Purpose: This paper aims to document whether firms with audited financial statements pay lower bribes to get contracts than firms without audited financial statements. In other words, this study assesses whether external auditing helps combat corruption. Design/methodology/approach: The World...

This paper documents that informativeness of reported earnings, measured by earnings–return relation, is an increasing function of dividend payout ratio in the Middle East and North Africa region during the period between 2003 and 2014. We argue that higher dividends reduce agency conflicts....

This article documents the earnings response coefficient (ERC) for nonfinancial firms listed in the Middle East and North Africa region during the period between 2003 and 2013. Our results show significantly positive ERC for our sample firms. The results are robust across different countries and...