is the first to the best of the researcher’s knowledge to provide evidence that profitability positively moderates the relationship between eco-efficiency and firm value. Practical implications The result shows the management and potential investors that an investment in eco-efficiency will lead to a higher firm value, irrespective of the debt profile of the firm and that profitable firms are more likely to embark on an eco-efficient policy. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by providing evidence from a developing country’s perspective, as well as extending prior studies that merely examined the direct relationship, to now explore the moderating relationship of profitability and leverage in the relationship between eco-efficiency and firm value using a large sample.

This study illustrates how control-ownership wedge impacts the monitoring role of the corporate board through the quality of audit services in Turkey. Turkey has made essential amendments in the field of external audit in order to enhance the quality of the financial report and integrate its own capital market with that of the EU. It would be of interest to examine the influence of these changes on clients' demand for high quality audit. The agency theory is integrated with the resource dependence theory to show that boards possess distinct incentives and ability to demand high quality audit to monitor management activities. Logistic regression and feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) were used for regression estimations. The results indicate that board demographics, cognitive and structural diversity of board of directors, audit committee characteristics and audit quality are complementary and control-ownership wedge weakens the relationship between them which is an unfavorable outcome for minority shareholders. Thus, this study proposes that regulators should increase law enforcement to enhance good corporate governance in Turkey to accommodate the unique features of wedge firms and provide a protected environment for minority shareholders.

The aim of this paper is to examine effects of managerial and family ownership structure on the company performance.

The presumed poor performance in terms of sustainability commitments and Sustainability Reporting Quality (SRQ) of quoted companies have incentivized stakeholders' agitation relating to the Economic, Environmental, and Social (EES) impacts of companies' operations. Business activities have generated several threats in the form of climate change, pollution, GHG emission as well as natural disasters, and several other problems that have negatively affected the environment and stakeholders. Companies are expected to report their sustainability performance to stakeholders. However, the quality of such sustainability reports has been critically criticized as they are mostly assumed to fall below stakeholders' expectations. This study aims to conceptually examine the association between board governance mechanisms and SRQ in Malaysia. The method adopted by this study is the review of previous literature on sustainability reporting practices and

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which ethnic association (i.e. Chinese and Bumiputra ownerships) and national issues (i.e. the presence of foreign corporations) influence the audit services market in Malaysia. Specifically, the paper aims to examine the effects of ethnicity and foreign ownership on choice of auditor. Design/methodology/approach -Two logit models are used; the first is to test on ethnic auditor (Chinese/non-Chinese) choice while the second is related to the choice of quality-differentiated auditor. The data is obtained from annual reports of the population of the Bursa Malaysia listed companies for both the Main Board and the Second Board for the periods 1993-1995. Findings -The logit regressions confirm our prediction of ethnic networking and preferential treatment on the auditor selection process.Research limitations/implications -The first limitation lies on the auditor choice model where the model is developed from a demand perspective, assuming that the auditors are willing to supply services to any client even though it is very unlikely in the real world. The model also assumes that the audit engagement process for foreign-controlled companies is purely transacted in the Malaysian market. However, foreign multinational corporations might determine the selection of the auditor at the headquarter offices and the Malaysian subsidiaries might simply be directed to engage a given auditor. Another limitation relates to the results of the logit regressions as the study has documented an ethnic association between auditor and auditee rather than establishing a causal relationship. Practical implications -An important implication of these findings relates to auditor independence. The Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) has made rules prescribing the code of professional conduct and ethics of public accountants known as the MIA By-Laws (on Professional Conduct and Ethics) but it seems to neglect the diversity of local culture in addressing independence. Whilst the auditor is divorced from financial and familial interests, the ethnic sentiments might impair auditor independence especially in an audit conflict situation. Originality/value -The paper provides important insights into the existence of Chinese business practices in Malaysia and auditor selection process in this country.