Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of corporate governance reforms in Italy. Design/methodology/approach – The authors argue that the effectiveness of corporate governance can best be assessed with reference to the choices made by management or controlling...

Purpose – The financial reporting practices of modern day organizations operating in a knowledge‐based economy will eventually change as intangible assets increasingly become such organizations' most valuable assets. Financial reports need to be supported by intangible performance metrics,...

As the world stands perplexed at the recent spate of corporate governance and financial reporting problems that have rocked the US capital markets, it is hard to imagine anything good currently pervading the world financial community. But there is some good news coming from the world of...

The author, one of the leading business thinkers in the USA and a former Harvard Business School professor, puts forward his hopes and fears for the year 2004. He hopes that the worlds of financial reporting and corporate governance will become clearer and more effective but he worries that...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the corporate governance and financial characteristics of firms under the new Sarbanes‐Oxley (SOX) accounting regime. Design/methodology/approach – The paper first compares a comprehensive set of characteristics across firms in...

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the relation between the proportion of direct investment to US total – direct and portfolio – investment abroad and their country‐specific determinants in developed and developing countries between 1997 and 2005, emphasizing the role of high‐quality...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the financial expertise of the audit committee (AC) and the incidence of misappropriation of assets in publicly held companies in the USA. Design/methodology/approach – The sample consists of 28 publicly held...