Ownership structure and accountability: the case of the privatization of the Spanish tobacco monopoly, 1887–96.

This paper analyses the case of the privatization of the Spanish tobacco monopoly, focusing on the period between 1887 and 1896, which corresponds to the first leasing contract between the state and the Spanish Tobacco Company and it is concerned with two different issues. First, it deals with the effects of privatization on accountability.The main question examined is whether public and private ownership entail different approaches to the way in which managers are accountable to owners, and the impact this issue had on corporate reporting. Second, it is concerned with exploring the determinants of accounting disclosure. Here, the basic issue is to understand the factors shaping changes in corporate reporting during the period of study.Accounting history; Corporate Reporting; Privatization; Tobacco Monopoly; Spain;

Does the Ownership of Water Utilities Influence Water‑Saving Advice Provided to Service Users? An Analysis of the Spanish Water Sector

Regional Government of Andalusia (Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo)The ERDF [grant number P18-RT-576]Agencia Estatal de Investigación and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) [grant number ECO2017-86822-R];University of Granada (Plan Propio. Unidad Científica de Excelencia: Desigualdad, Derechos Humanos y Sostenibilidad – DEHUSO)The Spanish Aid Program for Predoctoral Contracts for University Teacher Training (FPU) 2019 of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities

Accountability disclosure of SOEs: comparing hybrid and private European news agencies

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the financial and non-financial accountability disclosure patterns of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), as hybrid organizations. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting the hybridity concept and resorting to stakeholder theory, this paper works on a comparison between the accountability disclosure patterns of hybrid and private organizations operating in the same industry. European national news agencies are selected as units of analysis and an extensive web content analysis is performed on three categories of information. Findings: SOEs are found to disclose a broader spectrum of information than private organizations, and differences between them have been found. Nevertheless, both financial and non-financial disclosures are underdeveloped in the two organizational types. Research limitations/implications: This paper illustrates how hybridity explains SOEs’ accountability disclosure patterns. Results could not be complemented through information on disclosure through alternative channels. Future studies are encouraged to perform simultaneous comparisons among hybrid, public and private organizations, as well as considering industry specifics. Practical implications: As web accountability disclosure helps to address the demands of distant stakeholders, efforts are needed to enhance SOEs’ web accountability disclosures and not to undermine democratic accountability relationships. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on the accountability mechanisms and style of SOEs. Using a framework for hybrid organizations provides an understanding of how SOEs, as hybrid organizations, disclose information for accountability. In turn, this allows, and then promotes, the investigation of social phenomena by conceiving hybridity as a standalone institutional space

Financial reporting quality and online disclosure practices in spanish governmental agencies

Good governance in the public sector implies high accountability levels. Accountability is a multidimensional concept that includes the quantity and reliability of disclosures as well as rendering accounts to the citizenry. Nowadays, good governance, accountability, and financial performance are key for the long-term sustainability of autonomous public sector organizations. The objective of this paper is to study how key governance features relate to the quantity and quality of the information disclosed. In particular, how the governing body, financial performance and organizational features relate to online transparency and financial reporting quality, as well as how these two accountability dimensions are related. To fulfill this objective, we have used the Structural Equation Modeling, Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM) approach. The focus of our analyses is on Spanish central government agencies. The size of, and a greater presence of independent members in, the governing body are explanatory factors behind the quality of the financial reports. Our findings also show that the quality of the financial information is also affected by the pressure that Eurostat requirements-deficit limits-puts on public sector entities, which leads to the use of smoothing practices. Online disclosure practices are not explained by the features of the governing body, but by the size of the agencies and their financial results. The better the financial reporting quality, the higher the online disclosure levels

THE IMPORTANCE OF FINANCIAL REPORTING DURING PRIVATIZATION: TURKISH CASE

Privatization has been on a lot of countries’ agenda, especially for the emergingcountries for a long time. In Turkey, as an emerging country, privatization plan has been a veryhigh priority among the State Budget income items for three decades. To identify and to explore theaccounting role in privatization is the critical issue for the countries under privatization process. Inthis study, the importance of financial reporting during privatization process is examined. Theoverall responsibility of accounting in privatization is to develop investor confidence to channel theflows of funds and to ensure the effective and efficient use of capital funds. Therefore, without asound accountancy framework, the privatization process would not generate the desired long termeconomic, social, and financial development results. Therefore, we analyzed the period of Turkishprivatization experience by underlying the importance of financial reporting in this process. Forthis purpose, in the first part of the study, we defined the privatization and argued the positive andnegative opinions about it. In the second part, we clarified the role of accounting in privatizationprocess under disclosure, transitional problems, training, valuation problems, and inflationaccounting subsections. In the third part, we discussed the recent accounting developments whichmay effects privatization in Turkey. In the fourth part, we summarized the implementation ofprivatization in Turkey. Then, we mentioned the key issues in privatization process for emergingeconomies. Based on the Turkey’s privatization practices, financial reporting has a very importantrole in the SOE’s privatization process. In our point of view, since accounting has an importantrole in privatization, this role takes place before, during and also after the privatization. It shouldbe taken into consideration that the main objective of privatization is not only to privatize SOE’s,but also keep the sustainability of privatized SOE’s. While privatization creates sources for newinvestments of the governments, it should support the effectiveness and economics of goods andservices in the area of privatization. So the sustainability of privatized companies is very importantas well as their sales. All of the above purposes can be controlled by solely accounting.privatization, accounting, financial reporting, emerging economies, state owned enterprises

Moderating Effect of Financial Strength on the Relationship Between Board Characteristics and Environmental Sustainability Disclosures

The study examines the moderating effect of financial strength on the relationship between board characteristics (board independence and qualification) and ecological sustainability disclosures on firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The study period was (5) years (from 2013 to 2017). It employed a correlational survey research design covering the period of five (5) years (2013 - 2017). The target population was sixty-five (65) firms listed at the NSE, with a sample size of 56 firms. Data was utilised from firms’ annual reports, stand-alone reports, and website. Pearson’s correlation, Ordinary Least Square regression model and Environmental Disclosure Index were used in analysis. The results showed that financial strength strengthen the relationship between environmental sustainability disclosure and board independence (β = .23, ρ<.01). A negative and significant moderating effect of financial strength on the relationship between board meetings and environmental sustainability disclosure (β = -.16, ρ<.05) was found. For the board qualification, positive and insignificant effect of financial strength was observed (β = .13, ρ>.05). The study concluded that financial strength has significant moderating effect on the relationship between board characteristics and environmental sustainability disclosure. It recommends enactment of policies addressing corporate environmental reporting by firms as a result of different asset base. Future studies need to focus on; specific dimensions such as directors’ experience, age, and nationality, use of more measures of firms financial strength such as risk analysis, cross listing and profitability. Keywords: Corporate characteristics, environmental sustainability disclosures, financial strength, listed firms, trinity theory. DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/10-18-13 Publication date:September 30th 201

Does top management team media exposure affect corporate social responsibility?

This study examines the impact of top management team (TMT) media exposure on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the moderating effect of TMT characteristics based on the upper echelons theory and stakeholder theory. Based on the observations of 5,352 firms between 2010 and 2019, multiple regression analysis is conducted to empirically test whether TMT media exposure can promote CSR. TMT media exposure is further divided into paper media and online media to reveal the impact of different types of TMT media exposure on CSR. Some robustness tests are also conducted to strengthen the regression results. The results found that a high level of TMT media exposure promotes social responsibility. In addition, the TMT power and political connections negatively moderate the relationship between TMT media exposure and CSR. The main contribution of this study is to develop a TMT media exposure model to assess the impact of TMT media exposure on CSR, providing a theoretical contribution to the existing literature and enriching the research in the CSR context from the perspective of the TMT characteristic moderating role

Bonds with social impact.

Treball Final de Grau en Finances i Comptabilitat. Codi: FC1049. Curs: 2018/2019.Over the years, countries have been affected by the financial crisis, forcing them to reduce public debt. The interventions needed to reduce public spending are often deficient due to lack of funding. Therefore, new ideas of financing and investment need to be incorporated. First, the theoretical framework will be analysed, briefly explaining what financial bonds are, which are the most important issuers and which characteristics must be taken into account to carry out the issue. This will be followed by socially responsible investment and sustainable bonds, giving way to the main theme of this study, bonds with a social impact. Consequently, this study will be based on the analysis of the social bonds of different countries compared to those of Spain, in this way it will be possible to observe whether the decision to invest in these bonds has had the same impact expected by the parties involved. It will also be possible to give a congruent conclusion of the same and corroborate that the objectives for which they have been designed are achieved