Corporate Governance and Auditor Choice in Kuwait

Although auditor choice has been studied extensively in the audit literature, research examining this issue in developing markets has been scarce thus far. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of corporate governance (CG) on external auditor choice in the context of the small Kuwaiti emerging market. Specifically, the present study uses both a survey and hand-collected 2012 fiscalyear data pertinent to 53 Kuwaiti listed companies to examine whether firm’s auditor choice is influenced by company’s board size, board independence, directors’ shareholdings, Audit Committee (AC) size, and/or AC independence. Using a logistic regression model, the study’s results reveal evidence of a meaningful relation between auditor choice and AC size, company’s leverage, and company’s belonging to the finance sector. These findings could be useful to market regulators and corporate executives, especially in Kuwait, in improving CG practices within corporations. The research findings should also be of value to international researchers interested in carrying out related research

The Impact Of The Joint Provision Of Non-Audit Services On Audit Firm’s Tenure: A Kuwaiti Evidence

Concerns about the potential harm of the increased economic bond between the audit firm and the audit client resulting from the joint provision of audit and NAS have been investigated extensively in the audit literature. However, much of this research was conducted in developed countries’ settings, with very little, if any, carried out in the context of a developing country. The current study aims at filling this gap in audit research by investigating two important issues related to the joint provision using data from the Kuwaiti audit market. First, this study examines whether there is an association between the provision of NAS to the audit client and audit firm’s tenure as a surrogate of audit independence. Second, the current study aims at examining factors expected to influence clients’ purchase of NAS in the Kuwaiti audit market. Contrary to expectations, the results reveal a negative relationship between the joint provision and external audit firm’s tenure, suggesting that such a joint provision does not lead to the impairment of auditor independence. Results obtained from the NAS purchase logistic regression also show that audit client’s purchase of NAS from their audit firms is positively related to the amount of audit fees and client’s financial leverage

Is earnings management associated with corporate environmental disclosure? Evidence from Kuwaiti listed firms

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose: This study investigates the association between corporate environmental disclosure (CED) and earnings management (EM) in a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) emerging market, namely Kuwait. Design/methodology/approach: Using panel data from firms listed on the Kuwaiti stock exchange from 2010 to 2014, this paper applies a fixed-effects model to examine the CED-EM nexus. This analysis was supplemented with estimating a two-stage least squares (2SLS) model and a generalised method of moment (GMM) model to address any concerns regarding endogeneity problems. Findings: The results are suggestive of a significant and negative relationship between CED and EM in Kuwait. This implies that the environmentally responsible managers are less likely to be engaged in EM practices in Kuwait. Research limitations/implications: The theoretical implication of the results of this study is that managers in Kuwait seem to employ CED as a method to decrease the possibility of any formal or informal actions that could be imposed upon their activities. Originality/value: So far, a limited number of studies focused on examining the CED-EM nexus internationally. Furthermore, research carried out to examine the CED-EM link within a GCC market is virtually non-existent. This study, therefore, presents the first empirical analysis of this relationship in Kuwait. Also, this research is of a significant value stemming from the environmental challenges that are facing Kuwait as an oil-reliant economy coupled together with the crucial economic development in Kuwait and its critical contribution to the GCC economy

Multiple sclerosis: long-term outcomes in ethnic minorities. analysis of a UK population-based registry

Background and purpose Multiple sclerosis (MS) is most frequent in Caucasian populations. However, studies of MS in other ethnic groups may offer unique insights into genetic and environmental influences on the disease, and data on long-term outcomes in these patients is limited. In this work clinical features and time to disability milestones were investigated in ethnic minority (EM) patients with MS in a UK population and comparisons were made to a Caucasian cohort from the same region. Methods In all, 1949 MS patients (1866 Caucasian, 83 EM) were identified from a regional disease registry. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to analyse the time to Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) 3.0, 4.0 and 6.0. Results Ethnic minority patients were younger at disease onset (28.6 years vs. 32.8 years, P = 0.001), and primary progressive MS was less common (EM 4.8%, Caucasian 11.6%, P = 0.03). After correction for clinical variables, ethnicity was associated with time to EDSS 3.0 [EM: hazard ratio (HR) 1.75, P < 0.0001] and 4.0 (HR 1.46, P = 0.03), but not 6.0 (HR 1.5, P = 0.05). Conclusions Ethnic minority patients reach early levels of fixed disability more rapidly than Caucasian patients, but this effect diminishes at later stages of the disease. This has implications for clinical management of these patients

Impostor phenomenon among urologists in Saudi Arabia

Impostor phenomenon (IP) is the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved due to one’s efforts or skills. It is associated with burnout, anxiety and depression and can negatively impact the lives of the affected individuals. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of IP among urologists in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among practicing urologists and urologists-in-training in Saudi Arabia between November and December 2022. A self-administered questionnaire comprising questions on the sociodemographic characteristics and the Clance impostor phenomenon scale (CIPS) was distributed through email to all registered urologists in the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties database. A total of 155 urologists (143 men and 12 women) were enrolled in this study. The majority of the urologists (44.5%) were consultants, and the prevalence of the impostor phenomenon in this study was 27.7%. Nearly half of the urologists (49.7%) presented moderate levels of the phenomenon, 23.9% of the urologists demonstrated high levels, and 20.6% presented low levels. Only 5.8% of the urologists showed intense levels of the phenomenon. The phenomenon was significantly more prevalent among those in training (p = 0.010) and less prevalent among those with a subspecialty in endourology (p = 0.016). The prevalence of the impostor phenomenon among urologists was 27.7%. It was more commonly seen in resident urologists, and those with a subspecialty in endourology were less likely to be affected by this phenomenon

Financial Characteristics of Companies Audited by Large Audit Firms

Purpose “ The purpose of this paper is to examine how financial characteristics associated with the choice of a big audit firm with further investigation on the agency costs of free cash flows.Design/methodology/approach “ The sample used for this work includes industrial listed companies from Germany and France. To test our hypothesis, we used a number of logit models, extending the standard model selection audit firm, to include the variables of interest. Following previous work, our dependent dummy variable is Big4 or non-Big4.Findings “ We observed that most independent variables in the German companies show similar results to previous work, but we did not have the same results for the French industry. Moreover, our findings suggest that the total debt and dividends can be an important reason for determining the choice of a large audit firm, reducing agency costs of free cash flows.Research limitations/implications “ This study has some limitations on the measurements of the cost of the audit fees and also generates opportunities for additional searching.Originality/value “ The paper provides only one aspect to explain the relationship between the problems of agency costs of free cash flow and influence in choosing a large auditing firm, which stems from investors\u27 demand for higher quality audits

The Relationship Between Internal Auditing and External Audit Fees: Evidence from Kuwait

Although audit pricing has been one of the most studied topics in the audit literature for more than three decades now, to date, very little research has been conducted on this important issue in the Middle East Region. One important question in this line of audit research has been related to whether audit fees are influenced by the contribution of client’s internal auditing (IA) to the external audit work. Much of existing research investigating this issue has been conducted in well-developed English-speaking countries, with almost no empirical evidence provided about this issue within the context of other parts of the world. The purpose of the current study is to examine this issue using data from the Kuwaiti audit market. In particular, the current study uses a sample of audit engagements performed in the Kuwaiti market, to examine whether external audit fees are influenced by the contribution of the client’s internal audit function. The results show that IA contribution in the external audit work is negatively related to the amount of external audit fees

The pricing of audit services: evidence from Kuwait

Purpose – The main objective of this study is to investigate factors influencing the amount of external audit fees in Kuwait. Of particular interest is the examination of the potential effect of the client size, client complexity, client risk, and the size of the audit firm on external audit fees. Design/methodology/approach – An audit fee model is used to examine the effect of audit client size, client complexity, client risk, and the size of the audit firm on the amount of audit fees for a sample of audit engagements performed in the Kuwaiti audit market. Findings – The study's results indicate that the amount of external audit fees is significantly influenced by the audit client size, liquidity ratio, and profitability ratio. The results, however, do not provide evidence of a significant relation between audit fees and the number of audit locations, or the size of the audit firm. Originality/value – This study is original since it is the first to empirically investigate factors influencing the pricing of audit services in Kuwait.Auditors, Auditor's fees, External auditing, Kuwait, Modelling