Internal monitoring mechanisms and earnings quality: Empirical evidence from Malaysia

Earnings quality reflects the integrity and quality of financial reporting which minimizes the information asymmetry and agency conflicts among management, owners, and majority and minority shareholders. The issue of earnings quality has become a concern, especially in respect of corporate governance as an internal monitoring mechanism to ensure the financial reporting quality. The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between internal monitoring mechanisms, namely, board of directors, audit committee, internal audit function, and earnings quality based on agency theory and resource dependence theory. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating effect of audit committee between the internal audit function and earnings quality. The sample of the study is 2,036 firm-year observations on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia for the period of 2009 to 2012. Two discretionary accruals models were used to measure earnings quality. This study reveals that board size, audit committee financial expertise, investment in internal audit function, and outsourcing of internal audit function increase the quality of earnings. However, board independence, board financial expertise, audit committee’s chairman audit partner, audit committee meeting, and audit committee score reduce earnings quality. The hierarchical regression results show that audit committee size, independence, meetings, and audit committee score moderate the relationship between investment in the internal audit function and earnings quality. In addition, audit committee independence, financial expertise, meetings, and audit committee score moderate the relationship between sourcing arrangements of the internal audit function and earnings quality. The results of this study have implications to investors, regulators, and market participants. Policy makers might use the findings regarding earnings quality to recognize the important roles played by both the internal audit and audit committee in enhancing the earnings quality in Malaysian companies

Directors’ independence, internal audit function, ownership concentration and earnings quality in Malaysia

Concentration of ownership in Malaysian public listed companies contributes to agency conflict between majority and minority shareholders. An effective monitoring mechanism is critical to mitigate this conflict.The study aims to examine the influence of board and audit committee independence, internal audit function and ownership concentration on earnings quality proxied by discretionary accruals.The sample of the study 508 companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia Main Market from 2009 to 2012.Two measures of discretionary accruals are used: Modified Jones model (Dechow et al., 1995); and extended Modified Jones Model (Yoon et al., 2006). Using OLS regression, results of the study suggest that audit committee independence and more investment in internal audit function are related to higher earnings quality. However, board of directors’ independence and ownership concentration are associated with lower earnings quality. The finding indicates the importance of audit committee independence in producing quality financial reporting. Consistent findings are found for most variables in both models.The findings of the study have implication on the use of measurement of discretionary accruals in earnings quality studies and corporate governance practices in Malaysia

Internal and external audit attributes, audit committee characteristics, ownership concentration and earnings quality: Evidence from Malaysia

The objective of the study is to examine the association between internal and external audit attributes, audit committee characteristics, ownership concentration and discretionary accruals (as a proxy of earnings quality) based on the agency and resource dependence theories.The final sample of the study is 508 firms listed on the Malaysia Main Market from 2009 to 2012.Two measures of discretionary accruals are used, Modified Jones model by Dechow et al. (1995); and extended Modified Jones Model by Yoon et al. (2006).Results of the study suggest that outsourcing internal audit function, investment in internal audit function and external audit fees are related to higher earnings quality. However, large audit committee size, more frequent audit committee meetings, having a senior or former audit partner as audit committee chairman and ownership concentration are associated with lower earnings quality.This study extends the prior related literature by apply extended modified Jones model by Yoon, et al.’s (2006) of discretionary accruals to measure earnings quality in Malaysia Main Market listed companies and introduce new variables, namely audit committee chairman who is a senior or former audit partner in the audit firm

Earnings quality and audit attributes in high concentrated ownership market

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the audit committee (AC) independence, financial expertise, internal audit function, audit quality and ownership concentration on earnings quality (EQ) and, consequently, ascertain whether the AC’s independence and financial expertise has a moderating effect on the relationship between internal audit function and EQ. Design/methodology/approach – The study sample is 508 firms listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia (formerly known as Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange) for the years 2009 to 2012. EQ was measured using two modified Jones models of discretionary accruals. Findings – The findings reveal that the independence of AC and investment in internal audit function, as well as the Big4 audit firm, are related to greater EQ. Ownership concentration is found to be associated with lower EQ. The study provides evidence that AC’s independence moderates the relationship between internal audit function (investment in and sourcing arrangements of internal audit function) and EQ. It also shows that AC’s financial expertise moderates the relationship between sourcing arrangements of internal audit function and EQ. Practical implications – This study extends the prior related literature by examining the AC’s independence and financial expertise as moderating variables on the relationship between internal audit function and EQ.Social implications – Policymakers might use the findings regarding EQ in relation to governance practices, to recognize the important roles played by the AC’s independence and financial expertise on the effectiveness of internal audit function with EQ. Originality/value – This study uses the agency theory and resource dependence theory to provide empirical evidence on the impact of internal audit function and AC on EQ in the ownership concentration environment

Health Care Provider Burnout in Syria During COVID-19 Pandemic's Omicron Wave

Background: Healthcare workers have dealt with a range of psychological problems during the COVID 19 epidemic, including sadness, mental discomfort, anxiety, and poor sleep. Burnout is a state of prolonged work stress-related psychological, emotional, and physical stress brought on by emotional weariness, depersonalization, and decreasing professional success. The goal of this study was to find out how many healthcare workers burned out during the Omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and to find out what factors put them at risk for this psychological effect.   Methods: This cross-sectional research was performed in Syria during the current Omicron wave of COVID-19 pandemic to evaluate the Burnout experienced by Syrian physicians who treat COVID-19 patients. The inclusion criteria were all Syrian healthcare workers who treated COVID-19 patients the current Omicron wave of COVID-19. The data was collected between April 3 and March 20, 2022. We investigated whether the questionnaire used was valid and understandable to the participants.   Results: A total of (729) healthcare providers inquired in our study; however, 30 participants were disqualified because their answers were not fully completed. The overall age of the participants was 31±9, and the ratio of males to females was almost equal. The majority (47.5%) of the sample study's participants are residents, and 72.8% of the participants carried for COVID19 patients. The prevalence of high level of burnout among the sample study was 41.6%. Compared to men (22.3%), women were much more likely (27.9%) to report experiencing a high degree of emotional exhaustion, also the participants who carried for COVID19 patients were much more likely (30.1%%) to report experiencing a high degree of emotional exhaustion compared to others, which individuals who carried for COVID19 patients were 1.76 times more likely than participants who did not carry for COVID19 patients to experience severe burnout (OR:1.766, 95%CI:1.2-2.4, P-value<0.001).   Conclusion: Our research found severe burnout among Syrian health care providers during the omicron wave of COVID19, with clinicians carrying COVID19 patients being considerably more likely to express high burnout than others. For this reason, it is imperative that we collaborate with international humanitarian organizations to provide a suitable psychiatric environment for Syrian physicians and provide practical recommendations to address this important concern

Influence of Tunisian Revolution on Bullying at Work in Interns and Residents

This study aims to compare prevalence and determinants of workplace bullying, in interns and residents before and after Tunisian revolution and to assess its influence on their quality of life. It was a two-step-cross-sectional study, carried out in 2009 and in 2016, in547 interns and residents in 2009 and 667 in 2016.The prevalence of workplace bullying decreased significantly (p < 10−3) between 2009 (74%) and 2016 (43.6%). It was related to the professional status, gender, seniority, deliberate choice of medicine, satisfaction, serious family problems and hobbies in 2009 while it was related to professional status, nature of specialty, deliberate choice of medical studies and the satisfaction of the practice of Medicine in 2016.Most common acts were similar between both cohorts. Median mental and physical quality of life scores were below the mean baseline scores in both cohorts with no significant difference. Despite decrease in workplace bullying rate between both cohorts, its perception has not changed. Lawful criminalization, raising public awareness to reduce this phenomenon and prevent its negative effects are preventive measures to apply