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PurposeTo show that when volume of trades is taken into consideration, Bitcoin does not seem as volatile as it claimed. Further, to study the relationship between Bitcoin trading volume, volatility and returns, and the asymmetry in response to economic information for the period from July 2010 to November 2017.Design/methodology/approachComparison of Bitcoin price volatility with that of six currencies and gold. We repeat the analysis using returns divided by volume. We examine the relationship between volume, returns and volatility, and the asymmetry of the reaction of the volatility to economic news using asymmetric models (EGARCH) run for four meaningful distinct time periods/subsamples.FindingsPositive and significant relationship between (1) volume and volatility after 2013 (year Bitcoin became popular) and (2) volume and returns before the Mt. Gox hack. During the euphoric period, starting at the beginning of 2013 until the Mt. Gox hack, unexpected increases in Bitcoin returns increased Bitcoin volatility more than unexpected, equally sized decreases (asymmetry).Originality/valueWe take into consideration the volume of trades to show that Bitcoin volatility seems high because of the low volume of trades. We study an extended time period, not covered by other studies. We divide our sample into four meaningful time periods based on important events in Bitcoin market history. This is important for a new market such as the Bitcoin market; the relationships under study are very important in markets where participants rely on technical analysis in the absence of reliable fundamental methodology to measure the intrinsic value of the asset.

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Purpose This study aims to investigate the factors associated with the implementation of risk-based internal audit (RBIA). Design/methodology/approach As a first step, a literature review of the relevant literature is performed and five potential factors related to the implementation of RBIA are identified. Based on that, this paper constructs a questionnaire survey sent out to 185 internal auditors, executives and accountants in Greece to receive 90 responses during the period of November 2019–January 2020. Multiple regression analysis is conducted to identify the factors related to the implementation of RBIA. Findings This paper shows that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between the implementation of RBIA and: the provision of risk management training, an active audit committee role and the establishment of a formalized risk management system. Practical implications The results have important implications for internal auditors, chief executive officers and accountants who wish to enhance internal audit effectiveness and the accuracy and quality of financial information. Originality/value Empirical studies on the factors related to the implementation of RBIA are rare. This is the first study to create empirical variables based on a thorough review of the relevant literature to empirically investigate the factors that are related to the implementation of RBIA in an emerging economy. By focusing on the Greek context, this study also sheds light to other countries with similar corporate governance systems, thus providing insights to settings where the Type II agency problem exists (La Porta et al., 1999).

In this paper, we highlight the strategic role of the board of directors (BOD) in business excellence and its link with firm value. We empirically investigate the relationship between the composition of the BOD and the winning of a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) or a local award explicitly based on the MBNQA criteria, a proxy for business excellence. Using a contingency approach, we examine several characteristics of the BOD, such as the number of inside directors, the number of directors who can be considered industry experts, and the number of directors with management expertise. We show that the likelihood of winning a quality award is positively associated with the number of outside directors with Ph.D. in the main object of business operations, and the number of outside directors with recent industry expertise. Subsequent residual analysis reveals that firm value is positively associated with the degree of the fit between board composition and quality management strategy. Specifically, operating income before depreciation, operating margin, Tobin's Q, and ten-day raw and market adjusted returns, are positively related to the degree of fit, while cost per dollar of sales, negatively. Thus, we, conclude that an appropriate board structure that fits the QM strategy exists, and this fit is positively associated with firm value.

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In this paper, we investigate whether and to what extent credit market freedom affects a firm’s target level of investment, cash holdings, and leverage. To do so, we generalize the standard empirical models, commonly used in the finance literature to estimate those targets, in order to incorporate credit market freedom into the set of regressors. We estimate three augmented models on a large and heterogeneous sample of North American nonfinancial firms over the period 2000–2019. Our empirical results suggest that greater credit market freedom is associated with a healthier corporate capital structure, higher financial flexibility, and a friendlier investment environment. Our paper contributes to both economic freedom and finance literatures by investigating an unexplored issue in economics and corporate finance research. In addition, it informs policymakers that promoting financial reforms that increase credit market freedom can boost a country’s economic growth.