Search results

The study investigates the co-movements amongst real estate investments trust (REITs). This study examines the co-movements between the world and individual countries' REITs and the co-movements amongst country-pair REITs. This study explores the responsiveness of the REITs markets' co-movements to the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC), the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the Russian–Ukraine conflict.

The study employs a wavelet coherency technique and relies on data from six REITs markets over the 1995–2022 period.

The evidence shows a generally high level of coherency between the global and the country's REITs. The findings further indicate higher co-movements between some country pairs and a lower co-movement for others. The results suggest that the REITs markets increased in co-movements around the 2008 GFC, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian–Ukraine conflict. These increased co-movements mostly lasted for a short period suggesting REITs markets contagion around these global events. The results generally suggest interdependence between the global and the country's REITs. Additionally, interdependence is observed for some of the country-pair REITs.

The evidence indicates that REITs markets respond to global events. Thus, the increasing co-movement amongst REITs observed in this study may expose domestic REITs to global crisis. However, this study provides opportunities for minimising the cost of capital for real estate projects. Also, REITs provide limited diversification gains around crisis times. Therefore, countries need to open the REITs markets to global investors whilst pursuing policies to ensure the resilience of the REITs markets to global events. Investors should also take note of the declining geographic diversification gains from some country-pair REITs portfolios.

The authors examine the association between two important audit partner characteristics and the readability of key audit matters (KAMs) disclosed in the audit reports. Specifically, the authors examine how the readability of KAMs is associated with audit partner tenure and workload.

The authors conduct the study in the audit context of Norway and applied the Flesch reading ease scale to measure the readability levels of reported KAMs in the audit reports of companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Panel data estimation techniques are applied in estimating how partner tenure and workload are associated with the readability of KAMs. In addition, several robustness tests including different measures of KAMs readability and subsample analyses are performed.

The authors find that audit partner tenure and workload have significant associations with the level of KAMs readability. Specifically, the results show that the reported KAMs become more readable as the audit partner tenure increases but are less readable for partners with more workload. These results appear stronger in subsamples of KAMs typically noted to be more complex and associated with higher risks.

As KAMs represent the most significant issues in financial statements audit, these results provide important insights to stakeholders on the potential impact of audit partner tenure and workload on KAMs readability. Less readable KAMs could derail stakeholders' desire to bridge the information gap between auditors and users of the audit report. The uniqueness of this study lies in its focus on audit partner characteristics as opposed to the audit firm.

Excessive audit partner workload impairs KAMs readability.

As KAMs represent the most significant issues in financial statements audit, these results provide important insights to stakeholders on the potential impact of audit partner tenure and workload on KAMs readability. Less readable KAMs could derail stakeholders' desire to bridge the information gap between auditors and users of the audit report. The uniqueness of this study lies in its focus on audit partner characteristics as opposed to the audit firm.

The purpose of this study is to map the intellectual structure of sustainable finance and accounting (SFA) literature by identifying the influential aspects, main research streams and future research directions in SFA.

The results are obtained using bibliometric citation analysis and content analysis to conduct a bibliometric review of the intersection of sustainable finance and sustainable accounting using a sample of 795 articles published between 1991 and November 2023.

The most influential factors in the SFA literature are identified, highlighting three primary areas of research: corporate social responsibility and environmental disclosure; financial and economic performance; and regulations and standards.

SFA has experienced rapid development in recent years. The results identify the current research domain, guide potential future research directions, serve as a reference for SFA and provide inspiration to policymakers.

SFA typically encompasses sustainable corporate business practices and investments. This study contributes to broader social impacts by promoting improved corporate practices and sustainability.

This study expands on previous research on SFA. The authors identify significant aspects of the SFA literature, such as the most studied nations, leading journals, authors and trending publications. In addition, the authors provide an overview of the three major streams of the SFA literature and propose various potential future research directions, inspiring both academic research and policymaking.