Informed by the neo-institutional perspective, this study seeks for the first time to investigate empirically the determinants of ISA adoption and commitment to harmonisation on a cross-national basis (89 countries). The findings show that the protection of minority interests, regulatory enforcement, lenders/borrowers rights, foreign aid, prevalence of foreign ownership, educational attainment and particular forms of political system (level of democracy) prevailing in a country, are observed to be significant predictors of the extent of commitment to the adoption and harmonisation of ISAs. Our statistical analysis therefore suggests that coercive, mimetic and normative pressure have a significant impact on ISA adoption relative to economic (efficiency-led) factors. Our findings imply that current efforts by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and other international agencies to implement ISAs need to recognise that a broad set of institutional factors, rather than narrow economic ones, are of relevance in the development of audit policymaking, practice and regulation worldwide. , 620, 705. According to the most recent ROSC reports of the countries in this table, the afore-mentioned ISAs are not complied with. It is also identified that the form and content of audit reports did not comply with relevant ISAs. b These countries do not also have a solid quality assurance in place. There is evidence of non-compliance with ISQC 1.

Subsequent to the financial crisis, standard setters developed suggestions for enhancing the audit function, in order to increase financial stability. One related idea is to expand the audit report disclosed to the public, to ensure that it is fit for purpose. This study investigates the impact of expanded audit reports, namely information on the assurance level, materiality levels and key audit matters (KAM), on bank director perceptions of the quality of the financial statements, the audit and the audit report, as well as on their credit approval decisions. We conduct an experiment involving a sample of 105 bank directors and use ANCOVA to determine the predictors of bank director perceptions and decisions. Our findings suggest that disclosing the assurance level has a significantly positive impact. In contrast, we cannot demonstrate a material effect of expanding the audit report to include the materiality level or KAM. As a consequence, standard setters should carefully analyse the effect of additional information before making decisions on expanding the content of the audit report. Such expansions are not necessarily perceived as useful by stakeholders.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the drivers of companies’ compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) using the stakeholder salience theory. Design/methodology/approach The authors have used panel data from 205 companies to examine the IFRS compliance level across 13 African countries. This study has also established the relationship between stakeholders’ attributes and firms’ compliance with IFRS. Findings On IFRS compliance, the authors found that the average compliance score among the companies over the period was 73.09 per cent, with a minimum score of 62.86 per cent and a maximum of 85.61 per cent. The authors found a significant positive association between audit committee competence and compliance, as well as among chartered accountants on board. There is less compliance with the latest standards, such as IFRS 3, 7 and 13. Also, IAS 17, 19, 36 and 37 are problematic across the sample. The authors also found that compliance has been increasing over the years. Practical implications For companies, this study provides empirical evidence on the importance of having chartered accountants’ corporate boards, as well as competent audit committees involved in ensuring high compliance with IFRS. The findings also provide valuable information for professional accounting organizations on the role of their members (chartered accountants) in the effectiveness of IFRS compliance. Originality/value This study complements and updates prior studies on IFRS compliance with findings from Africa, a region that has been neglected in the literature. It provides empirical evidence on the importance of chartered accountants sitting on corporate boards in ensuring high compliance with IFRS.

The World Economic Forum conducted an opinion survey to determine the strength of auditing and reporting standards (SARS) in 133 countries. It then assigned a score for SARS to each country as one of its global competitive indices. This is a unique dataset on SARS at country level. Using this dataset, this paper compares SARS scores for 72 countries (41 European and 31 Asian). A multi‐phase regression analysis is employed to empirically investigate the predictors of SARS using five sub‐models. Findings from the study support existing theory and add new findings to the auditing and reporting literature at a regional level. It suggests that there are nine predictors of SARS which are similar for both Europe and Asia but with different magnitude. In Asia the efficiency of the legal framework and the size of the foreign export market are also significant predictors of SARS compared to Europe.

Our study addresses the research gap regarding the absence of an empirical cross-country study on the determinants of the strength of auditing and reporting standards (SARS). Using data on 133 countries at various stages of development, we examine the role of environmental factors that influence a country's strength of auditing and reporting standards. Our empirical results confirm that institutional infrastructure, financial market development and higher education and training jointly influence a country's strength of auditing and reporting standards. We obtain qualitatively similar subsample results when we partition countries on the basis of economic development. AbstractOur study addresses the research gap regarding the absence of an empirical cross-country study on the determinants of the strength of auditing and reporting standards (SARS). Using data on 133 countries at various stages of development, we examine the role of environmental factors that influence a country's strength of auditing and reporting standards. Our empirical results confirm that institutional infrastructure, financial market development and higher education and training jointly influence a country's strength of auditing and reporting standards. We obtain qualitatively similar subsample results when we partition countries on the basis of economic development.

We examine the institutional drivers of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption in Africa. The study covers all 54 African countries and relies on data from 2010 to 2015. Our results support the neo-institutional theoretical predictions that coercive, mimetic, and normative isomorphism influence IFRS adoption in Africa, although the circuits of isomorphic pressures differ from previous studies investigating adoption at the worldwide level and in emerging economies. Specifically, we find evidence of the influence by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund on African countries made subject to the Report on Observance of Standards and Codes — Accounting and Auditing program of assessment. We also found that the presence of global audit firms and the years of membership in the International Federation of Accountants are strongly associated with a country’s decision to adopt IFRS. Also, countries with a more structured and active professional accounting organization (PAO) are more likely to adopt IFRS. Our findings provide insights into the significant role played by local PAOs in the promotion of IFRS. Furthermore, we provide empirical evidence that the nature of the isomorphic pressures in Africa is different from those suggested in prior studies, reinforcing the view that IFRS adoption is primarily driven by social and political dimensions, rather than the economic dimension usually professed by IFRS proponents.

Purpose-This paper aims to (1) investigate the position of International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) in the International Federation of Accountants' countries' status on International Standards on Auditing's adoption and (2) assess the factors influencing ISA adoption in these Centres. Design/methodology/approach-This research drew its data from various sources, including the World Economic Forum dataset, the World Bank Report on Observation of Standards and Codes, the World Development Indicators and the Economic Intelligence Unit Report on Democracy Index on fifty countries classified as IFSCs. The adoption status is then regressed on a number of variables of interest. To establish that our results are robust, we used a combination of different regression techniques comprising OLS, multinomial and logistic regressions. Findings-In addition to GDP growth and education level, this paper adds new evidence to the literature by reporting the positive association between the level of democracy and the enforcement of securities' regulation on ISA adoption. It argues that political, economic, social and legal factors impact on ISA adoption in the IFSCs. Research limitations/implications-The sample size is limited to 50 from a population of 99 IFSCs because of lack of data. Some of the independent variables are basically archival data. Reliance is placed on WEF with regard to the measurement of protection of minority interest, securities and exchange regulations, and on Economic Intelligence Unit for democracy index. Practical implications-This paper stresses the importance of ISAs in IFSCs and the role of political power and the enforcement of securities laws on the adoption of ISA. Originality/value-This study fills the research gap relating to the absence of empirical studies on ISA adoption and its drivers in IFSCs.

This study devises a model to evaluate the strength of auditing standards and reporting (SARS) in individual countries. Drawing from data collected by the World Economic Forum the model’s predictive capabilities are tested in the geographical region of sub-Saharan Africa. Data from 28 countries was utilised. The predictive powers of the model are significant. Eight of the thirteen variables utilised were found to be significant predictors of a country’s SARS. Corporate governance variables and shareholder protection variables were found to be particularly prominent. Evaluation of the results also demonstrates that a country’s SARS does not appear to be linked to adoption of international standards of auditing. This suggests standardised adoption of ISAs will not necessarily lead to uniformly strong and consistent audit reporting regimes across countries