Regulatory responses to auditor independence dilemmas - who takes the stronger line?

A key part of corporate governance reforms in Australia, as represented by CLERP 9, addresses concerns over the audit function and the role of independent auditors in monitoring managers and providing useful information to stakeholders about the financial position of the company. In comparing the regulatory responses to auditor independence dilemmas, there have been claims that CLERP 9 is less ‘stringent’ than the reforms imposed by the Sarbanes Oxley Act in the US. This paper looks at three particular situations that have been the subject of recent reform to strengthen independence: the mandatory rotation of auditors, recruitment of former auditors as board members, and provision of non-audit services to clients. In each case, we compare the similarities and differences of the regulatory response between Australia and US, to distil the efficacy of the CLERP 9 approach

The “first woman in finance”: Emeritus Professor H. Y. Izan as role model in a male-dominated discipline

In University life, the first women to achieve status or leadership positions inevitably are perceived as role models to their colleagues, peers and students. Role model theory suggests that although we generally understand the meaning of terms such as “role model” or “mentor , the position of role model has several dimensions and is distinct from mentor. This case study on Professor H.Y. Izan, the first woman professor of finance in Australia and New Zealand, adopts the role model theoretical lens to examine Izan as trailblazer in the context of the eighteen women professors appointed after her during the period 1990-2021

Does board gender diversity have a financial impact? Evidence using stock portfolio performance

There is growing regulatory pressure on firms worldwide to address the under-representation of women in senior positions. Regulators have taken a variety of approaches to the issue. We investigate a jurisdiction that has issued recommendations and disclosure requirements, rather than implementing quotas. Much of the rhetoric surrounding gender diversity centres on whether diversity has a financial impact. In this paper we take an aggregate (market-level) approach and compare the performance of portfolios of firms with gender diverse boards to those without. We also investigate whether having multiple women on the board is linked to performance, and if there is a within-industry effect. Overall, we do not find evidence of an association between diversity and performance. We find some weak evidence of a negative correlation between having multiple women on the board and performance, but that in some industries diversity is positively correlated with performance

Audit committee effectiveness in a mandatory disclosure environment

This study examines audit committee effectiveness in its association with regulatory compliance in a highly sanctioned environment. It uses the Australian continuous disclosure regime to investigate whether audit committee effectiveness is associated with a higher frequency of disclosures, thereby enhancing the efficiency of the capital market and creating more informed individual investors. The findings show that, as hypothesised, audit committee effectiveness measured as an index composed of sub-components involving audit committee size, meeting frequency, independence, member financial literacy and membership of other audit committees, is positively associated with disclosure frequency. Further tests show that it is the financial literacy sub component which is most implicated in this relationship. Company size, years of listing, the proportion of inventories and receivables to total assets, whether or not the company has been involved in a takeover offer or bid or in changes to its number of shares are significant control variables

The “first woman in finance”: Emeritus Professor H. Y. Izan as role model in a male-dominated discipline

In University life, the first women to achieve status or leadership positions inevitably are perceived as role models to their colleagues, peers and students. Role model theory suggests that although we generally understand the meaning of terms such as “role model” or “mentor", the position of role model has several dimensions and is distinct from mentor. This case study on Professor H.Y. Izan, the first woman professor of finance in Australia and New Zealand, adopts the role model theoretical lens to examine Izan as trailblazer in the context of the eighteen women professors appointed after her during the period 1990-2021. Practitioner Notes 1. Women who are the first to achieve professorial status in a discipline are perceived as role models. 2. According to role model theory, there is a distinction between the use of the term role model and mentors. Role models include people who are visible because of their diverse characteristics such as gender and they may be unaware of their role model status, or it may be fleeting or remote. Mentorship on the other hand is characterised by interaction and involvement by both parties. 3. Research indicates that role models are crucial for research students' self-efficacy. 4. This research examines the career of the first professor in finance in Australia and New Zealand, analysed through the lens of role model theory, to how show how she has influenced successive academics and students in the finance academy.</p

Editorial

Welcome to issue 3 of volume 26 of the Accounting Research Journal. This issue comprises a general issue, with a collection of accepted papers that have been though the usual rounds of reviewing. The journal is an enthusiastic supporter of accounting and business education research and two papers this issue deal with accounting education.\ud \ud Dr Nik Nazli Nik Ahmad and her colleague Professor Maliah Sulaiman, have written of using case study teaching methods in management accounting in Malaysia, a traditionally passive learning environment. In doing so, they have extended earlier literature on the usefulness of case studies. Dr Deborah Delaney and her colleagues at Griffith University have written of their experiences in testing various student attitudes to group work before and after the implementation of an online self and peer assessment tool known as SPARK..