ABSTRACT. When a member of an organization has to make a decision or act in a way that may benefit some stakeholders at the expense of others, ethical dilemmas may arise. This paper examines ethical sensitivity regarding the duties to clients and owners (principals), employees (agents), and responsibilities to society (third parties). Within this framework, ethical perceptions of male and female managers are compared between the U.S. and Turkey -two countries that differ on power distance as well as the individualism/collectivism dimensions. Our results show that ethical sensitivity varies depending upon whether the interests of principals, agents, or third parties are affected by a given ethical dilemma. We also find that, contingent upon the principal-agent-society relationships, the nationality and gender of the decision-maker influences ethical sensitivity.

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Highly knowledgeable people often fail to achieve highly accurate judgments, a phenomenon sometimes called the ''processperformance paradox.'' The present research tested for this paradox in foreign exchange (FX) rate forecasting. Forty professional and 57 sophisticated amateur forecasters made one-day and one-week-ahead FX predictions in deterministic and probabilistic formats. Among the conclusions indicated by the results are: (a) professional accuracy usually surpasses amateur accuracy, although many amateurs outperform many professionals; (b) professionals appear to achieve high proficiency via heavy reliance on predictive information (unlike what has been observed before, e.g., for stock prices); (c) forecast format strongly affects judgment accuracy and processes; and (d) apparent overconfidence can transform itself into underconfidence depending on when and how forecasters must articulate their confidence.

Integrated capital markets provide better risk sharing and market efficiency, but presence of different barriers such as information asymmetry across borders hinders these benefits. This study investigates whether the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) (uniform accounting standards) impacts the integration of worldwide capital markets by decreasing financial information frictions. Staggered adoption dates with price‐based measures (Beta and Sigma Convergence) of integration are used to measure the incremental impact of IFRS adoption on integration. The sample includes all the countries with capital markets that have benchmark indices and price data available. Overall statistical results suggest no significant impact of IFRS adoption on capital market integration.

PurposeThis study investigates the influence of ownership composition on market-based and accounting-based financial performance in the European frontier markets (EFMs), a target region for global investors.Design/methodology/approachOwnership composition is defined as shareholders' concentration and structure (i.e. foreign, domestic, state and free-float), whereas financial performance is measured as Tobin's Q and return on assets. The system generalised method of moments panel data estimation technique is employed on a sample of 241 companies.FindingsFindings reveal that companies from European Union (EU) frontier markets are controlled, on average, by one to five large shareholders. Being a signal of expropriation rationale of majority shareholders regardless of the capital structure, this highly concentrated ownership and decision-making model negatively affects the market-based and accounting-based financial performance of the companies and thereby supports the agency theory in the frontier markets.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings provide empirical evidence for authorities, investors, analysts and corporations regarding the effect of ownership percentage and structure in the Eastern European region, assisting also other frontier and emerging markets in corporate governance and other regulatory decisions.Originality/valueThe ownership–performance relationship varies from developed to emerging markets with conflicting results. This study provides evidence on monitoring and expropriation effects of majority shareholders in the context of different categories of shareholders. In doing so, it combines the analysis of both ownership concentration and structure in the EFMs.

In this paper, we discuss the progress in the accounting standards in Turkey and provide some insight into the current accounting system as well as the recent regulatory developments following the convergence attempts to the global set of financial accounting standards that is currently referred to as the International Financial Reporting Standards/International Accounting Standards (IFRS/IAS) in Turkey. The paper emphasises variations from and similarities with the IFRS/IAS and lays out a brief history of global convergence activities. The paper concludes with a discussion of the effects of convergence on the financial reporting and accounting systems of domestic and multinational companies, and audit firms in Turkey.

High returns in emerging markets over the last decade have attracted international investors. This study investigates if and how economic or political news affects stock market activity in two emerging markets: Argentina and Turkey. Our analysis shows that political and economic news influences both the volatility of returns and trading volume in these markets to varying degrees. Results suggest that both economic and political factors, as well as specific market characteristics, should be taken into consideration by international investors when making investment decisions in emerging markets.

Turkey is a developing country in the Middle East, and is attracting an increasing number of foreign investments and joint ventures. However, the Turkish accounting system is not one of the topics that is studied in detail, the language barrier perhaps being the main reason. As the amount of foreign investment and the number of joint ventures increase and the Turkish stock market develops, a new responsibility will fall on accountants to disclose and discuss the current accounting system in Turkey. This paper attempts to fill this gap by describing the current accounting system and state of the profession in Turkey.