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Purpose: In recent times, stakeholders have called on corporate organizations especially those charged with governance to embrace full disclosure on non-financial issues, especially sustainability reporting. Based on this premise, this study aims to examine the influence of corporate board and assurance on sustainability reporting practices (SRP) of selected 80 firms from 8 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Design/methodology/approach: To measure the corporate board, the authors use both board variables and audit committee variables. Also, the authors adapted the sustainability score model as used by previous authors in the field of sustainability disclosure to measure SRPs. The analysis was done using both ordered logistic regression and probit regression models. Findings: The results show that the combination of board corporate and assurance has a positive and significant impact on the sustainability reporting practice of selected firms in sub-Saharan Africa. Practical implications: The study places emphasis on the need for strong collaboration between the corporate board and external assurance in evaluating and enhancing the quality of sustainability disclosure. Originality/value: The study bridged the gap in the literature in the area of corporate board, assurance and SRP of corporate firms which has received little attention within sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responding to calls to incorporate biodiversity matters into accounting research, we attempt to provide a balance by moving away from the conventional focus on the reporting of biodiversity impacts and activities by public and private sector organisations, by focusing on how non‐governmental organisations active in the conservation space (CNGOs), interact with the public sector. In particular, we confine our study to explaining how South African state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) and CNGOs active in South Africa, report on their collaboration engagements. To explain the engagements between SOEs and CNGOs, we use their publicly available reports (annual/integrated) to explore the extent which these entities interact and collaborate. However, although several CNGOs operate in South Africa, we documented little evidence of formalised engagements between these SOEs and CNGOs, with Eskom being the notable exception. Notwithstanding the observed scant formalised reporting on engagements, we suggest that the reporting of CNGOs engagements could be harnessed to indirectly serve as alternative credibility enhancing mechanisms. In this way, it could contribute by attesting to the veracity of organisational biodiversity disclosures, and may provide a basis to hold these organisations to account for their contribution to environmental conservation, or degradation. In this context, we conclude by calling for a research agenda to investigate the relationship between CNGOs and their funding organisations, irrespective of whether they operate in the public or private sectors, as well as the potential of CNGOs to serve as advocacy and activism agents, thereby improving organisational biodiversity accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns remain about how companies will reconcile environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues with their core mandates. This is one reason why many organisations did not initially subscribe to sustainable investing, reporting and accounting, especially where it is not mandatory, despite growing stakeholder pressure to do so. This paper examines how state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) with social and commercial mandates in South Africa, where sustainability reporting is mandatory, balance ESG practices and financial sustainability to fulfil their mandates. This article proposes and evaluates propositions about SOEs adopting and reporting ESG components using a survey questionnaire and semi‐structured interviews with important SOE stakeholders to show that its sustainability accounting approach benefits policy and non‐policy observers. More than half of the studied SOEs have embraced and disclosed their ESG practices, yet there appears to be no systematic way in which they balance ESG practices and financial sustainability, resulting in conflict. This paper appears to be the first SOE study on this topic. In this regard, this study offers novel insights into how sustainability practices may be incorporated into the social and commercial objectives of SOEs, which in most cases are conflicting, while still allowing SOEs to be financially sustainable and depend less on state bailouts, which is often the case, especially in Africa and in countries that face a high level of corruption. Considering the characteristics and mandates of SOEs, part of being socially responsible is utilising public resources in the form of taxpayers' money in an efficient, effective and accountable manner. The discussion in this paper indicates that paying attention to ESG issues is part of a broader accountability mechanism expected from SOEs. Also, the choice of South Africa and of SOEs in South Africa has implications for theory and practice since SOEs in South Africa have social and commercial objectives such that they are expected to be agents of social responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Declining audit fees represent a worldwide phenomenon which draws particular attention and concerns in the audit profession. The study explores the guiding reasons of public interest entities (PIEs) in Europe when electing a particular auditor, and investigates whether these reasons are reflected on audit fees. Further, it considers the impact of the prevailing macroeconomic conditions on these reasons, and accordingly on the cost of the audit. To this end the study intends to investigate whether these guiding reasons represent a declining factor on audit fees and under which macroeconomic conditions. To achieve the study objectives, a pragmatic mixed methods research approach is adopted, comprising surveys of respondents at audit firms and PIEs, and semi-structured interviews with participants at purposively selected PIEs, in Europe. The study finds that the guiding reasons are associated with the macroeconomic conditions, and reflect PIEs' expectations from the external audit. Ultimately, these expectations impact the cost of the audit depending on the current trends in the economy. The study proposes that the audit regulatory authorities should take actions to regulate PIEs' expectations from the external auditors and regulate the reporting requirements of auditors and audit firms, to achieve a proper balance between the scope of the audit procedures and the cost of the audit. In this view, the study recommends audit regulatory authorities adopt guidelines for determining the cost of the audit based on the assessed audit risk and scope of audit procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of governing state-owned enterprises (SOEs), we respond to calls for further research into public entrepreneurship and for theorising hybridity in SOEs, by navigating through the diverse and fragmented literature on public entrepreneurship. Synthesising this literature will improve our understanding of this complex organisation form and identify key areas of tension, enabling the development and deployment of more appropriate governance models for SOEs. A modified five-stage systematic literature review process is used to ensure that this study sufficiently encapsulate the significant topics, themes and debates in SOEs, relating to relevant early and contemporary studies. We identify areas that introduce significant tension into this organisation field, noting that corporate governance within SOEs constitutes a laboratory for governance issues. Linking public entrepreneurship with public enterprises, we discuss the restructuring of SOEs as well as hybridity in SOEs. Taking into account the practices and characteristics of SOEs, we argue that the missing link in theorising hybridity in SOEs is theorising hybridity in terms of objective/activity; thus bridging this gap. In concluding, we note that although this paper has discussed some of the identified gaps at length, it is a precursor for future research convergence, thereby pointing to areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore whether the audit profession is impacted by global economic growth, how, and to what extent. In that manner, the study paper explores the interrelationship between the public trust in the auditors' work and the prevailing macroeconomic conditions. For the applied research methodology, the proportion of audit company revenue, for the period from 2005 through 2022, derived from audit services and non-audit services, is used as a proxy to measure 'the public trust in the auditors' work' and 'the audit expectation gap'. These resultants are multiplied to calculate the 'public interest', which is juxtaposed against the global gross domestic product growth for the same period, to support the conceptual assertion that the public interest follows the current trends in the global economy. The study finds that public interest is directly related to the public trust in the auditors' work. In this view, enhanced demand for audit services implies an increased public trust in the auditors' work. The higher the demand for audit services, the bigger the public trust in the auditors' work. The function of the audit expectation gap implies the general public to obtain a bigger scope of data and information regarding the operational activity of the auditees. The audit profession is connected with global economic growth through the public interest. This is because public interest follows the current trends in the global economy. The higher economic growth is accompanied by bigger public interest. In this regard, bigger public interest implies a bigger demand for audit services which in turn increases the public trust in the auditors' work. This paper which uses the public interest as an indicator for global economic growth, contributes to understanding the relationship between the audit profession and prevailing macroeconomic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to integrated reporting, which was arguably first introduced by the third King Report on Governance for South Africa (King Ⅲ), King Ⅲ also formally introduced the combined assurance model as a further governance innovation, aimed at enhancing the quality of organisational reporting. Although the combined assurance model is primarily an internal enterprise risk management innovation, designed to incorporate, integrate and optimise all assurance services and functions, it simultaneously enhances the credibility of organisational reporting. Taken as a whole, the combined assurance model enables an effective control environment, supports the integrity of information used for internal decision-making by management, the governing body and its committees; while supporting the integrity of the organisation's external reports. Organisations adopting King Ⅳ, including state-owned enterprises (SOEs), are expected to explain how the provisions of the combined assurance model have been implemented. Explaining conformance, introduces an element of innovation into organisational reporting as envisaged by King Ⅳ, by providing stakeholders with assurance about the veracity of the disclosures contained in the internal and external reports of organisations. This exploratory paper analyses the extent to which South African SOEs have conformed to seven key combined assurance indicators. The disclosures contained in the publicly available annual/integrated reports of South African SOEs, listed in Schedule 2 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), were thematically analysed to fulfil the objective of the study. We found that although the combined assurance related disclosures suggest high levels of adoption by some SOEs, the majority have not provided sufficient information to explain how they have applied combined assurance, if at all. Although their reports appear to provide internal management with some level of assurance about the extent to which risks have been managed, these reports may not necessarily provide external users with confidence that all material risks have been effectively mitigated, within the organisation's risk appetite. This paper discuses implications for policy and practice and concludes by providing avenues for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The formal adoption of internal auditing within the South African public sector was made compulsory by the Public Finance Management Act, No. 1 of 1999. Despite internal auditing's primary role of adding value and assisting organisations to accomplish pre-defined strategic objectives, the increasing frequency of service delivery protests in South Africa, suggests that mandatory internal auditing may not have contributed to improving public sector performance and enhancing service delivery, as envisaged. This paper aims to identify the factors preventing internal audits from effectively contributing to improved public sector performance and service delivery. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a sequential mixed-methods research approach. Firstly, a survey instrument was used to collect empirical data from survey respondents at South African national government departments. Secondly, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were held with a purposively selected sample of participants to explore the observations from the first phase. The observations from the first two phases were validated through an analysis of pertinent documents and records. Findings: Despite all departments adopting internal auditing, management's expectations of internal auditing and the services provided by the internal audit function diverged. The results suggest that the emergence of a compliance approach to organisational governance together with poor performance management skills has impaired internal auditing's ability to effectively contribute to strategic and performance management. Research limitations/implications: Despite its South African orientation, as internal auditing is a global association and given that service delivery protests continue to occur in several countries around the world, increases the study's international relevance. Moreover, the mandate of internal auditing requires it to add value to an organisation irrespective of its geographical location. Originality/value: The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on internal auditing, particularly its adoption and implementation in the South African public sector. In addition to identifying the factors inhibiting effective internal auditing, the study advances a suggested framework for the future of internal auditing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to establish the extent to which South African state-owned entities (SOEs), where integrated reporting is a quasi-mandatory reporting requirement, have incorporated the principles of the international integrated reporting framework. These identified South African SOE reporting practices are compared with the 'integrated reporting' related disclosures of SOEs in selected countries, where integrated reporting remains voluntary. Design/methodology/approach: This paper deploys a qualitative research approach, to thematically analyse the content of publicly available annual or integrated reports of South Africa SOEs, as the primary country of analysis, with those of their counterparts in five purposively selected countries. The relative scores for the SOEs of each country is calculated using a disclosure index derived from the international integrated reporting framework principles. Findings: The paper found that despite being a quasi-mandatory reporting requirement, not all South African SOEs complied with all the international integrated reporting framework principles. Accepting the assertion that integrated reporting enhances organisational transparency and accountability, the accountability disclosure practices of South African SOEs appear more comprehensive than their counterparts in other countries. Originality/value: Extant research into integrated reporting has primarily focussed on the profit-seeking private sector, with limited research into its applicability in the public sector. This paper attempts to address this paucity by examining aspects of integrated reporting by South African SOEs, which are then compared to accountability reporting practices in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Despite initially being lauded as a revolutionary approach for companies to account to all stakeholders, the shareholder orientation of the international integrated reporting () framework gave rise to questions about whether integrated reports would still sufficiently disclose pertinent corporate social responsibility (CSR) information. This paper aims to investigate the extent to which the framework has impacted the CSR disclosures contained in integrated reports of South African mining companies. Design/methodology/approach: The study deployed a mixed methods research approach, involving thematic content analysis of the CSR disclosures contained in the integrated reports of mining companies with primary listings on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The resultant qualitative data were subsequently analysed using a T-test of difference. Findings: The study observes that the release of the framework appears to have had a limited impact on the CSR disclosures in the integrated reports of most companies included in the study. However, where significant differences were identified, the CSR disclosures of some companies were positively impacted after the release of the framework, whilst others were negatively impacted. Research limitations/implications: As South Africa is acknowledged as a leader in the global movement, the paper's observations have global relevance and suggest that the fundamental principles of should be reconsidered to improve the alignment with stakeholders' information needs, as originally conceived. Originality/value: Despite the shareholder orientation of the framework, the global mining industry is acknowledged as being at the forefront of implementing CSR interventions to mitigate the adverse impacts of their operations on stakeholders, supporting a stakeholder orientation. As the adoption of continues to gain traction around the world, this paper's contribution is that it represents one of the few papers to use the global reporting initiative G4 indicators to specifically examine the impact of framework on the CSR disclosures on the South African mining industry, where both and CSR reporting are quasi-mandatory disclosure requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Audit failures around the world, have contributed to high-profile corporate scandals, severely impeding global economic growth. We investigate the extent to which the public trust, the public interest and the audit expectation gap, impact global financial stability and economic growth, contributing to understanding the purpose of external oversight over audit activities. These critical components of the audit environment, represent the essential elements necessary for regulating the global audit profession. Methodology: The proportion of revenue derived from audit services and non-audit services of the big four audit firms, is used as a proxy to measure the ‘audit expectation gap’. The resultant ‘audit expectation gap’ for the period 2005 to 2020, is juxtaposed against the global GDP growth for the same period, supporting the conceptual assertion that proper regulation of the audit expectation gap enables a stable financial environment, conducive for promoting economic growth. Findings: The study finds that the audit expectation gap increases during stable economic conditions, as illustrated by the reduction in the proportion of audit revenue to non-audit revenue, conversely reducing during volatile economic conditions. Originality/Value: This paper which uses the audit expectation gap as a proxy for the demand of audit services, contributes to understanding the dynamic relationship between the audit expectation gap and global economic growth, as well as the crucial role of external oversight over audit activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the transformation disclosures in the publicly available annual reports of South African public universities and to establish the extent to which universities account to their stakeholders about how they have discharged their transformation obligations. Design/methodology/approach: This exploratory qualitative study involves a thematic content analysis of publicly available annual reports using ATLAS.ti software to identify and categorise transformation interventions disclosed by South African public universities. Findings: This empirical study identifies several interventions that universities have introduced to facilitate access to and successful completion of tertiary studies by students. Some of the disclosed mechanisms include the provision of financial aid, student support and counselling, tutoring and mentoring and ICT enhancements and the introduction of language policies. The results also highlighted several challenges to sustainable transformation including funding, social and academic barriers and infrastructural challenges experienced by universities. Originality/value: According to the authors' knowledge, this study represents one of the first studies to use the public disclosures in the annual reports of public universities to identify interventions introduced to facilitate transformation of the student body. Despite its South African orientation, the observations have implications for universities worldwide experiencing similar challenges, especially in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sampling has historically been one of the major challenges of the comparative research approach. These sampling challenges primarily result from the way researchers select the cases/samples for the study. In this regard, researchers have to a large extent tended to employ non-probability convenience and purposive sampling techniques. Even though it may be argued that these sampling approaches need not be theory driven as samples tend to evolve in the process of research, more often than not, these sampling methods, especially in comparative research designs, while skewing research attention towards over-researched countries and cases, wealthy nations and incomparable cases, also introduce an element of bias into sampling and therefore into research findings. Thus, this paper argues for a move away from the simplicity of purposive and convenience sampling, to one of the more robust forms of theoretical sampling, in order to improve the research rigour associated with the comparative methodological approach. This paper accordingly postulates this may be achieved by engaging in some form of theoretical sampling. In this regard, this paper describes a two-phase method for generating comparative samples from theories, involving six distinct steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Biodiversity is required to sustain life on earth, but the rampant growth in the illegal wildlife trade has created a global conservation challenge, where the African continent is one of the primary casualties. This paper aims to explore how South African National Parks (SANParks) (as the custodian of the largest population of rhinos in the wild) accounts to its stakeholders about how it has discharged its biodiversity mandate relating to rhino preservation.Design/methodology/approach The paper seeks to determine whether the increase in rhino-poaching over the period from 2006 to 2015 is reflected by a concomitant increase in related disclosures in SANParks' annual reports. It adopts a mixed-methods research approach using both descriptive and inferential statistics, as well as a qualitative analysis of pertinent narrative disclosures describing how SANParks accounts to its stakeholders on the discharge of the rhino-related component of its biodiversity mandate.Findings The study finds that SANParks uses its publicly available annual reports to disclose how it has discharged the rhino-related component of its biodiversity mandate. In this regard, it identified a strong positive correlation between incidents of rhino-poaching and annual report disclosures in the period up to 2010. Initially, SANParks disclosed its rhino-poaching-related performance through impression management to bolster its legitimacy, but later focused its reporting on its rhino conservation efforts.Originality/value Although the subject of rhino-poaching has been extensively researched, this one of the first papers to explore the phenomenon from a governance and accountability perspective of a state-owned entity (\ SANParks) under the mantle of extinction accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South African soft laws, such as the King III principles and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) regulations, require all JSE-listed companies to provide independent corporate social responsibility (CSR) assurance on an apply or explain basis. While prior studies may have suggested that these soft laws were the primary drivers of independent CSR assurance, in reality, the majority of companies, where this was a de facto mandatory requirement, did not comply. This study explores the independent CSR assurance phenomenon to understand whether independent CSR assurance decisions were influenced by other factors such as company size and industry sector. In this way, the paper contributes to the perennial debate between voluntary governance principles and mandatory regulation and legislation. The study utilised a longitudinal study involving a content analysis of the annual and/or corporate social responsibility reports of the largest 100 JSE-listed companies over the 8-year period from 2007 to 2014 (i.e. both before and after King III) to identify companies providing independent CSR assurance. The resultant observations were subsequently analysed in terms of the size and industry sector represented. Despite ostensibly being a mandatory requirement for JSE-listed companies, and acknowledging the important role of King III, the findings suggest that King III may not be the primary driver of independent CSR assurance. Although independent CSR assurance has steadily grown, this assertion is confirmed by less than 40% of companies doing so, in spite of the King III and JSE requirements. Instead, the study found that larger companies, and particularly those operating in environmentally sensitive industries, as well as the consumer sector (both of which are concerned about their perceived legitimacy) had a greater propensity to conform. Although not a specific objective of the study, the results also offer a possible explanation for the removal of the independent CSR assurance requirement in King IV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose In South Africa, King III requires companies to have their corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures independently assured. Within this context, the purpose of this paper is to examine internal audit’s CSR assurance role.Design/methodology/approach With reference to the International Professional Practices Framework of the Institute of Internal Auditors, the first phase of the study conceptually considers whether internal audit does qualify as an independent CSR assurance provider. Using a content analysis of integrated reports, the second phase examines the extent to which internal audit’s CSR assurance role has been disclosed. The final phase relies on survey responses to understand the emerging trends observed in the second phase.Findings The study finds that although internal audit does provide independent CSR assurance, this assurance is primarily intended for internal stakeholders to assist in improving the quality of CSR reporting practices. With one notable exception across the study period, the results suggest that any benefits accruing to external stakeholders were not deliberate, but merely incidental. The paper concludes by arguing that although internal audit will continue to incorporate material CSR issues into its mandatory risk-based auditing approach, the results will not necessarily be publicly available. The extent of reliance that external stakeholders can place on company CSR disclosures are therefore not directly influenced by internal audit’s involvement in CSR-related matters. However, by adopting a proactive CSR role, internal audit can assist reporting companies improve their CSR reporting practices.Originality/value Although CSR assurance has been extensively researched, this is one of the first studies to specifically consider the CSR assurance role of the internal audit activity. Despite its South African orientation, given the emerging nature of the CSR assurance phenomenon, the study findings have global implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- Despite its voluntary nature, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange [JSE] requires all listed companies to apply the King III principles, including providing independent CSR assurance. King III has accordingly made independent CSR assurance a de facto mandatory requirement, albeit on an 'apply or explain' basis. This paper accordingly examines the impact mandatory corporate social responsibility [CSR] assurance practices in South Africa, within a King III context. Design/methodology/approach -- To understand the impact of King III on South African CSR assurance practices, a longitudinal study covering reporting periods both before and after King III implementation. The first stage reviewed the annual reports of the 200 largest JSE-listed companies to establish the frequency of CSR assurance provision. The second stage involved performing a content analysis on the CSR assurance reports. Findings -- King III is driving the institutionalisation of CSR assurance practices in South Africa, as evidenced by the growth in CSR assurance since the implementation of King III. The study also found that the audit profession's dominance was being eroded by specialist CSR assurors providing higher levels of assurance, despite concerns about the rigour of their assurance methodologies. Voluntary CSR assurance practices have resulted in the inconsistent application of CSR assurance practices, impairing the ability of stakeholders to understand the nature and scope of CSR assurance engagements. It is argued that this deficiency may be overcome through the imposition of a mandatory CSR assurance regime. Originality/value -- The pervasive impact of the King Code of Governance on South African organisations makes it appropriate to examine its impact on South African CSR assurance practices. As such, this paper represents one of the first studies to specifically consider the impact of a mandatory regulatory requirement for independent CSR assurance and suggests a future direction for global CSR assurance practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]