The association of a country's investor protection regime with the quality of reported earnings is examined for a large sample of firms from 42 countries. Three attributes of earnings are evaluated: the magnitude of the association of a country's investor protection regime with the quality of...

This paper examines whether the likelihood of accounting restatements is associated with the Big 4 industry auditor specialists, measured at both the partnerndash;level and audit firm-level leadership. We focus on a sample of listed firms in Taiwan where audit reports must be audited and signed...

Multiple stakeholders in the financial reporting process have articulated concerns over the rules-based orientation that U.S. accounting standards have adopted. Many argue that a more principles-based approach to standards setting, typified by international accounting standards, would improve...

This paper explores the factors associated with the voluntary decisions to assure social, environmental and sustainability reports. Since the market for assurance services in this area is in its formative stages, there is a limited understanding of the demand for this emergent non-financial...

This paper extends the traditional view of audit failures related to the going-concern (GC) assumption to two circumstances scarcely analyzed in the audit literature: the earnings overstatement that characterizes firms without a going-concern uncertainty (GCU) in their audit reports and the...

This study investigates the effectiveness of changes in the regulatory environment on the quality of compliance to mandatory disclosure requirements in Bangladesh. Statistical analysis of the Mandatory Disclosure Index, as developed in this paper using annual reports of the exchange-listed firms...

The European Union's response to recent financial reporting scandals on both sides of the Atlantic reached a crucial stage recently when the European Parliament voted to accept the new 8th Company Law Directive. It takes the minimum harmonisation route to set the basic standards that Member...

We examine the issue of auditor independence in a unique setting. Specifically, we test for auditor independence impairment among (1) private client firms, for which the risk of auditor reputation loss is lower than for publicly traded firms, and (2) in a low litigation environment (i.e.,...

In this monograph we address several interrelated themes influencing the corporate governance debate in today's financial marketplace. These include board independence and effectiveness; the role and the independence of the auditor; shareholder rights and activism; and convergence to a global...