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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the undergraduate students' performance in the Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya and the factors influencing the performance of the undergraduate students. Design/methodology/approach: The performance of the undergraduate students in this study is measured by their cumulative grade point average (CGPA) in the final semester. In this study, the students' demographic profile, entry qualifications and the subjects taken by the students in pre-university level are used as the predictor variable for the students' performance in the degree programme. Findings: The result of the study shows that the predictor variables do explain the variance in the students' final CGPA. In addition, it was found that knowledge prior to entering the university such as economics, mathematics and accounting is crucial in assisting the students in undertaking the courses in both business and accounting programme. The study also found that female students perform better than male students; whilst Chinese students perform better than Malay and Indian students. Research limitations/implications: The implications of this study for the academics in universities and schools are also discussed in the paper. This paper, however, does not look into variables other than students' past performance prior to entering the university that may have an influence over the students' performance in the university. Hence, this aspect may be examined in future researches. Originality/value: This paper will be useful to the academic communities, the public and other interested parties who are interested in improving students' performance during their periods of study in the universities. (Contains 1 figure, 5 tables, and 6 notes.)

The performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has been subjected to a wide range of debate around the globe. In Malaysia, SOEs or government-linked companies (GLCs) play a significant role in shaping the economy. This study investigates whether GLCs with large debts suffer from poor financial performance as proposed by Public Choice Theory, and whether corporate governance mechanisms and board diversity as suggested by Agency Theory and Human Capital Theory can moderate the impact of debt on the GLCs’ financial performance. Utilizing longitudinal data from 20 largest GLCs listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2005 to 2019, our results show that the negative relationship between leverage and financial performance is not statistically significant, hence Public Choice Theory is not supported. CEO duality is found to significantly exacerbate the negative relationship between leverage and financial performance, while a higher proportion of independent directors attenuate, thus supporting Agency Theory. We also found that ethnic diversity weakens the negative relationship between leverage and financial performance, supporting the presumption in Human Capital Theory that diversity in personalities strengthen organizational performance. This study offers theoretical and policy implications surrounding corporate governance practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research aims: This study examines the effect of board characteristics on earnings management and the moderating effect of gender diversity over this nexus by investigating 393 Bursa Malaysia listed companies from 2014 to 2018. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study applies the performance-adjusted Jones model (Dechow et al., 1996) and the performance-matched Jones model (Kothari et al., 2005) to measure accrual-based earnings management. Research findings: Based on the results, the agency theory fails to illustrate that board characteristics (i.e., defined by the attributes of board independence, board size, and non-CEO duality) are effective in reducing earnings management. On the other hand, the results show that gender diversity in independent directorship and board membership apparently reduces the level of earnings management. However, this research finds no significant moderating effect of gender diversity on the relationship between CEO duality and earnings management. Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study adds to the literature by demonstrating that the application of agency theory does not have a significant impact on reducing earnings management in the Malaysian context. Applying gender socialisation theory, the findings of this study show successful moderation of gender diversity in terms of reducing the level of earnings management. Practitioner/Policy implication: The results on gender diversity are likely of interest to policymakers to come up with regulations related to ensuring an increasing presence of female directors in the boardrooms to increase the board gender diversity. Research limitation: This study examines only three board characteristics under corporate governance, and measures only accrual-based earnings management. Moreover, the sample is restricted to only non-financial listed companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has two main objectives. Firstly, it reviews relevant literature on the experiences of different levels of governments worldwide in adopting public sector accrual accounting (PSAA). Secondly, it critically analyses these studies and seeks to identify gaps in the extant literature to provide suggestions for future research. We reviewed and analysed 136 peer‐reviewed journal articles on PSAA over a 23‐year period spanning different levels of government worldwide. Our review and analysis suggest that the adoption of PSAA by different levels of government worldwide has been a long and complex process requiring possibly substantial implementation costs that are undisclosed to the public. Owing to the absence of high‐quality research providing empirical evidence of the benefits of PSAA, we conclude that thus far, the benefits of PSAA to government and citizens have yet to be substantiated. A limitation of this paper is that it is confined to the keywords used in the literature search. Nonetheless, the approach of aggregating and analysing these articles collectively allows this paper to not only provide useful insights into understanding the determinants and outcomes of PSAA but also to offer meaningful directions for future research with regards to multi‐level PSAA. This review paper assesses the experiences of government entities worldwide in adopting public sector accrual accounting, and identifies directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial statement literacy is vital in helping individuals make good longterm stock investment decisions and is especially relevant in China where individual investors account for 85 per cent of stock market activity. To delve more into this issue, we examine relevant literature on individual investor behaviour, financial literacy and investment analysis respectively. We note an overall lack of financial literacy studies in China. Furthermore, financial statement literacy has received limited attention in all three streams of literature. This is possibly due to the lack of a systematic model for measuring financial statement literacy. Indeed, current studies tend to rely on secondary data and financial statement literacy is measured in a limited manner. We therefore propose a model in which financial statement literacy is evaluated through three dimensions, namely knowledge, attitudes and behaviour. The model can be extended to examine the influence of financial statement literacy on stock investment decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper was conducted to examine whether there was a negative relationship between independent directors' tenure and firm value which indicated the existence of expropriation due to long tenure of independent directors and whether controlling shareholders' ownership moderated this relationship among Malaysian firms. The results revealed that there was a negative relationship between independent directors' tenure and firm value. It also showed there was a significant positive moderating effect of controlling shareholders' ownership on the relationship among Malaysian family firms in exclusive industries. However, there was inconclusive evidence that this negative relationship and positive moderating effect were stronger amongst the family firms compared with non-family firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the relationship between related party transactions (RPTs) and firm value and how this relationship is moderated by ownership concentration using a sample of 379 listed family and 151 non-family firms for the period 2007 to 2009. Ordinary Least Square Pooled Model as well as Fixed Effects Model panel data regressions are used in the data analysis. For family firms, we find that RPTs reduce firm value (proxied by Tobin's Q and market-to-book value). Further, controlling shareholders' ownership has a significant positive moderating effect on this relationship. However, for non-family firms, there is no significant evidence of firm value reduction and positive moderating effect respectively. We conclude that expropriation via RPTs is stronger in family firms compared to non-family firms. Additionally, an increase in controlling shareholders' ownership helps mitigate this expropriation and this mitigating effect is stronger in family firms compared to non-family firms. The implications for the capital market regulator are discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Previous researches show that buy (growth) companies conduct income increasing earnings management in order to meet forecasts and generate positive forecast Errors (FEs). This behavior however, is not inherent in sell (non-growth) companies. Using the aforementioned background, this research hypothesizes that since sell companies are pressured to avoid income increasing earnings management, they are capable, and in fact more inclined, to pursue income decreasing Forecast Management (FM) with the purpose of generating positive FEs. Using a sample of 6553 firm-years of companies that are listed in the NYSE between the years 2005–2010, the study determines that sell companies conduct income decreasing FM to generate positive FEs. However, the frequency of positive FEs of sell companies does not exceed that of buy companies. Using the efficiency perspective, the study suggests that even though buy and sell companies have immense motivation in avoiding negative FEs, they exploit different but efficient strategies, respectively, in order to meet forecasts. Furthermore, the findings illuminated the complexities behind informative and opportunistic forecasts that falls under the efficiency versus opportunistic theories in literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]