New Issue of the Corporate Ownership and Control Has Been Published

The recent issue of the journal Corporate Ownership and Control is devoted to the issues of corporate sustainability, dividend payout, environmental management, accounting, internationalization, tax planning etc.

To read papers, please visit this page

Adeoye Afolab aims to identify views about the important components of good corporate governance practice for listed firms in Sub-Saharan African Anglophone countries. The author used survey questionnaire based on international corporate governance norms, data were collected from listed firms in Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. The findings include: In Ghanaian and South African firms there are evidence that regulatory framework and enforcement of corporate governance promote sound corporate governance system. This study revealed that commitment of board of directors to disclosure and communication may provide effective corporate practices. Political environment and ownership structure of firms’ hinder sound corporate governance practices. Accounting system operating in each country plays a vital role in promoting sound corporate governance system.

Roberto Marinho Figueiroa Zica, Carlos Alberto Gonçalves, Henrique Cordeiro Martins, and Marcio Augusto Gonçalves aim to present cases where the adoption of emphasis on the strategy implementation in micro and small firms within the dominant paradigm of the Resource-Based View theory, a functionalist explanatory model, which reproduces sense making for superior and sustainable performance in high competitiveness sectors. The research was qualitative through interviews of the firms’ leaders, using the method of multiple cases in micro and small firms of the industry, trade, services and agribusiness sector. As a contribution, the work identified that the strategy practices have a connection with the RBV theory and principles of emphasis on inside out management based on the VRIO theory (resources that are: Valuable, Rare, of difficult Imitation and can rely on Organization to effective management).

Elizabeth Chinomona, Chengedzai Mafini and Chriss Narick Mangoukou Ngouapegne used a data collected from 206 Gautrain commuters in the Gauteng province of South Africa to examine the interplay between perceived convenience, image, safety, commuter satisfaction and loyalty. Smart PLS software technique was used to statistically analyse the measurement and structural models. The results revealed that perceived convenience, image and safety positively influenced commuter satisfaction, which, in turn, influenced commuter loyalty. These results may be used by marketers in mass public railway systems to initiate strategies intended to increase both commuter satisfaction and loyalty.

B Rajesh Kumar and K S Sujit focuse on providing empirical evidence on explanation of alternate dividend theories and determinants of payout policies by examining the GCC market. The study explores the financial determinants of the dividend payout policies by examining 646 dividend intensive firms of the GCC. The results suggest that large firms in GCC tends to have larger retained cash flows and tend to have higher dividend intensity. It can be implied that GCC based firms adopt a balanced and cautious approach regarding future growth opportunities as well as the dividend payout policy. Higher the liquidity and profitability signals higher dividend intensity. GCC firms which are liquid and profitable tend to pay more dividends. GCC firms with higher market valuation tend to pay more dividends. Firms with high growth rates of earnings and assets tend to pay less dividends. Firms with high leverage are riskier and risky firms tend to pay less dividends.

Harit Satt documents Holidays effect in analyst recommendations in European stock markets (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden) during the period between 2003 and 2014. The results indicate that analysts issue overly pessimistic recommendations on pre-holidays and overly optimistic recommendations on post-holidays (Christmas, Halloween and valentine). Results are consistent with prior literature on day-of-the-week effect that documents upward trend in stock prices during the week and downward trend in stock prices over the weekend. We argue that by issuing bulk of favorable (optimistic) recommendations on Post-Holidays, analysts may hope to benefit from upward trend in stock prices. Similarly, by issuing bulk of unfavorable (pessimistic) recommendations on pre-holidays, analysts may hope to benefit from downward trend in stock prices. Moreover, we also show that our results are more pronounced in firms with higher information uncertainty and among less experienced analysts.

Celani John Nyide and Lawrence Mpela Lekhanya investigate and describe the use of the environmental management accounting tools by the hotel sector in the 3-5 star categories in KwaZulu-Natal. The research was an exploratory study and qualitative in nature using a single case study with embedded units approach. It is envisaged that study will bridge the gap that exists in South Africa as far as environmental management accounting is concerned and it will also make the provision of meaningful results for policy decision making by the relevant stakeholders in the hotel industry. Moreover, it established factors that drive and/or hinder the implementation of EMA tools that would control and manage environmental costs and their root causes.

Virimai Victor Mugobo and Dignity Paradza uncover the relationship between the size of retail businesses and their level of adoption of global sourcing and also discusses the challenges faced by shoe retailers in Cape Town, South Africa. A mixed method approach was used to collect and analyse data from a census group of 40 shoe retailers within and around Cape Town. The data was collected using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The results of the study reveal that the size of the business plays an important role in the adoption of global sourcing. The results also reveal that smaller businesses find it difficult to acquire the resources required to execute an effective global sourcing operation.

Dilip Kumar Jha, Stuart Locke and Nirosha Hewa Wellalage argue that Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) that have a mission to provide credit to the poorest of the poor appear to be the panacea for rural poverty and hardship and bring forward a promise of better tomorrows. However, MFIs as a means of expanding financial inclusion and competing with the informal financial sector are not such a success story in rural Nepal. The increasing demand for cash to meet social and religious obligations in largely subsistent village economies is increasingly supported by short-term seasonal migration. The removal of working-age males from communities produces a range of unanticipated and not necessarily desirable outcomes. MFIs, it is suggested, could ameliorate the problem and positively contribute to improved sustainable development outcomes.

Wasantha Perera and Nada Kulendran analyze whether the Australian IPOs are underpriced and what the determinants are, authors investigate the short-run market performance of 254 IPOs by industry, listing year and issue year over the period 2006 to 2011. The study found that overall the Australian IPOs are underpriced by 25.47% and 23.11% based on the average abnormal return (AAR) in the primary and total market, which is statistically significant at 1% and 5% level respectively.

Zeleke Worku aims to assess the relationship between viability in small businesses and the provision of quality municipal services by the City of Tshwane. The study was conducted against the background of a high failure rate among newly established small businesses in the City of Tshwane. The study was conducted over a 3-year period (2012 to 2014). Data was collected monthly during the three-year period of study on socioeconomic variables that are known to affect the perception of business operators on the quality of municipal services to business operators and the general public. Statistical procedures such as cross-tab analyses, panel data analysis, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms and Bayesian methods were used for estimating parameters. The study showed that there was a significant association between positive perception of business operators on the quality of municipal services provided to them and viability of businesses.

Ahmed Zemzem and Khaoula Ftouhi attempt to theorize and empirically demonstrate the moderating effects of three external monitors (institutional investors, securities analysts, and external auditors) on the relationship between tax planning and firm performance. We propose that these monitors can affect either the form or the strength of that relationship. Data cover 73 companies listed in the Euronext 100 index for the period from 2008 to 2012. Empirical analyses are conducted using various statistical tools to identify the presence of moderator variables. Most importantly, results showed that institutional investors, securities analysts and external auditors moderate the form of the tax planning-performance relationship; it appears they involve themselves directly in the firms’ tax decisions.

Zuaini Ishak, Nor Aziah Abd Manaf and Shamsul Nahar Abdullah analyze the experiences of board members regarding their roles, the conduct of board meetings, and their influence on the appointment of new directors, the influence of “major” shareholders on board decisions, and the protection of the interest of the minority shareholders. The main objective of this study is to determine whether agency theory plays a dominant role in explaining the roles of the directors of Malaysian listed firms. Semi-structured interviews were carried out amongst selected directors. Results suggest that agency theory alone is not sufficient to explain the complex issues involving board roles

Sherif El-Halaby and Khaled Hussainey explore the early Muslim scholars’ contributions to the originality of the Bookkeeping system by comparing the contributions of Western academics with those of Muslim scholars. The authors investigated, also, the knowledge transfer between East and West and how the early Muslims scholars’ contributions were part of the fundamentals of the Bookkeeping System. A surveying most of essays that concentrating on developments in the historical bookkeeping literature as well as reviewing historical literature about transfer knowledge between East and West. They found that Muslim scholars’ contributions to the originality of the Bookkeeping system could be divided into three stages. It is the first study that links the originality of Bookkeeping system with transfer knowledge between East and West. It is the first research that compare between East and West’ contributions towards Bookkeeping’ pyramid

Sunday Inyokwe Otinche examined the extent to which fiscal reform measures have improved the culture of resources governance within the context of the systemic challenges that confronts Nigeria. From its analysis, the paper concluded that the inherent contradiction in the implementation of fiscal responsibility reforms in Nigeria arises from the inability of Nigerians to generate good ethical relationship with the reform objectives given the antecedent of gross corruption. The paper advocated the sustained re-orientation of Nigerians as a basis for creating the ethical foundation for the promotion and enforcement of fiscal discipline in the public sector.