No abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between a firm's internal corporate governance characteristics and audit fees, and whether the external auditor perceives higher inherent risk when CEO duality is present. Additionally, it aims to examine whether having more independent directors on audit committee moderates the auditor's perceived inherent risk when CEO duality is present.Design/methodology/approachThe data used in testing the hypotheses consist of all the Malaysian public listed companies on the main board in terms of market capitalization non‐finance listed companies for year 2001. Multiple regression analysis is used to estimate the relationships proposed in the hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that the presence of CEO duality on the board, a proxy for board independence, is associated with higher audit fees and that this positive relationship is significantly weakened when the firm has a higher proportion of independent directors on the audit committee. These results suggest that auditors in their assessment of the inherent risk of a firm recognize that independent audit committees provide an important check to moderate CEO dominance in firms where CEO duality is present.Originality/valueIn this study, the effect of CEO duality and the independence of the board and audit committee are considered. The paper provides an important insight that having more independent directors on the audit committee moderates the auditor's perceived inherent risk when CEO duality is present following the new code of corporate governance introduced in Malaysia in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis.

No abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of related party transactions (RPTs) and types of RPTs (complex, simple and loan) on earnings quality in four East Asian countries: Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Design/methodology/approach RPTs and types of RPTs are measured using two approaches, magnitude and abnormal (magnitude change). Earnings quality is measured using proxies for accrual earnings management and identified as discretionary accruals (DAC) and performance matched discretional accruals (PMDAC). Findings The results suggest that firms in these countries experience poor earnings quality when they are engaged in RPT. The effect of RPT-simple on earnings quality is more severe than RPT-complex. However, the presence of higher investor protection and stricter enforcement of regulations in countries like Singapore and Hong Kong reduce the negative impact of RPTs on earnings quality. Research limitations/implications The results support the argument that the presence of controlling shareholders in East Asia is likely to lead to engagement with RPTs, which will increase the likelihood of firms’ earnings manipulation via DAC. This study has two limitations. It only focuses on Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, and the results may not be generalizable to other countries. Second, this study only measures the magnitude and abnormal RPTs based on the disclosures available in annual reports. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature by examining the effect of RPTs and types of RPTs on earnings quality in four selected East Asian countries.

This paper examines the impact of the gender and ethnic composition of corporate boards (board of directors and audit committee) on stock liquidity in the context of South Africa. More specifically, we focus on the interaction effects of gender diversity and ethnic diversity on stock liquidity. Using a sample of listed South African firms for the period 2009-2013, we find that firms with more female or black directors on corporate boards are associated with a higher level of stock liquidity. However, the interaction effect indicates that the positive impact of ethnic diversity on stock liquidity is attenuated with the greater presence of gender diversity. These findings are explained through board effectiveness and corporate information flows.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between ethnic diversity on corporate boards and audit fees in the context of South Africa. Additionally, this paper investigates how the interaction between board ethnicity and board independence affects audit fees. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a quantitative research method with a panel data analysis to test proposed hypotheses. This study’s sample consist of listed firms on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) from 2003 to 2018. Findings This study finds that firms with more Black directors on corporate board have higher audit fees. It also shows that the positive relation between board independence and audit fees is more pronounced for firms with greater ethnic diversity on corporate boards. Further, this study finds that the presence of Black directors on corporate board can increase board effectiveness. Lastly, firms with more Black directors on corporate board tend to be audited by Big N auditors. The findings of this study illustrate the implication of an equity narrative to board diversity for organisational outcome. Research limitations/implications The results reported in this paper have both practical and policy implications regarding the presence of ethnic diversity on corporate boards. The findings also suggest that there is a need to establish an appropriate balance of ethnic diversity on corporate boards as part of regulatory reform. Regulators should be aware of the positive impacts of the requirement for board diversity on corporate boards. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine whether the presence of Black directors on corporate boards affects audit fees. It also investigates the interaction effects between the presence of Black directors on the board and board independence.

No abstract

No abstract