Do free-floated shares and board characteristics influence corporate risk disclosure? An empirical analysis on conventional banks in a developing country

PurposeThis study aims to explore the status and drivers (including free-floated shares, board size, rule duality and board independence) of corporate risk disclosure (CRD) for the conventional listed banks in the Egyptian stock market from 2010 to 2021, which include the country's major political upheavals and the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approachThis study based on a sample of 117 annual reports of sampled banks from 2010 to 2021. RD index of Al-Maghzom (2016) was developed and adopted to quantify CRD using an unweighted scoring system. The multiple linear regression model was used to validate the hypotheses. FindingsThe analysis shows that the COVID-19 pandemic increased insignificantly disclosure of all risks except for segment risks. In addition, findings reveal that all sampled banks adhere highly to the requirements of mandatory RD, with a low level of adherence to voluntary RD. Moreover, the analysis concluded that the board size and free-floating shares positively affect the disclosure of financial, operational, general information. Research limitations/implicationsThe study's limitations include the content analysis methodology, reliance on annual reports, emphasis on financial and non-financial risks, focus on listed conventional banks in Egypt. Practical implicationsCurrent study's findings are more likely to be useful for many parties. It informs investors about the characteristics of the boards' directors of Egyptian listed banks that disclosed risk information. Banks should disclose more comprehensive risk information. For academics, the current study's limitations can be considered in their future research. Originality/valueThis work fills a new research area in which there is relatively little research in emerging financial markets that adds new evidence to the relationship between RD and both free-floating shares and board characteristics, particularly in Egypt.

Influence of Board Characteristics and Ownership Concentration on Corporate Sustainability Growth among Listed Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria

The influence of corporate governance on the manufacturing firms' sustainable growth during the financial crisis period cannot be overemphasized. Hence, this study was carried out find out the kind of influence the corporate governance mechanisms have on the corporate sustainable growth in Nigeria. The population of the study consists of listed manufacturing companies, and a sample size of 30 manufacturing firms was selected using a purposive sampling technique based on convenience, covering a time period of five financial years (2011 to 2020). The regression method was used to analyze the data collected through secondary sources. The result showed that board size, board composition, ownership concentration, board independence, and firm size had a positive relationship with corporate sustainable growth while leverage had a negative relationship with corporate sustainable growth. Thus, the study showed that corporate governance exercises a positive influence on corporate sustainable growth and the study recommended that listed manufacturing firms put in place a larger board structure that encompasses people of different backgrounds, skills, and experience in order to help the companies move forward during difficult times;and a good board structure that makes provision for the presence of independent directors needs to be maintained, to checkmate the management so that all the decisions taken by the management will be the ones to achieve the company's ultimate goal

BOARD STRUCTURE AND EARNING MANAGEMENT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE PRE-PANDEMIC AND DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC PERIODS

The agent is granted decision-making authority over the company’s operations to achieve the principal’s objectives (Jensen & Meckling, 1976). The economic crisis during the pandemic compelled managers to exert additional effort, such as earnings management. They aimed to achieve the desired profit and serve the principal’s best interests. Board structure elements such as board size, independence, women membership, and chief executive officer (CEO) duality correlate with board governance. The elements improve the quality of financial reports and reduce earnings management practices. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the board structure’s influence on the earnings management of Indonesian firms before and during the pandemic. Covering a sample of 539 firms recorded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in Indonesia from 2019Q1 to 2020Q4, panel data regression is utilized to test the hypothesis. This study finds that only board size significantly impacted earnings management. The board size is less effective in overcoming earnings management in the normal period. However, the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the board of directors to increase management monitoring. This means more board directors can reduce earning management effectively during the pandemic. It highlighted the significance of many board directors in reducing earnings management during the pandemic. © 2022 The Authors.

Corporate governance and stock performance: The case of COVID-19 crisis

This paper analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on firm-level stock behaviors (including stock price volatility, trading volume and stock returns). Using US data, this paper examines whether confirmed cases (and deaths) of COVID-19 or COVID-19-associated online searches affect stock behaviors. The results show that our five COVID-19 proxies are all positively associated with stock price volatility and trading volume and negatively associ-ated with stock returns. This paper further investigates the mitigating effect of corporate governance (viz., board and ownership structures) in this COVID-19 crisis. Overall, the results suggest that good corporate governance can mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on stock price volatility and trading volume but may not help to enhance stock returns. This paper also considers key policies used to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and finds that government intervention plays an important role in stabilizing stock markets in this COVID-19 crisis. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Corporate Governance and Corporate Philanthropy during COVID-19: Mediating role of Knowledge Management

This study examines the role of corporate governance and corporate philanthropy during COVID-19, with the mediating role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) knowledge management among Chinese listed firms. The study employed secondary data obtained from the Chinese Stock Market & Accounting Research (CSMAR) database on board size (BS) and board composition (BC) as corporate governance proxies. The findings show that BS and BC have a positive but insignificant relationship with corporate philanthropy, while CSR knowledge fully mediates the relationship between corporate governance and corporate philanthropy. Additionally, we find that board size and board composition have a positive relationship with CSR knowledge. This study has practical implications for firms engaged in the process view of CSR knowledge, which actively contributes to COVID-19 philanthropy. The process view of CSR receives more information from outside stakeholders and implements their resources on the most recent CSR issue. This response creates value for the firm as it targets the most recent issue in society. © 2021 IEEE.

Corporate governance and financial reporting quality during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper analyzes whether COVID-19 affects the financial reporting quality of companies and whether corporate governance has a mitigating effect. Using data from UK listed companies, we show that the quality of companies' financial reporting has been lower during the pandemic. Specifically, companies have engaged in more earnings management through real activities during the pandemic. We also find that a larger board helps to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on financial reporting quality, although we find no mitigating effect for board independence and CEO duality. This paper provides additional evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on financial reporting quality using a strong country-level governance setting. It is also the first study to analyze the mitigating effect of corporate governance on financial reporting quality during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this study provide useful suggestions to the practice.