1,721,007 research outputs found
Corporations, human rights and corporate social responsibility in Africa:between neglect and inadequate policy direction
No full textThe roles of corporations, generally and multinational ones particularly, in our individual and collective lives are sometimes veiled but salient, and with far reaching implications. The development and spread of the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) around the core question of how business should interface with society has occurred virtually simultaneously with the contemporary focus on human rights. On its own terms too, CSR discourse in the academic and professional spheres appear to have reached tipping points but concerns about the role of corporations in many countries have grown in nearly geometric proportions. CSR and human rights, interestingly, engage at their core, a concern for society; either at the level of the individual, groups, communities or the state. They also share, even if only to varying extents, a normative interest in some form of accountability for power as a mechanism for promoting social well-being. Yet, notwithstanding fairly strong normative basis for expecting corporations to buy-in to human rights, corporations and human rights have found it difficult to mix. The flagrant violations of human rights across the globe have occurred (and continue) with complicity of powerful (typically but not only) multinational corporations (MNCs)
Determinants of bank profitability before, during and after the financial crisis
Full text linkThis paper reports the results of an investigation into the relationship between bank-specific, macroeconomic factors and bank profitability before (1999-2006), during (2007-2009) and after (2010-2013) the financial crisis. The results indicate that banks sustained profitable performance even during the financial crisis despite fall in loans and increasing bank liquidity. Panel data analyses results show that there is a significant relationship between bank-specific determinants (size, cost management, and liquidity) and bank profitability (ROA) before, during and after the financial crisis. However, the relationships between other bank-specific (capital strength, credit risk, and market power), macroeconomic (GDP and inflation) determinants are sensitive to both period of analysis (before, during and after the financial crisis) and bank profitability measure used (ROA or NIM). Overall, these results suggest that the financial crisis did not affect the relationships between some bank-specific determinants and bank profitability
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Modelling issues in the relationship between audit and non-audit fees.
Full text linkPurpose The purpose of this paper is to examine modelling issues in the research of the relationship between audit and non-audit fees by comparing the outcome of a single-equation model of fees to the results of simultaneous equation model (SEM) of these interactions for a sample of UK listed companies and also by exploring the benefits of using a panel data approach. Design-methodology-approach The paper is an empirical analysis of audit and non-audit fees for a sample of 2,072 UK companies. Three types of models, single linear equation, SEM and panel data, are compared and the strengths and weaknesses of each discussed. Findings The results indicate possible mis-specification in the single linear equation model and the potential for simultaneous equation basis in the SEM. The panel data analysis confirms the findings of prior literature that there is a relationship between audit and non-audit fees but statistically insignificant. Research limitations-implications The implication of these findings is that previously published findings on audit fees, which used single equation, may have overstated the case for a relationship between audit and non-audit fees due to problems in the econometric models. Practical implications The issues addressed in this paper are very pertinent to a better understanding of the role of the auditor in the corporate environment. In particular, the findings are relevant to the debate on auditor independence and corporate governance. Originality-value The study contributes to knowledge of the behaviour of audit fees and non-audit fees, cross-sectionally and through time and the most appropriate models for describing that behaviour. © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limite
The impact of corporate governance on auditor independence: A study of audit committess in UK listed companies.
Full text linkThe thesis explores the relationship between Audit Committees and External Auditors’ fees of a sample of FTSE 350 companies in the UK for the period of 2005-2006. This is achieved by providing answers to three main research questions. First, what are the determinants of Audit Committee activity? Second, what is the relationship between Audit Committee activity and external auditors’ fees? Third, what is the relationship between audit and non-audit fees and how does the Audit Committee affect these?
Starting out with an Agency Theoretical background, the study found evidence consistent with the views that a higher proportion of Independent Non-Executive Directors on the board enhances Audit Committees’ activity, but the presence of financial expertise on the committee was not found to be statistically significant in explaining its activity. The thesis also documented evidence that shows that Audit Committee activity is inversely related to managerial ownership of shares in companies.
In line with the economic theory of auditing, the researcher used fees paid to the external auditor to proxy for the level of economic bonding between auditors and their clients. Higher fees are interpreted to indicate compromised independence. Five alternative measures of economic bonding were used. The researcher found a stable and statistically significant positive relationship between measures of economic bonding and Audit Committee activity. This finding is consistent with the view that Audit Committees buy more services from the auditors in order to enhance auditing and reporting quality.
Strong positive relationships between audit and non-audit services and vice versa were found using a single equation fees model but these relationships were not consistent when the researcher controlled for endogeneity between audit and non audit fees using Simultaneous Equation Models (SEM). Audit Committee activity was not statistically important in these relationships. This evidence taken together supports the proposition that economies of scope exist in the joint provision of both audit and non-auditing services to the same client. Finally the thesis also documents evidence that suggests that knowledge spill-over flows from non-audit services to auditing services and that auditor do not use audit as a loss leader
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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