The Impact Of Audit Committee Multiple-Directorships On Earnings Management: Evidence From France

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between Audit Committee Multiple-Directorships and earnings management. Precisely, we empirically investigate the effect of the multiple directorships held by audit committee directors on the level of earnings management of listed French companies. Our investigation has been achieved on a sample of 88 non financial French listed firms that belong to the SBF 120 index, for the financial year 2008. The results suggest that the accumulation of several outside directorships by audit committee members may lead to a higher degree of earnings management, as measured by the magnitude of discretionary accruals. Therefore, our findings show that audit committee can’t provide effective monitoring of earnings management when its members held many additional outside directorships

BANKING SHORT- AND LONG-TERM STABILITY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN ISLAMIC AND CONVENTIONAL BANKS IN GCC COUNTRIES

This research empirically assesses the contribution of Islamic finance to the financial stability of banks. The empirical analysis is based on the annual data related to 103 banks (51 Islamic banks and 52 conventional banks) operating in six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region during the period 2006–2015. The LADR ratio was computed and used to measure banks stability in the short term, and the Z -score was used to assess long-term stability.The results show that, overall, Islamic banks are financially more stable in the short-term but less stable in the long term than conventional banks. The comparative analysis of the financial stability determinants in the two systems shows that these determinants contribute differently to the short- and long-term financial stability of Islamic and conventional banks. This is due to the dissimilarities in the two operating principles

Culture, Economics and Disclosure of (IAS/IFRS) Information: Empirical Evidence in the Tunisian, French and Canadian Contexts

According to the theory of environmental determinism, the accounting system of a country is made by the environment. From our study on three samples of the three countries in different cultural and economic environments (50 Tunisian firms listed on Tunindex, 35 French companies listed on the CAC40 and 36 Canadian companies listed on TSE60), we have demonstrated that despite the adoption by these three countries in a single repository (IAS / IFRS), the degree of implementation of these standards (for each standard) differs from one country to another. We have also found that the level of IAS/IFRS disclosure in Canada is higher than in France which is in far higher than in Tunisia turn. The high level of disclosure of TSE60 companies of Canada compared to the CAC 40 companies of France is explained by existing differences between the cultural dimensions of the two countries. Indeed, Canada is characterized by professionalism and transparency in contrast to France which is characterized by the statutory control and discretion. In addition, for Tunisia, extensive reading annual reports showed a low level of disclosure and demonstrated the presence of a large number of items unenforceable. Inapplicable items reflect the absence of the scope of the standards adopted by Tunisia. Thus, standards adopted and those not yet adopted by Tunisia face rather the level of economic development as the national culture. The results of this study demonstrate the validity of the theory of environmental determinism. Keywords: Theory of environmental determinism, Disclosure, IAS/IFRS

BANKING EFFICIENCY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN ISLAMIC AND CONVENTIONAL BANKS IN GCC COUNTRIES

This research aims at comparing the efficiency of Islamic and conventional banks operating in the GCC countries from 2006 to 2015 for a sample of 51 conventional and 48 Islamic banks using stochastic frontier analysis and the CIR ratio. The results show that Islamic banks are less efficient in terms of cost than conventional banks, and that this result remains valid even during the 2008 crisis period and even after controlling for bank-specific variables. Regarding the determinants of bank efficiency, empirical results show that capital adequacy and size positively affect bank efficiency as measured by the stochastic frontier analysis. Results also indicate that productive assets are negatively related to efficiency as measured by the CIR ratio. This study provides new insights in terms of financial efficiency of the banking system. Findings could help Islamic and conventional banks to increase their efficiency and their performance and improve the service provided to customers

The impact of audit committee existence and characteristics on auditor auditee negotiation outcomes: an empirical study in the Tunisian context

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between auditor auditee negotiation outcome and the existence and characteristics of the audit committee in Tunisian context. The multivariate tests were led on a sample of 142 Tunisian firms for the period 2006-2007. The results of our study reveal that audit committee existence has a significant influence on auditor auditee negotiation outcome. Meanwhile, audit committee independence, audit committee expertise and the number of meetings were not relevant in explaining auditor auditee negotiation outcomes. Within the control variable, the size of the audit firm is positively significant indicating that Big 4 audit firms are more likely to agree with their auditees than smaller audit firms. This study has important implications on the auditing profession and regulators in Tunisia. So, it reinforces the role of audit committee as corporate governance mechanisms in reducing auditor auditee conflict and in improving financial information quality.auditor-auditee negotiation; audit committees; corporate governance; Tunisia; audit committee effectiveness; audit committee existence; auditing; financial information quality.

Auditor-auditee negotiation: effects of auditor independence and expertise in Tunisian context

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of auditor independence (auditor tenure) and expertise (auditor industry specialist, auditor experience and the audit firm size) on auditor-auditee negotiation outcomes. For the entire sample of 53 Tunisians firms for the period 2001-2007, our results indicate non-significant relationship between auditor tenure and auditor-auditee negotiation outcomes, a positive and significant relationship between auditor experience and the extent to which the auditee agreed with the auditor over the financial reporting issues. On the other hand, the results indicate a positive but non-significant relationship between the auditor industry specialist and the negotiation outcome. For the audit firm size, we find a negative and significant effect on negotiation outcome. Indeed, we find no significant relationship between auditee importance and size and auditor-auditee negotiation outcome.auditor-auditee negotiation; auditor independence; auditor tenure; auditor expertise; industry specialists; auditor experience; audit firm size; Tunisia; auditee importance.