New issue of the Reporting and Accountability Review journal
The editorial team of Virtus Interpress is delighted to introduce the second issue of the journal Reporting and Accountability Review in 2025. This issue of the journal presents a group of set-up studies that, when grouped, enhance understanding of the current challenges in reporting and accountability. The articles published in this issue look at how accountability methods are changing due to increasing economic complexity, greater attention from stakeholders, and changing regulatory expectations. Together, these articles show that there is a growing need for clear and useful reporting to make decisions. They also show how accountability systems continue to affect how organizations in different institutional and management situations act.
The full issue of the journal is available at the following link .
The first article by Jawhara Ghlissi and Mourad Mroua examines the impact of a comprehensive set of corporate governance mechanisms on corruption in 173 listed companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (2008–2024). Using generalized least squares (GLS) and generalized method of moments (GMM) estimations, the authors find that board size, independence, meeting frequency, foreign directors, chief executive officer (CEO) duality, and audit committee characteristics significantly reduce corruption, whereas board gender diversity and auditor quality are positively associated with it. A key contribution of this study is the combined use of multiple governance mechanisms and the development of a novel, region-specific proxy for corporate corruption, with robustness checks confirming that effective governance is critical for enhancing corporate control over corruption.
The second article by Achraf Guidara reviews literature linking tax evasion to climate change across four dimensions: the erosion of fiscal space, the shadow economy’s environmental harm, corporate tax avoidance, weak environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance, and the role of tax havens in financing polluting activities. The study finds that tax evasion reduces the fiscal capacity needed for climate mitigation and adaptation, sustains shadow economy activities that contribute to deforestation and pollution, and is consistently associated with weaker corporate environmental and sustainability practices. This article contributes by synthesizing fragmented debates into a unified framework and identifying gaps, including limited cross-country evidence and weak integration of tax compliance into climate finance. It concludes that combating tax evasion is not only a fiscal priority but also a climate imperative.
The issue ends with a conference book review by Shab Hundal. This conference book compiles the manuscripts broadly categorized into four distinct, albeit interrelated themes of corporate governance — board of directors’ practices, artificial intelligence (AI), sustainability and reporting, and several other key aspects of corporate governance, including legal aspects, public policy, small and medium enterprises amongst others, which are highly relevant as well as frequently discussed at public platforms.
We are grateful to all the scholars who have contributed to this issue, whose highly topical objectives relate to the diverse and new frontiers that the world of finance must continually address to stay abreast of the times.
