The determinants of web-based investor relations activities by companies operating in emerging economies : the case of Jordan

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Corporate reporting and disclosures in the emerging capital market of Kuwait:the perceptions of users and preparers

The objective of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of users and preparers regarding financial disclosure practices in annual reports of Kuwaiti listed firms. To measure participants' views, a questionnaire survey was distributed in Kuwait between October and December 2012, to preparers (financial managers) and users (financial analysts) within Kuwaiti listed companies. The study compares between the perceptions of financial managers and financial analysts regarding disclosing information in corporate annual reports as well as the main obstacles facing the disclosure process and what the problems restricting the use of companies' annual reports. The study also seeks to investigate whether there is a perceived need for improving the usefulness of Kuwaiti companies' annual reports for decision-making. The results, based on 137 responses, indicate that accounting practices in Kuwaiti firms are firmly rooted in a decision-usefulness tradition with management and the board of directors viewed as the key audience for reporting information. Indeed, the annual reports of Kuwaiti listed companies are perceived as the most important sources of information. On the whole both users and preparers shared similar concerns regarding the volume of information contained within annual reports; however, their views differed in terms of identifying potential solutions. The results of the study are likely to have implications for decision makers, the academic community and accounting standard setters. 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd., part of Springer Nature

Differences in environmental disclosure between national and international oil and gas corporations operating in the oil sector of Arab pertroleum exporting countries

In recent years, environmental disclosure practices have received much attention in the literature. However, a review of previous studies has revealed that the majority of studies have focused on developed countries while developing countries, especially the countries of the Arab region, have received scant attention worldwide (see Figure 2-3). As is well known, the Arab region has become the focus of attention by corporate investment due its huge oil wealth. However, although some studies addressing environmental disclosure practices have been performed in the Arab countries they have ignored the oil sector, which is a vital sector underpinning the economy of the countries in this region. Consequently, this study aims to cover the gap in the accounting literature, especially relating to the Arab region. Therefore, this dissertation seeks to investigate the differences in environmental disclosure practices between national and international oil and gas corporations. The focus of this study is on quantity and quality of environmental disclosure contained in annual reports of petroleum companies. It is conducted based on a sample comprising 51 national corporations and 98 international corporations. The dependent variables, quantity and quality of environmental disclosure contained in annual reports, were measured by word count and environmental disclosure index score. In contrast, national factors comprising ‘political and civil system, legal system, and level of economic development’ were used as independent variables to explain differences in quantity and quality of environmental disclosure. Empirical data encompassing ‘quantity and quality of environmental disclosure’ are extracted using the content analytical methodology and environmental disclosure index. The annual reports of the firms used in this study from 2008 to 2010 amounted to a total of 444 reports. The data are analysed using three different but complementary statistical methods: (1) multiple regressions analysis, (2) Pearson's chi-square statistic and (3) independent t-test analysis. The results of this research study indicate that there are variations in the level of environmental disclosure practices among national companies and international companies both in terms of quantity and quality of disclosure. The results of this study do not differ significantly from the results of previous studies which indicated low environmental disclosure practices in developing countries compared with developed countries. However, the findings of this study have a number of important implications for future environmental disclosure practice in Arab region. Additionally, the study is different to previous studies as it focuses on the oil sector in the Arab world which it represents a vital role in the economies of the countries of the region. With regard to the descriptive analysis of the variables used in this study to explain differences in quantity and quality of environmental disclosure, it can be said that the results of the analysis of the independent variables used in this study indicate that the variance in environmental disclosure practices among international and national companies is due to differences in national factors such as political and civil system, legal system and level of economic development of countries that belong to the sample companies. The results of the regression analysis show both the political and civil systems, legal system and level of economic development are statistically significant in explaining the differences. Political and civil system and legal system were associated negatively with environmental disclosure practices in national companies, but positively in international companies. The level of economic development associated with environmental disclosure practices impacted positively in both national companies and international corporations. However, its effect was different in both. Furthermore, findings of independent t-test analysis show that country is one of the important determinants of environmental disclosure practices

Health Biotechnology Innovation for Social Sustainability -A Perspective from China

China is not only becoming a significant player in the production of high-tech products, but also an increasingly important contributor of ideas and influence in the global knowledge economy. This paper identifies the promises and the pathologies of the biotech innovation system from the perspective of social sustainability in China, looking at the governance of the system and beyond. Based on The STEPS Centre’s ‘Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto’, a ‘3D’ approach has been adopted, bringing together social, technological and policy dynamics, and focusing on the directions of biotechnological innovation, the distribution of its benefits, costs and risks and the diversity of innovations evolving within it and alongside it

The historical evolution of accounting in China (novissima sinica): effects of culture (2nd part).

Este artículo intenta explicar los criterios que sustentan la idea de que la contabilidad China ha sido conformada durante el pasado siglo con arreglo a factores culturales, económicos y políticos. Asimismo se propone estudiar los fenómenos históricos experimentados por la contabilidad china en el transcurso de los años, y evaluar comparativa y críticamente los efectos culturales de los mismos con las transformaciones políticas y económicas que han tenido influencia en el desarrollo de la contabilidad China. This paper attempts to argue the criteria which claim that Chinese accounting has been shaped by together with cultural, economical and political factors in the last century. This paper also aims to compare historical phenomena which occurred in Chinese accounting over the years, and then to assess comparatively or critically the effects of culture with politic and the economic transformations on the development of Chinese accounting.Contabilidad comparativa, contabilidad china, factores culturales, historia, sociología. Chinese accounting, comparative accounting, cultural factors, evolution, history, sociology.

The impact of sovereign wealth funds on global financial markets

This paper analyses the impact of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) on global financial markets. It presents back-of-the-envelope calculations which simulate the potential impact of a transfer of traditional foreign exchange reserves to SWFs on global capital flows. If SWFs behave as CAPM-type investors and thus allocate foreign assets according to market capitalisation rather than liquidity considerations, official portfolios reduce their “bias” towards the major reserve currencies. As a result, more capital flows “downhill” from rich to less wealthy economies, in line with standard neoclassical predictions. More specifically, it is found that under the assumption of SWFs investing according to market capitalisation weights, the euro area and the United States could be subject to net capital outflows while Japan and the emerging markets would attract net capital inflows. It is also shown that these findings are sensitive to alternative assumptions for the portfolio objectives of SWFs. Finally, the paper discusses whether a change in net capital flows triggered by SWFs could have an impact on stock prices and bond yields. Based on an event study approach, no evidence can be found for a stock price impact of non-commercially motivated stock sales by Norway’s Government Pension Fund. JEL Classification: F30, F40, G15.Sovereign wealth funds, capital flows, foreign exchange reserves, financial markets.