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This research assesses the effect of capital structure on the sustainability of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Bamenda, Cameroon. We use panel data obtained from audited annual financial statements of fifteen (15) MFIs, comprising both member- and shareholder-owned MFIs in Bamenda, Cameroon from 2014 to 2020, and an ex-post facto causal research design. Debt, equity, grants, and retained earnings are used to capture capital structure, while Operational Self-Sufficiency is used as a proxy for sustainability. The Generalised Least Squares and the quantile-on-quantile techniques are used for data analysis. Our findings indicate a statistically significant negative relationship between debt, grants and financial sustainability of MFIs, while a statistically significant positive relationship is found between retained earnings and financial sustainability of MFIs. A positive, though statistically insignificant relationship is found between equity or share capital and MFI financial sustainability. The results are robust upon consideration of different quantiles. Based on the findings, MFIs in Cameroon should rely more on retained earnings and equity to be more financially sustainable. The findings additionally provide evidence relating to the shortcoming of grants in the financing of development initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SYNOPSIS: Audit market concentration remains a concern due to its potential impact on audit quality. We examine whether audit market concentration influences properties of analysts' forecasts. We find that analyst forecasts are more accurate and less dispersed when audit markets are more concentrated. Consistent with regulators' concerns, we find evidence of decreased auditor independence in concentrated markets but also increased auditor effort and a higher likelihood of a Big N auditor. This results in an overall net positive effect between audit market concentration, audit quality, and ultimately, analysts' forecasts. These results are concentrated in settings where analysts rely more on audited financial statements. Our findings support regulators' concerns regarding concentration in the U.S. audit market but also help to explain why audit market concentration leads to improved audit quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the relationship between capital structure and firm value for companies listed on the Vietnamese stock market. The study utilizes data from audited financial statements of 769 companies spanning from 2012 to 2022, amounting to 8459 observations. Employing various estimation methods, such as ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed effects model (FEM), random effects model (REM), and generalized least squares (GLS), the impact of capital structure on key financial indicators, namely, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and Tobin's Q, is assessed. The findings indicate that the debt ratio exhibits a positive influence on ROA, ROE, and Tobin's Q, with Tobin's Q displaying the most pronounced impact (0.450) and ROA showing the weakest impact (0.011). However, the long-term debt ratio does not significantly affect firm value. Interestingly, both short-term and long-term debt ratios have negative effects on ROA, ROE, and Tobin's Q, with the most substantial impact on Tobin's Q reduction (0.562). Based on these research outcomes, the authors offer valuable recommendations to companies, investors, business leaders, and policymakers to make informed decisions in selecting an optimal and sensible capital structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper responds to a call by the Australian Accounting Standards Board to investigate how Australian firms responded to a perceived loss of information pursuant to AASB 138 (IAS38) which mandated the de‐recognition of previously recognised internally generated identifiable intangibles, from its effective date of 1 January 2005. We find that the sample firms did not choose to provide alternative or substitute disclosure elsewhere in their annual report or financial statements anytime during our sample period (2005–2010). Prima facie, this is surprising given prior evidence from the value relevance literature that disclosures relevant to the value of internally generated intangibles are correlated with firm value and presumably informative for investors. However, we caution against the drawing of simple conclusions that this finding implies alternative disclosure may not be valuable. Rather, it is important to understand the forces or frictions that contribute to this result. Schipper (The Accounting Review, 82, 2007, 301) and Skinner (Accounting and Business Research, 38, 2008, 191) offer valuable insights into the potential issues such as the costs of alternative disclosure including proprietary costs of disclosing competitive information and, the lower credibility of financial disclosures outside of audited financial statements. These are important considerations in the on‐going standard‐setting debate on recognition versus disclosure of value relevant information on intangible assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature examining the impact of nonprofit financing and operational characteristics on donations is replete with studies that yield mixed and/or contradictory results. Contributing to this dearth of clarity are the limitations of relying on IRS Form 990 information as the primary data for this scholarship. Unlike audited financial statements or other types of financial reporting, Form 990 data do not discriminate between restricted and unrestricted donations. We address these limitations by exploring an underutilized database in the nonprofit literature that focuses on institutions of higher education to parse restricted and unrestricted donations. Results indicate that several financing and operational variables have disparate impacts on restricted and unrestricted donations, both absolutely and in relation to one another. Specifically, the proportion of revenue from government, leverage, age, and whether the university has a hospital or is a seminary show different relationships with total donations than they do with restricted and unrestricted donations separately. We also find that fundraising, program services revenue, prior year's donations, leverage, and whether the university has a hospital or is a seminary impacts the ratio of restricted to unrestricted donations. Literature that only looks at these factors on total donations is failing to capture whether nonprofit managers pursue different donative revenue streams and the extent to which donors reward them. This research note offers an initial examination of the nuance in the different types of donative returns in one dataset, and serves as a call to other scholars to look beyond Form 990 data for this scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research is to obtain empirical evidence about the effect of financial reporting quality on firm value. Financial reporting quality is measured using two proxies, accrual quality through Ball-Shivakumar Model (AQ) and earnings management through Modified Jones Model (EM). Firm value is measured using share price, Price to Book Value, Tobin’s Q, and Market Value-Added. Control variables used are leverage (Debt to Equity Ratio), profitability (Return on Asset), and firm size (ln total assets). This study focuses on manufacturing businesses that were listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during the years 2018 and 2021. The sample was chosen through a purposive sampling technique, specifically targeting companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange that operate in the manufacturing sector and provide audited financial statements. Analyzed the secondary data utilizing descriptive statistics, normality test, classical assumption tests, and hypothesis testing. The findings of this investigation are (1) AQ has no effect on share price, PBV, Tobin’s Q and MVA (2) EM has positive and significant effect on all proxies of firm value, except MVA. The quality of financial reporting, the level of leverage, the size of the firm, and its profitability all have a simultaneous and considerable impact on the value of the firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study used the Beneish M Score to discover probable financial statement manipulation by a selected Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed bank. Research methodology: The Beneish M Score eight variable statistical model was applied to secondary data of the selected bank from 2011 to 2018. The model utilizes ratios in distinguishing between manipulators and non-manipulators, with a yardstick measure of -2.22. Results greater than -2.22, classify the organization as a financial statements manipulator with less than -2.22 classify it as a non-manipulator. Results: The M score model detected manipulation for the years 2011 (-0.74), 2013 (-1.84), and 2015 (-2.19), which are greater than the benchmark of -2.22. The years 2012 (-3.17), 2014 (-2.46), 2016 (-3.07), 2017 (-2.80) and 2018 (-2.42) reveal the bank as a non-manipulator as these values are less than -2.22. Limitations: The Beneish M score statistical model was modeled for manufacturing companies. The study sought to test the M Score's applicability in the banking sector and it was restricted to the selected bank for the years 2011 to 2018. Contribution: The Beneish M score is a valuable model for users of issued annual financial statements to guard against earnings manipulation. Stakeholders rely on audited financial statements, believed to be free from manipulation, yet companies fold up with unqualified audit opinions contained in published financial statements. The study validates the Beneish M score statistical model for detecting manipulation in published annual financial statements in Zimbabwe, where there is limited research on earnings manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the new interest limitation rules proposed by the federal government, which will replace existing thin capitalization tests. The rules will affect taxpayers' capital structure and may have consequences for refinancing. The changes include the introduction of fixed ratio and group ratio tests, amendments to transfer pricing provisions, and narrowing the scope of entities subject to safe harbor and worldwide gearing tests.

This article explores the relationship between economic freedom and the fiscal conditions of cities in Tennessee. The study finds a positive correlation between municipal fiscal health and aspects of an economic freedom index. The study focuses solely on cities within Tennessee to minimize multistate government influences on economic freedom. The research utilizes audited financial statements and the change in net position as a fiscal health metric. The study concludes that policies favoring free enterprise and a lower cost of government are associated with more favorable fiscal conditions in Tennessee cities. [Extracted from the article]

The occurrence of audit delay is related to the characteristics of the audit committee which is reflected in various indicators. This study aims to analyze the effect of the characteristics of the audit committee consisting of the Audit Committee Chair with accounting expertise, the Audit Committee with accounting expertise, the Audit Committee with non-accounting expertise, the Independence of the Audit Committee, the Size of the Audit Committee, and the Audit Committee Meetings on late reporting of reports. audited financial statements for companies listed on the IDX for 2017-2021. The sampling technique used purposive sampling with a total of 1,211 data processed from 243 companies. Data processing was performed using panel data regression assisted by the e-views application version 10. The results showed that the five independent variables and three control variables used had no significant effect on audit delay, while the audit committee meeting variable had a significant positive effect on audit delay. The implication of this finding is that it is necessary to organize more effective and efficient audit committee meetings so as not to hinder the audit report process which can extend the audit delay that occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the impact of Small Blockholders' (SBH – with 5% to 10% of voting rights) heterogeneity and their access to private information on the demand for audit services. By promoting enhanced audit services, we expect SBH to have a moderating effect on the relation between Large Blockholders (LBH – more than 10% of voting rights) and audit fees in a context of low shareholder protection. Drawn on Swiss public firm data over the 2002–2019 period, our results show that the presence of SBH flattens the concave relation between ownership concentration and audit fees found in prior studies. This moderating effect is mainly driven by the uninformed SBH, who given their lower – compared with informed SBH – access to private channels of information, are more likely to rely on audited public financial statements. Our findings contribute to the literature on the role of SBH in the company's corporate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investment projects in the construction industry usually require a large amount of capital. Most businesses need more capital to implement the investment project; therefore, they use borrowed capital and mobilise capital from investors. Understanding the determinants of excessively low or high leverage among construction companies provides essential information in identifying these companies' financial strategies. This research observes the sample of 53 listed construction entities on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) in Vietnam, with the 2018-2022 period, to find out what factors impact financial leverage. Statistical data is collected and aggregated from enterprises' audited consolidated financial statements. The author uses financial leverage as a dependent variable, while independent variables include asset tangibility, growth opportunities, profitability, liquidity, firm size and firm age. In addition, GDP and inflation rate are considered as control variables. The author uses OLS, FEM, REM and GLS models, modified Wald test and Wooldridge test to determine the relationship between independent and dependent variables. The research results show that asset tangibility, profitability, liquidity and firm size are statistically significant in explaining the firm's financial leverage change. In contrast, other variables such as growth opportunities, firm age, GDP and inflation were not correlated with the dependence variables. In particular, asset tangibility is the most significant determinant for financial leverage, which means those charged with governance of construction firms should consider carefully before deciding to acquire fixed assets. Based on research findings, the author suggests recommendations for managing financial leverage in construction companies in Vietnam. However, the results of this study will also be helpful for construction companies in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the investigation of accounting factors through audited financial statements in businesses by analyzing the qualified staff and investment in technology for sustainable profit. Therefore, the main goal is to analyze whether qualified staff and investment in technology affect the sustainability of profit in businesses through the investigation of accounting factors in the audited financial statements toward a circular economy, more specifically in these financial items: total assets (TASS), and intangible assets (IASS), total liabilities (TLIA), total income (TREV), and net financial income (NFI), based on questions about which financial items businesses should take care of, as well as businesses that do not invest in technologies and skilled staff: does this hinder profit sustainability? Therefore, for this study, data are collected from the financial statements (balance sheet and income statement) of (N = 800) businesses according to their activity (manufacturing businesses = 256, service businesses = 192, and distribution businesses = 353) during the period (2020–2022). The results show that each of the variables and factors had a significant impact on sustainable profit through the circular economy in (N = 800) businesses. However, to have a sustainable profit in business, it is strongly recommended to pay attention to these findings: businesses should (a) be careful with total liabilities, (b) increase the performance of total assets, (c) increase the performance of net financial income, (d) increase the performance of total business income, and (e) increase and develop the skills of workers, as well as improve technology (equipment, machinery, etc.). With implications and limitations, it was difficult to access some of the financial statements; there are only a limited number of variables, so the same models can be analyzed for other businesses, variables, and countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how isomorphic mechanisms that are either external or internal pressures of policy diffusion relate to unrequired ethics policy adoption by city governments. The analysis using the secondary data from the 2017 Florida League of Cities’ CityStats Survey and audited city financial statements gathered from the state reveals that the likelihood of ethics policy adoption is greater among the cities that pay their council members higher salaries, have a neighbor city with an ethics policy in the same county, are located in a home rule county, and have a council-city manager form of government. The findings suggest that institutional pressures play an important role in municipal ethics policy adoption, with the memetic external peer pressures most strongly associated with Florida cities’ ethics policy adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humanity faces unique challenges due to climate change. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is recognized as the highest regulatory body in the United States with the authority to develop, adopt and promulgate legal rules relevant to the Institution’s core mission of protecting the broad-based interests of investors, promoting market efficiency and competition, and fostering capital formation. On 21 March 2022, the Commission (SEC) proposed comprehensive and far-reaching guidelines for disclosure requirements for public companies regarding climate change and climate-related risks, both actual and potential. Based on many years of volunteer work by dedicated Commissioners, the SEC’s Proposal affects both U.S. public companies and foreign private issuers. The Proposal, which is over 500 pages long, would require if adopted, covered public companies to disclose information about their greenhouse gas emissions and many other related issues. The purpose of this article is to review, analyze and discuss the challenges and strong legal opposition to the SEC’s Proposal for mandatory corporate disclosure of climate-related risk information. The Proposal has generated discussion, heated debate, and disagreement, and opponents have raised valid arguments and considerations. Long before the Proposal was released, the debate over the SEC’s authority (power, competence, and jurisdiction) was ignited, particularly from a legal perspective. This, in turn, cast a cloud over the newly proposed rules on climate-related issues. Moreover, in a letter to the SEC, professors, led by Lawrence A. Cunningham of George Washington University, expressed concern about the release and content of the Proposal, stating, “the passions of this topic [issue] have led the SEC to overzealous rulemaking that exceeds its authority”. The methods employed by the author include a thorough examination of relevant literary sources, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, descriptive approach, observation, comparison, analogy, and others. The SEC’s Proposal to establish rules for the disclosure of climate change risks has been the subject of extensive public comment, questioning, and deliberation. The SEC’s asserted authority to regulate the emerging new area of climate change – a subject that some critics believe may be outside the scope of the SEC’s mission and mandate – without additional Congressional authorization, has been the focus of considerable interest and exploration, criticism, analysis, and scrutiny. The SEC should consider and respond to any substantive arguments or information provided by public commenters in accordance with the general administrative law rules and procedures. The Agency may modify the provisions of the Proposal, under adoption, in response to comments, but it may not, without additional notice and discussion, make changes to the Proposal that are so significant that the public would not have had a reasonable opportunity to comment on the final rules. Significant legal challenges and litigation were expected to follow if the Proposal was adopted in its original, initial form, or any other form without substantial revision. Any legal challenge (objection) could take years to resolve in the federal courts. Even then, the conflict could persist and continue as long as defendants in SEC enforcement actions raise “as applied” arguments against the new rules. The SEC has extended the comment period to 17 June 2022 in light of “significant interest”, particularly from the communities of investors, corporate officials, and issuers. However, due to a technical glitch, the SEC reopened the comment period in October 2022. In line with longstanding tradition and practice, the SEC was expected to analyze the comments before releasing the final guidelines for adoption. Despite the ongoing dynamic debate, in November 2022, the Commission published a new, updated Proposal to improve and standardize the rules on climate-related disclosures to investors. The Proposal of November 2022, if adopted, would, for the first time, require public companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and, in some cases, to share this information with the reporting companies’ suppliers and customers. Some public companies would be required to disclose additional information in their SEC filings about their long-term climate change strategies and ongoing initiatives to manage likely climate-related risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the determinants of auditor industry specialization, the impact of specialization on fees and audit quality, and a regulator's optimal choice of audit standards in the presence of specialization. In industries with correlated firm values, a specialist auditor enjoys synergies from information spillovers between clients. These spillovers, however, only induce a specialist to decrease audit effort when the cost of effort and the prior precision of the firms' values are low. We derive empirical predictions about the determinants of specialization, and show that specialization benefits firms through lower expected fees and higher audit reporting quality, but only enhances the usefulness of reports to investors when the specialist exerts high audit effort. In a regulated setting, a stricter audit standard affects fees through its impact on specialization. We provide conditions under which standards that maximize firm value will be more strict and less strict when a regulator recognizes synergies. JEL Classifications: C72; D80; D83; L22; M42; M48. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Furthermore, to franchise attorneys' detriment, as is the case with so many issues in the franchise industry, there is not one dispositive factor in a court's finding of a franchise relationship; oftentimes, it is the existence of several factors that result in the accidental or inadvertent franchise relationship. L. TODAY 45 (Jan./Feb. 2004); Daniel J. Oates, Shannon L. McCarthy & Douglas C. Berry, Substantial Association with a Trademark: A Trap for the Unwary, 32 FRANCHISE L.J. 130 (2013); James R. Sims III & Mary Beth Trice, The Inadvertent Franchise and How to Safeguard Against It, 18 FRANCHISE L.J. 54 (1998); Rochelle Spandorf, Structuring Licenses to Avoid the Inadvertent Franchise, 2:4 Landslide 35 (Mar./Apr. 2010). See, e.g., Megan B. Center, Accidental Franchises: It Takes a Community (of Interest), 39 FRANCHISE L.J. 546 (2020); Paul R. Fransway, Traversing the Minefield: Recent Developments Relating to Accidental Franchises, 37 FRANCHISE L.J. 217 (2013); Charles S. Modell, The Accidental Franchise, When a Business Relationship Becomes a Trap, 13 Bus. Many commentators have written and spoken about accidental franchises and the definitional element of a "franchise" known as the "marketing plan or system", how it has been interpreted, and what happens when an unsuspecting "franchisor" gets it wrong.[1] Yet, the ever-changing landscape of evolving business arrangements requires continued attentiveness to, and understanding of, the law as it develops and may apply to novel business practices. [Extracted from the article]

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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of capital adequacy and asset quality on banking sector performance in Nigeria using annual panel data in the period 2010 to 2019. The study employs the system generalized method of moments (SGMM) in analysing data obtained from audited financial statements of twelve banks listed on the floor of the Nigeria stock exchange for the period 2010 to 2019. The twelve banks used control about 95% share of the market. The outcome of the study revealed that capital adequacy and asset quality both affect bank performance positively in Nigeria. Thus, suggesting that capital adequacy and asset quality enhance and stimulate banking sector performance in the country. Also, the findings of the study indicate that adequate capital and sound asset quality translate to improved earnings and performance of the banks. Based on the study outcome, the study acclaims the need for continuous improvement of the asset quality of the bank by management to ensure a decline in the non-performing loan. More so, sound credit culture, policies, and corporate governance are needed to reduce the incidence of non-performing loans that can threaten the survival of the banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis examines the influence of information transparency and disclosure on the value of companies listed on the Vietnamese stock market. Data employed in this study were primarily gathered from the audited financial statements, management reports and other related documents of 430 publicly traded firms listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) and Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) for the time period from 2014 through 2016. Using the GMM (Generalized Method of Moments) approach, the empirical findings indicate that the level of transparency and disclosure of the companies has a significant positive effect on firm value as measured by Tobin's Q. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]