The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of audit committee characteristics on corporate voluntary disclosure of 146 Malaysian listed firms for the year 2009. Based on content analysis of disclosure, the empirical results of multiple regressions reveal that audit committee independence, size and multiple directorships of audit committee members are positively associated with corporate voluntary disclosure. Frequency of meetings and financial expertise of audit committee members are not significantly associated with corporate voluntary disclosure. The results offer evidence to policy makers, investors and accounting professionals on the extent to which audit committee characteristics associated with such committee effectiveness in monitoring corporate reporting processes.

Slippery Slope Framework has attracted exceptional attention from researchers in economic psychology and taxation field through validation by renowned scholars via variety of surveys and experimental designs. However, application of cross-sectional analysis in validating the framework has been scant, the available studies being focused on a single continent only. This study aims to test the assumptions of "Slippery Slope Framework" through examination of the influence of trust in authorities and power of authorities on tax compliance globally. The sample of 158 countries was selected as of 2016. Data was analyzed through Ordinary Least Squares Regression Analysis. The results reveal that trust in authorities significantly influences tax compliance, but power of authorities does not. Additionally, the interaction effect of trust and power on tax compliance has not been established through this crosscountry analysis. Practically, the results suggest that authorities should ensure judicious use of taxpayer monies in the provision of public goods and services, and also fairness and equity among taxpayers. Eventually, these will enhance trust and improve tax compliance. Theoretically, the study calls for disaggregation analyses where each continent will be studied individually for replication of these findings and establishing the interaction effect wherever possible.

The emergence of “Slippery Slope Framework” has attracted many researchers who examined the effect of trust in authorities and power of authorities on tax compliance using both the real taxpayer and student subjects. However, these researchers have neglected the use of cross-country data to examine these effects. In line with prior empirical evidences that confirm the effect of trust and power of authorities on tax compliance, this study hypothesizes that both trust and power have association with tax compliance across countries. It further hypothesizes that trust has more association with tax compliance than power. This study is based on 49 Sub-Saharan African countries as the population, out of which 37 countries were selected using multi-stage random sampling. The empirical results from these countries reveal that there is an association between both trust in authorities and power of authorities and tax compliance across the 37 Sub-Saharan African countries, but the association between power of authorities and tax compliance is stronger than that of trust in authorities and tax compliance. Further, the result does not find any causing effect of both trust and power on tax compliance in the countries that constituted the study sample.Keywords: Authorities; Compliance; Power; Tax; Trust.

This paper explores the perception of Yemeni citizens of the severity of tax evasion relative to other crimes and violations. Perception of tax evasion may somewhat explain the degree of non-compliance with the tax laws. Using data from a self-administered survey and a personnel structured interview, the results of mean and comparative analysis show that tax evasion items were ranked as the three least crimes of 30 listed crimes. Further, Tax evasion is categorized the least serious category out of six categories. The results of this study should be useful to policy makers in Yemen and elsewhere, as it was found that there is an alarming signal that tax evasion is relatively ranked as the least serious offence, which could lead to an environment where taxpayers may not be afraid of cheating on their tax returns.

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