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This paper aims to analyze the direct and indirect effects of investor protection on forced CEO turnover.

The authors investigate 5,175 firm-year observations from 16 European countries over 2012–2018, collect data on four national investor protection indicators, identify 196 forced CEO turnovers and use multiple logistic regression models.

The results show that a reduction in the degree of investor protection significantly increases the probability of a forced change of the company’s CEO. Furthermore, when the degree of investor protection increases, directors are attributed a lower degree of responsibility in the event of a decline in earnings performance. Therefore, the relation between a decrease in profitability and a forced change of CEO is reduced.

The research is focused on countries belonging to the European Economic Area and most of the investor protection indicators are derived from surveys. Concerning policy implications, the findings suggest that regulators should focus on the effective enforcement of investor protection mechanisms.

The results confirm that characteristics at the country level have an impact on corporate decisions, highlighting the importance of increasing the degree of investor protection as a means of mitigating agency conflicts and improving stewardship.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study explores a relatively underinvestigated topic as it uses investor protection indicators to jointly evaluate both direct and indirect effects on forced changes of CEO through cross-national research.

This study reviews and discusses the accounting literature that analyzes the role of auditors and enforcers in the context of fraud.

This literature review includes both qualitative and quantitative studies, based on the idea that the findings from different research paradigms can shed light on the complex interactions between different financial reporting controls. The authors use a mixed-methods research synthesis and select 64 accounting journal articles to analyze the main proxies for fraud, the stages of the fraud process under investigation and the roles played by auditors and enforcers.

The study highlights heterogeneity with respect to the terms and concepts used to capture the fraud phenomenon, a fragmentation in terms of the measures used in quantitative studies and a low level of detail in the fraud analysis. The review also shows a limited number of case studies and a lack of focus on the interaction and interplay between enforcers and auditors.

This study outlines directions for future accounting research on fraud.

The analysis underscores the need for the academic community, policymakers and practitioners to work together to prevent the destructive economic and social consequences of fraud in an increasingly complex and interconnected environment.

This study differs from previous literature reviews that focus on a single monitoring mechanism or deal with fraud in a broadly manner by discussing how the accounting literature addresses the roles and the complex interplay between enforcers and auditors in the context of accounting fraud.

The emerging disintegrative processes of transitional economies are influencing companies’ business models in terms of consumer behaviour, especially food markets, which offer usual, common and traditional consumer products. Beyond investigating potential consumer misbehaviour, a further aim of this study is the building of a theoretical-descriptive model for consumer misbehaviour in food markets, which could influence the contextual complexity in business relationships, as well as the management of raw materials, services acquisition and final product sales. The research applies the “input-output” model (Ferrero, 1968) to some specific marketing theories, adopting an interdisciplinary approach for understanding the relationships between consumer behaviour and a company’s business model.

The research is both qualitative and quantitative in nature. In the first phase, the research was conducted among representatives of grocery stores using an exploratory approach; thus, an in-depth interview method was used. In the second phase, direct research among consumers was conducted using an online survey. After the verification of correctness, validity and reliability, a final 1,200-questionnaire dataset was analysed

The most common consumer misbehaviour in food markets concerns the theft of foodstuff or the adoption of bad behaviour towards grocery stores employees. Market and store representatives have highlighted a large scale of pathological consumer misbehaviour, mostly due to psychological conditions at the individual (habits, lifestyle or personality) and collective (family or other social groups) levels. According to previous studies, consumer misbehaviour in food markets seems to be substantially affected by three factors: motivation, capacity and opportunity. These factors strongly impact the input-output model through which the company interacts with the context.

The three-factor model reveals advantages and applications, allowing for a simple explanation of consumer misbehaviour in food markets and stores. It can contribute to scientific theory development (especially theories related to consumer behaviour, customer relationship management, partnership marketing and supply chain management) and generate support for understanding complex relations among consumers, food producers, factories and food stores. In this direction, the management of knowledge about consumers and their behaviour is indispensable.