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Full-Text Articles in Business

Do Corporate Governance Recommendations Improve The Performance And Accountability Of Small Listed Companies?, Jacqueline Christensen, Pamela Kent, James Routledge, Jenny Stewart Jul 2014

Do Corporate Governance Recommendations Improve The Performance And Accountability Of Small Listed Companies?, Jacqueline Christensen, Pamela Kent, James Routledge, Jenny Stewart

Pamela Kent

This study examines whether the implementation of the 2003 Australian Securities Exchange Limited governance recommendations influenced the governance choices of small companies and whether compliance improves their accounting and market performance and earnings quality. Our analysis examines small and large companies because we are interested in the different effects of the governance recommendations on the two groups. The analysis shows a significant shift by small and large companies to comply with the recommendations around the time of their introduction. We find that formation of an audit committee surrounding the reform period is significantly associated with improved earnings quality for small …


Attaining Legitimacy By Employee Information In Annual Reports, Pamela Kent, Tamara Zunker Jul 2014

Attaining Legitimacy By Employee Information In Annual Reports, Pamela Kent, Tamara Zunker

Pamela Kent

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to provide evidence on the category, quantity and quality of voluntary employee-related information Australian listed companies disclose in their annual report. An explanation is also sought to determine whether companies adopt employee-related disclosures to legitimise their relationship with society. Voluntary adoption of corporate governance best practice recommendations is used as a measure of companies’ attempts to attain ex ante legitimacy. Media agenda setting theory is used as a measure of an attempt to gain legitimacy ex post following adverse publicity from the media. Design/methodology/approach – The annual reports of all companies with …


Are Corporate Governance Recommendations Relevant For Small Companies?, Jacqueline Christensen, Pamela Kent, James Routledge, Jenny Stewart Oct 2012

Are Corporate Governance Recommendations Relevant For Small Companies?, Jacqueline Christensen, Pamela Kent, James Routledge, Jenny Stewart

Pamela Kent

This study examines the extent to which small listed companies in Australia comply with the Australian Securities Exchange corporate governance recommendations, and whether applying these recommendations is associated with benefits in terms of performance and accountability. The results indicate that many small listed companies comply with the recommendations, although the benefits to these companies from doing so appear to be low. We do not find evidence of a positive association between small company compliance with recommendations regarding board independence, diligence and formation of an audit committee and performance. However, we find that compliance with the recommendation against having a dual …


Corporate Governance And The Quality Of Green House Gas Emission Disclosures, Janice Hollindale, Pamela Kent, James Routledge Oct 2012

Corporate Governance And The Quality Of Green House Gas Emission Disclosures, Janice Hollindale, Pamela Kent, James Routledge

Pamela Kent

The introduction of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (Cth) legislation is evidence of the importance the Australian Government places on the issue of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reporting. Australian corporations’ GHG disclosure information in annual reports is currently unknown as most research has focused on environmental voluntary disclosures in general. We used content analysis to produce an index wherein we assessed the quality of GHG disclosures made in the annual reports of Australian public-listed companies in 2007. Our interest was focused on whether good quality corporate governance influences the quality of GHG emission disclosures. We examined the …


The Decision To Outsource Risk Management Activities, Jacqueline Christensen, Pamela Kent Oct 2012

The Decision To Outsource Risk Management Activities, Jacqueline Christensen, Pamela Kent

Pamela Kent

This study uses transaction cost economics (TCE) to identify factors influencing Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) companies’ decision to internally generate or outsource activities required to manage risk. Limited research has been conducted applying TCE in a risk management context with most in the accounting discipline concentrating on internal audit. Increasing our understanding of risk management practices benefits organisations, accounting professionals and regulators concerned with governance practice. Using a unique data set obtained from a survey sample of 271 listed ASX companies in 2009 combined with archival data hypotheses are operationalised and analysed using multivariate and logistic regression. Broadly in line …


Innate And Discretionary Accruals Quality And Corporate Governance, Pamela Kent, James Routledge, Jenny Stewart Jul 2010

Innate And Discretionary Accruals Quality And Corporate Governance, Pamela Kent, James Routledge, Jenny Stewart

Pamela Kent

This paper extends previous research on the association between corporate governance mechanisms and accruals quality. We derive measures of the discretionary and innate components of accruals quality and regress them against corporate governance characteristics. For discretionary accruals, we find use of a Big 4 audit firm and a larger audit committee as the primary governance mechanisms associated with higher accruals quality. For innate accruals quality, we find that higher quality is associated with an independent board of directors, a larger, more independent and more active audit committee, and use of a Big 4 audit firm. Our findings suggest a stronger …


Corporate Governance And Company Performance In Australia, Jacqueline Christensen, Pamela Kent, Jenny Steward Jul 2010

Corporate Governance And Company Performance In Australia, Jacqueline Christensen, Pamela Kent, Jenny Steward

Pamela Kent

This study tests whether the adoption of Australian best practice corporate governance recommendations have a positive or negative relation with financial performance measured by return on assets (ROA) and Tobin's Q. The governance mechanisms associated with increased ROA and Tobin's Q are the existence of an audit, nomination and remuneration committee in Australia suggesting they are particularly beneficial to companies. We found evidence that a significant negative relation exits between the number of directors and proportion of independent directors on the board and the presence of a dual CEO/Chairperson and ROA. There is a significant positive relation between the number …