AUDITING ENGAGEMENT VS. CLIENT BOARD GENDER DIVERSITY AND INDEPENDENCE – ARE THERE ANY RELATIONSHIPS?

The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of whether corporate governance in terms of gender structure of client corporate boards and CEO duality impact client's incentive and ability to engage in high-qualityaudit in companies a year before the Covid outbreak.   Private and public corporations are included in the sample and statistical analysis is applied on auditor reports and client board characteristics (gender and independence) to find the existing relationships. The study revealed that client boards are more male-dominated, with much of them having CEO duality experience and therefore more being prone to engage a local auditor, much less to engage an international auditor, and reports are signed by a male auditor in more of the cases. Results also support the fact that auditing companies have been paying attention to gender issues with half of the auditors signing the report being female. It was found that gender composition of client board and CEO duality and audit opinion are not interrelated which is in line with other studies. The paper extends the growing literature on the linkage between audit quality board characteristics and it overcomes the limitation observed in previous studies by testing the idea that gender and independence are variables of primary influence on auditor engagement.  &nbsp

EARNINGS MANAGEMENT TO ACHIEVE BENCHMARK TARGETS: A CASE OF SERBIAN LISTED COMPANIES

The aim of this study is to investigate whether and how Serbian companies manage earnings to avoid losses and to avoid earnings decreases. The empirical evidence found in this study shows that there is a discontinuity in the distribution of reported earnings around the zero earnings benchmark suggesting that Serbian companies engage in earnings management to avoid reporting losses.  Furthermore, this continuity disappears when we subtracted discretionary accruals from reported earnings indicating that Serbian companies use discretionary accruals as a tool for earnings management. However, the distribution of earnings does not provide evidence that Serbian companies manage earnings to avoid earnings decreases. These results are robust to alternative methods of scaling earnings and various ways of estimating discretionary accruals

The Influence of Organizational Culture on Business Creativity, Innovation and Satisfaction

Organizational culture is underdeveloped in business environment in the countries in transition in South-East Europe, such as is the Republic of Serbia. Only several economic institutions have developed the standards of organizational culture, which has an immense impact on their business and recruitment. In this paper we will try and discover whether organizational culture has both direct and indirect influence on creativity and in novation and on employees’ satisfaction at work as well. Also, the authors will try to assess whether creativity, innovation and job satisfaction are more dependent on the position inside the organization and on the employees’ education than on organizational culture

Clinical pathway of COVID-19 patients in primary health care in 30 European countries : Eurodata study

BackgroundMost COVID-19 patients were treated in primary health care (PHC) in Europe.ObjectivesTo demonstrate the scope of PHC workflow during the COVID-19 pandemic emphasising similarities and differences of patient's clinical pathways in Europe.MethodsDescriptive, cross-sectional study with data acquired through a semi-structured questionnaire in PHC in 30 European countries, created ad hoc and agreed upon among all researchers who participated in the study. GPs from each country answered the approved questionnaire. Main variable: PHC COVID-19 acute clinical pathway. All variables were collected from each country as of September 2020.ResultsCOVID-19 clinics in PHC facilities were organised in 8/30. Case detection and testing were performed in PHC in 27/30 countries. RT-PCR and lateral flow tests were performed in PHC in 23/30, free of charge with a medical prescription. Contact tracing was performed mainly by public health authorities. Mandatory isolation ranged from 5 to 14 days. Sick leave certification was given exclusively by GPs in 21/30 countries. Patient hotels or other resources to isolate patients were available in 12/30. Follow-up to monitor the symptoms and/or new complementary tests was made mainly by phone call (27/30). Chest X-ray and phlebotomy were performed in PHC in 18/30 and 23/30 countries, respectively. Oxygen and low-molecular-weight heparin were available in PHC (21/30).ConclusionIn Europe PHC participated in many steps to diagnose, treat and monitor COVID-19 patients. Differences among countries might be addressed at European level for the management of future pandemics.Peer reviewe

The role of primary health care in long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in 30 European countries : a retrospective descriptive study (Eurodata study)

Background and aim:Primary health care (PHC) supported long-term care facilities (LTCFs) in attending COVID-19 patients. The aim of this study is to describe the role of PHC in LTCFs in Europe during the early phase of the pandemic.Methods:Retrospective descriptive study from 30 European countries using data from September 2020 collected with an ad hoc semi-structured questionnaire. Related variables are SARS-CoV-2 testing, contact tracing, follow-up, additional testing, and patient care.Results:Twenty-six out of the 30 European countries had PHC involvement in LTCFs during the COVID-19 pandemic. PHC participated in initial medical care in 22 countries, while, in 15, PHC was responsible for SARS-CoV-2 test along with other institutions. Supervision of individuals in isolation was carried out mostly by LTCF staff, but physical examination or symptom's follow-up was performed mainly by PHC.Conclusion:PHC has participated in COVID-19 pandemic assistance in LTCFs in coordination with LTCF staff, public health officers, and hospitals.Peer reviewe