Towards an effective structure of IT governance for organizations in developing economies

The pervasive use of IT is prominent amongst organizations in developing economies. However, there is growing evidence that these economies fail to capitalize on their IT investment to transform their organizations to be competitive both locally and globally. IT-related benefits are possible with appropriate governance of the IT-related resources, and we need to broaden our understanding on the IT governance mechanics suitable for organizations in the developing economies. In this study, we adopted an initial interpretive design to obtain a deeper understanding of the IT governance (ITG) environment and conceptions of the stakeholders on effective IT governance structures for the developing economies. We found that the presence of an IT Strategic Planning Committee, Multiple level of authority, and a Forum for informal discussions as the crucial components of an ITG structure in developing economies

An assessment of the impact of corporate governance practices on the values of firms in the United Kingdom and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia : a comparative study using the Ethical Process Thinking Model (EPTM)

There are many scandals and collapses of companies around the world, and there has been a renewed interest in the impact of corporate governance on the firm value. According to the literature on corporate governance, the roles of regulatory authorities, company boards and management, vendors, customers, banks and other funding agencies including creditors are important in contributing to the firm value. This is true both in the case of both developing and developed countries. In the context of both developing and developed countries, the protection of shareholders depends mainly on adoption and following of good corporate governances practices. However, it needs to be appreciated that the impact of corporate governance practices in different countries might differ because of dissimilar corporate governance structures evolved from disparate social, economic and regulatory conditions existing in the respective countries. Thus, the differences in the social, economic and regulatory conditions prevailing in the developing and developed countries determine the nature and operational processes of corporate governance practices. Such differences in the corporate governance practices, in turn, have a serious impact on the firm value. The differences in the regulatory framework and market behaviour that existin the developing and developed countries appear to influence the value and performance of the firm to a large extent. Therefore, the corporate governance practices in developed countries appear to be superior in quality and they are likely to have a beneficial influence in improving the firm value in the developed countries. Furthermore, the introduction of corporate governance standards by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Developments (OECD) in 1999 had given a head-start for the developed economies to frame appropriate governance structures over the period. This has helped the developed countries to have effective corporate governance practices in place to aid the improvement in firm value.On the other hand, in the case of developing countries, lack of development of a well-structured regulatory framework and the differences in other social and economic conditions tend to affect the quality of the corporate governance practices. These factors also affect the effective implementation of good corporate governance practices. As a result, the corporate governance practices may not have the desired positive influence on the firm value in the case of developing countries. For example, in such countries, where state ownership companies are predominant, quality of the government officials managing the state-owned corporations determine the corporate behaviour and the resultant impact on the firm value. Similarly, the development of healthy financial markets as affected by the legal foundations and enforcement also could influence the level and quality of corporate government practices in the developing economies. Ownership structure is another important factor that has its own impact on the effectiveness of corporate governance practices in the developing countries. Therefore, it becomes important for the developing countries to consider these differences in the analysis of the prevailing corporate governance practices and their impact on firm value, in order to have a thorough understanding of the role of corporate governance and their influence in enhancing firm value. However, it seems the existing literature is lacking in systematically discussing these differences.A great deal of research has been done in developed countries such USA and UK; however; there is relatively little evidence in the Middle East in this area especially in Saudi Arabia. This study investigates corporate governance practices and their impact on firm value in the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Quantitative data was analysed by SmartPLS software version 3.0. Operationalising a theoretical model described as the Ethical Process Thinking Model (EPTM)), a comparison was made between the listed companies in these two countries. This study is based on the two sets of data: (1) a sample of 342 firms listed in the listed on the London Stock Exchange and Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul); (2) Data was collected from the annual reports of listed companies over five years (2010 –2015).Different pathways enumerated in the TM displayed significant impact and implications on corporate governance leading to firm value. This study used three pathways out of six possible pathways, which are (i) Rule-based pathway (P→J→D) (ii) Principle-based pathway, (I→J→D) and (iii) preference-based pathway (P→D). The results indicated that the (P→J→D pathway found that there is significant relationship between board characters and audit committee and on the financial health and firm value, while the (I→J→D) pathway indicated that there issignificant relationship between profitability and liquidity on the financial health and firm value. Finally, the (P→D)pathway displayed that there is a direct impact of board characters and audit committee on firm value

COMPETITION AND COMPETITION POLICY IN EMERGING MARKETS: INTERNATIONAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DIMENSIONS

This paper examines the role of competition policy in emerging markets from a developmental and international perspective. The main issues addressed include the following: The state of competition and competition policy in developing countries; The relationship between competition, competition policy and economic development; The implications of the recent new advances in the theory of industrial organization for competition policy; The current international merger wave and its impact on developing countries. Multilateral competition policy and the establishment of an International Competition Authority (ICA). The paper´s main conclusions include the following: Contrary to conventional wisdom, many different kinds of evidence suggest that the intensity of competition in leading emerging markets is certainly no less, if not greater, than that observed in advanced countries. Analysis and evidence indicates that maximum competition is not necessarily optimal, in terms of dynamic efficiency, i.e. maximization of an economy´s long-term productivity growth. Even if it was not required in the past, developing countries need a competition policy today, because of the huge international merger movement as well as privatization and deregulation in these economies themselves. There is little evidence to indicate that the current international merger wave will enhance global economic efficiency. Giant cross-border mergers, as well as those occurring between large firms within advanced countries, could, however, adversely affect competition and contestability in developing countries and the world economy. Even with competition policies, developing countries may not be able to restrain anti-competitive behaviour by large multinationals.The current competition policies in the United States and the European Union are unsuitable for developing countries. Countries at different levels of development and governance capacities require different types of competition policies. A good model for many emerging countries with effective governance structures is that of the Japanese competition policy during 1950-73. The Japanese used both competition and cooperation to promote rapid industrialization. The paper presents a proposal for a development-oriented international competition authority to control anti-competitive conduct and growth by mergers of large multi-nationals. It is argued here that the current discourse on the development dimension of competition policy at the WTO is unsatisfactory; its terms and language need to be radically changed. The ultimate aim of the WTO should not be to promote free trade for its own sake, but to achieve economic development

The Changing Corporate Governance Paradigm: Implications for Transition and Developing Countries

The rapidly growing literature studying the relationship between legal origin, investor protection, and finance has stimulated an important debate in academic circles. It has also generated a number of applied research projects and strong policy statements. This paper discusses the implications, in particular for developing and transition countries, from this literature. We conclude that its focus on the plight of small investors is too narrow when applied to these countries. We argue that this group is unlikely to play an important role in most developing and transition countries. External investors may still be crucial, but they are more likely to come in as strategic investors or creditors. The paper also proposes a broader paradigm including other stakeholders and mechanisms of governance in order to better understand the problems facing these countries and generate policy implications that compensate for the weaknesses of capital markets.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39648/3/wp263.pd

The impact of board governance on director compensation in West African IPO firms

This paper undertakes a unique study of the determinants of corporate governance in the West African developing region and their impact on director compensation. A new measure of director total remuneration is constructed providing a conservative estimate of expropriation of private benefits of control. Using a hand-collected sample of 51 West African IPO firms from 2000 and 2011 we find evidence that increased presence of true independent nonexecutives that are unconnected to CEO or dominant insider groups within firm and nominally independent board level committees are highly associated with expropriation inferring that firm’s with directors engaging in this behavior are more likely to adopt measures indicative of governance best practic

Corporate governance in developing and emerging countries. The case of Romania

The experiences of the developed countries reveals that a good corporate governance could reduces risk, stimulates performance, improves access to capital markets, enhances the marketability of goods and services, improves leadership, increases the value of the corporations, enables the corporation to acquire external finances more easily and at a lower cost. In the case of developing and emerging economies the need for corporate governance extends beyond resolving problems resulting from the separation of ownership and control. Developing and emerging economies are constantly confronted with issues such as the lack of property rights, the abuse of minority shareholders or contract violations. But in order that corporate governance measures have a strong impact in the economy, a set of democratic, market institutions and legal system should be settled up. The Romanian governance system follows the patterns of the Continental European model based on the internal control of the employees and the management but with some particularities in function of the specific economic, political, cultural conditions.corporate governance, developing countries, principles, models, firm, performance

Corporate governance in developing and emerging countries. The case of Romania

The experiences of the developed countries reveals that a good corporate governance could reduces risk, stimulates performance, improves access to capital markets, enhances the marketability of goods and services, improves leadership, increases the value of the corporations, enables the corporation to acquire external finances more easily and at a lower cost. In the case of developing and emerging economies the need for corporate governance extends beyond resolving problems resulting from the separation of ownership and control. Developing and emerging economies are constantly confronted with issues such as the lack of property rights, the abuse of minority shareholders or contract violations. But in order that corporate governance measures have a strong impact in the economy, a set of democratic, market institutions and legal system should be settled up. The Romanian governance system follows the patterns of the Continental European model based on the internal control of the employees and the management but with some particularities in function of the specific economic, political, cultural conditions.corporate governance, developing countries, principles, models, firm, performance

Gender, Land and Food Access in Ghana’s Suburban Cities: A Case of the Adenta Municipality

The disparity in land and food access in Ghana often overlooks the possibility of an underlying gender disparity. This paper explores and interrogates the disparity between land and food access with respect to gender and the evolution of this relationship over the years as a result of the settlement expansion and urban growth within the Adenta Municipality in Ghana. Adopting a mixed pairwise approach of combining spatial analytical tools, vulnerability indexing and resilient indicators, the paper examines the levels and rates of land accessibilities within the stream of modern cities. It assesses the land market system complexities within developing economies and attempts to address the potential threats of gender-land access gaps. The paper finally assigns weights of ranks to model the phenomenon and recommends trends that can facilitate predictions and early cautionary systems for effective urban land governance in Ghana. The paper concludes that though it is noticed that women engage in power structures on a daily basis, this both benefits and burdens them, depending on their socio-cultural status and other factors in terms of access to land and food

The Global Spread of Stock Exchange, 1980-1998

Nations opened local stock exchanges at a rapid pace during the late 1980s and 1990s, creating a channel for investment capital from wealthy industrial nations to "emerging markets" as well as a mechanism for institutional change in local economies. This study examines the local and global processes by which exchanges spread, examining all nations "at risk" during the 1980s and 1990s. We find that local factors influencing the creation of stock exchanges included the size of the economy (overall and relative to population size); the legacy of colonialism; and a recent transition to multi-party democracy. Global factors associated with creating exchanges included levels of prior investment by multinationals; IMF "structural adjustment" aid; centrality in trade flows; and regional "contagion." In contrast to prior work in financial economics, we find no evidence for the influence of legal tradition, and contrary to the implications of dependency theory, we find no sign that foreign capital penetration affects the creation of exchanges. We also find no consistent evidence for the influence of stock exchanges on inequality or human development at the national level, above and beyond their effect on economic and population growth. The results indicate that globalization is usefully construed as a process analogous to institutional diffusion at the organization level.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39725/3/wp341.pd