PurposeThis study reviews post-2009 literature on public sector internal auditing (IA) and addresses three interrelated research questions (RQ): How is research on the public sector IA being developed? What are the focus and criticisms of the literature on public sector IA? What is the future of public sector IA research?Design/methodology/approachWe adopt a systematic literature review approach and analyze 78 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2010 and 2019. We evaluate five criteria to identify the development of public sector IA research (RQ1), namely level of government, academic discipline, number of countries, geographic areas and MSCI country classification. Similarly, we use four criteria to present the focus and criticisms of the literature (RQ2), namely, type of organizational respondent, research instrument, theories and research theme examined. Finally, we use two criteria to propose new directions for future research (RQ3), namely, the directions resulted from RQ1 and RQ2 and the directions highlighted by the 10 most cited studies in the IA literature (i.e. out of the 78 papers identified).FindingsWe find an increase of publications up to 2017, most of which are single country–focused, particularly on emerging markets. Moreover, we note that IA has been studied at all government levels, most often at the local government level. Although we identify multiple research themes examined in the literature, most studies emphasize “governance” and “operational effectiveness” using quantitative analysis, without reference to any theory. By analyzing these key features, we critically interpret the challenges as well as the skepticism that may surface by researchers. Finally, considering implications from this stream of research and analyzing the most influential studies, we recommend new avenues for investigation such as comparative studies among countries and different markets that provide further evidence on the international and regional levels and studies on the effect of cultural, institutional and demographical characteristics in IA.Practical implicationsOur results will help researchers, practitioners and consultants to identify the key issues related with IA.Originality/valueThis study is the first to provide a systematic literature review on public sector IA. Furthermore, it develops insights, critical reflections and avenues for future research in this field.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to review the literature on corporate governance (CG); environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and corporate social responsibility (CSR) during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and addresses three research questions: What are the characteristics of the literature on CG and COVID-19? What are the themes in CG in the COVID-19 era? and What are key areas of future research on CG and COVID-19? Design/methodology/approach The authors attempted a systematic literature review of 62 studies published in 2020. The authors used four criteria to identify characteristics of the literature on CG and COVID-19 and three criteria to identify key themes in the literature addressing CG and the pandemic. The authors analyzed answers to the above research questions and proposals from studies reviewed to guide future research. Findings CG in the context of COVID-19 has been studied mostly in developed countries and within a theoretical framework. As accounting data are insufficient, more research is required in all countries (developed, emerging and other). Further, there are no conclusive results regarding the relevance of ESG and CSR to financial performance. Future research should use additional methodologies and data sources to fully explain the impact of COVID-19 on CG. Practical implications Practitioners and policymakers could benefit from the study, as the authors present key challenges to CG for the present and the future. Originality/value This study is the first to provide a systematic literature review on CG during the COVID-19 pandemic and presents current trends, challenges and avenues for future research.

Abstract:The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between internal audit effectiveness, internal auditor's responsibility, training and fraud detection. During the last decade internal auditing has become an integral part of modern businesses since it is capable of detecting errors or offences which lead to fraud. In order to investigate the above relationship, we conducted a survey of companies listed in the Athens Stock Exchange. We used factor analysis to validate the survey instrument and to construct our variables measuring fraud detection, internal audit effectiveness, auditor responsibility and training. We used regression analysis to test for significance between the constructed variables. Our analysis shows that audit effectiveness, auditor responsibility and auditor training affect positively and significantly the detection of fraud. Our results highlight the importance of internal audit in detecting accounting fraud and the need of companies to invest on internal audit processes and training in order to achieve enhanced corporate performance. Finally, our research stresses the importance of internal audit and fraud detection for companies which operate in countries which are in a period of economic crisis.

An investigation was conducted to study a sample of 23 Greek firms listed on the Athens Stock Exchange that underwent mergers from 2011 to 2015, which is a period that embodies the Greek economic crisis. For the investigation, the authors use statistical tests to explore relative changes at twenty accounting ratios of the sample firms. These ratios are computed for one year before and after the merger. These ratios are found to be statistically insignificant indicating firms do not experience a post-merger improvement in accounting performance. The authors also examine six qualitative variables representing merger characteristics as past managerial decisions. Important findings for these characteristics include the following. First, for companies that do not fall under the same production line, the researchers observe an improvement for three ratios: collection period ratio, return on total assets, and profit or loss before tax. Thus, liquidity and profitability are improved. Second, when companies merged with their subsidiaries, the authors discover significant improvement for two ratios: gross margin and collection period ratio. In brief, positive results are found for mergers with subsidiaries and negative results with others. Third, the payment method influences two ratios, the current ratio and the stock turnover ratio. The current ratio is affected positively for the transactions in cash and negatively for the transactions in shares, while the stock turnover ratio is affected negatively for cash transactions and positively for share transactions.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of internal audit with respect to Auditing Corporate Governance Statements based on a practical approach. Moreover, it examines the application of internal control best practices in the Athens publicly listed firms based on a series of related statements. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted all large and medium capitalization publicly listed companies via a research questionnaire which forms a basis of a descriptive research analysis. The methodology is based on the best worldwide acceptable practices as represented by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations internal control – integrated framework, as well as the relevant laws and regulations and best practices with respect to Corporate Governance Statements. Findings The research concludes that internal auditors limit their role in verifying compliance with the relevant laws and regulations rather than adopt a consulting role toward the improvement of the content and quality of Corporate Governance Statements information. Also, it contributes to the corporate governance research by verifying that the effectiveness of internal controls contributes to sound corporate governance practices. Practical implications Internal auditors depending on the organization they serve may adopt different roles regarding Corporate Governance Statements preparation, review and audit such as consultative which may add value to the quality of Corporate Governance Statements. Originality/value It is the first research regarding quality characteristics of the Corporate Governance Statements and the role of internal audit in Greece, and it provides the basis for further research among European Union countries.

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Tax evasion involves the deliberate act of noncompliance to tax legislation and the disregard of tax payments from the citizens. Moreover, many citizens do not directly violate tax legislation, but avoid paying taxes by taking advantage the lack of explicit legislation. Along those lines, tax ethics forms a personal constraint which regulates the way citizens behave regarding the payment of taxes. The purpose of this paper is to explore the tax ethics of Greek citizens and to compare them with those of other countries. In order to compare our results with those of other countries, we used a questionnaire, developed by Prof. Robert W. McGee, which has been used as a research instrument in similar studies. Our results show that Greek citizens do not evade taxes due to potential personal gains but rather because they believe that the state is incapable of proper allocation of public money and that the current political and tax system is inefficient or corrupt. In conclusion, the state has to gain the trust of its citizens in order to increase tax ethics and tackle tax evasion, by allocating its resources efficiently and by promoting political transparency.

Merger deals are one of the most important business strategies which can change the company value dramatically. Mergers have been constantly a subject of debate and analysis over the past decades. Thus, it is a matter of great interest to analyze merger activities during economic crisis periods, as it was in Greece recently. This paper explores the accounting performance of Greek listed companies after mergers in 2009–2015, the economic crisis period in Greece. Thus, all mergers of listed companies during the above period are initially examined through several financial ratios from financial statements for one year before and after the merger. The analysis of Greek listed companies that comprise the final sample is performed with several regression models. The study provides positive and statistically significant results for mergers, in the sense that the period of crisis that the merger took place is positively correlated with several performance measures. Regarding the industry relatedness, the study provides evidence that conglomerate mergers have more positive impact to the improvement of the companies’ profitability than non-conglomerate mergers. Last, for the merger events that take place far from the climax of the economic crisis, the profitability of merged companies is increased.