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Corporate firms often follow their peer firms to articulate multiple financial decisions. Among the others, trade credit policy is a vital financial decision that can impart its dynamic role in achieving financial efficiency. Therefore, the current analysis aims to assess the role of herding behavior in determining the trade credit policies of corporate firms and its relevant effect on corporate financial performance.

For this purpose, the financial data of 13089 nonfinancial sector firms from 50 countries are employed and the dynamic generalized method of moments (GMM) model to estimate the regression is applied.

The empirical findings first reveal that corporate firms actively mimic their peer firms regarding trade credit policies. However, this mimicking behavior hampers the financial performance due to noncompatibility with peers’ trade credit policies. Peer firms often develop such trade credit policies that are not applicable to corporate firms.

Mainly, the findings of the study suggest two implications. First, it highlights the peer effect in terms of trade credit patterns. Second, it elaborates an adverse effect regarding financial performance due to herding of peers’ trade credit policies.

This study adds new thoughts regarding herding behavior in terms of trade credit policy and its possible consequences for corporate financial performance. No study explores such a relationship.

Using data on 51 firms traded in the Egyptian Exchange from 2014 to 2016, this paper aimed to assess the efficiency of corporate governance (CG) and intellectual capital (IC) practices and to explore their influence on the probability of a firm's financial distress.

The relative efficiency of CG and IC practices has been measured under the Malmquist data envelopment analysis model. A modified Z-score model was applied to assess firms' financial distress.

The Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed almost insignificant evidence regarding the improvement of CG and IC efficiency over the study period. The efficiency score of CG practices had no impact on the likelihood of financial distress. However, the efficiency score of IC negatively affected the probability of financial distress.

The integration of data envelopment analysis with Tobit regression was required for identifying the significant drivers of efficient CG and IC.

The findings shed light on the role of CG and IC in alleviating the degree of financial distress in Egypt as an emerging market, especially the need to raise firms' compliance with the Egyptian CG code from a voluntary to mandatory status.

This study, using Malmquist data envelopment analysis, is among the first attempts to assess the relative efficiency of CG and IC practices and their effects on financial distress.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of intellectual capital (IC) as a mediator variable on the association between corporate governance (CG) practices and firm performance. This study also examines bi-causality linkages between these variables.

The designated corporate governance index and the value-added intellectual coefficient method were used to assess the level of CG practices and the performance of IC. Tobin’s Q (TQ) and operating efficiency ratio were used to measure firm performance.

The aggregate CG score has a significant positive impact on the IC and the two measures of firm performance. However, the IC has only a partial mediation effect on the relationship between the aggregate corporate governance score and a firm’s operational efficiency ratio. The IC has partial and full mediation effects in the relationship between the sub-dimensions of corporate governance and the performance of Egyptian corporates. Moreover, a bi-causality relationship can be observed between CG and TQ.

Generalizing the obtained results would require the sample size to be extended.

The findings should alert legislative institutions and practitioners of the need to comply with good CG practices and develop the efficiency of IC to elicit a firm’s superior performance.

This study is one of the first attempts to investigate the causality relationships and the mediation impact of IC on the relationship between CG practices and corporate performance in the Egyptian context.

This study aims to examine the role of the board of directors in affecting earnings management practices across small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) life cycle.

Data is collected from 280 SMEs listed on the London Stock Exchange during the period of 2009–2016. Fixed effects regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses.

This study shows that the impact of the board of directors' roles on earnings management practices varies depending on the SMEs life cycle stage. In the introduction, growth and decline stages of SMEs, the wealth creation role of the board is negatively significant with earnings management, while the wealth protection role of the board is positively significant in the growth and maturity phases. Results suggest that the board's responsibility to create wealth deters early-stage earnings management strategies, while protecting shareholder interests, in latter stages, leads to a decrease in earnings management.

The findings suggest that corporate governance should be customized to the specific stage of the SMEs life cycle. Additionally, different life cycle stages may impose different requirements on corporate boards to shape the effectiveness of these mechanisms and constrain earnings management practices.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study offers one of the first insights on the UK SMEs to understand how board functions and earnings management practices vary over SMEs life cycles. It will offer important information on the effect of board features on earnings management in SMEs in the UK and is anticipated to be of importance to policymakers, regulators, investors and practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current level of voluntary corporate disclosure in the Egyptian Stock Exchange. In addition, it explores the factors influencing the extensiveness of voluntary disclosure and examines the potential consequences of such disclosure in regards to the phenomenon of earnings management.

A relevant disclosure index to the Egyptian context was adopted to assess the level of voluntary disclosure in the 2010 annual reports of the most actively traded companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange. The relationship between the extent of voluntary disclosure and each specific-related factor was examined using unranked and ranked OLS regression models. Meanwhile, a system of simultaneous equations was performed using a two-stage least squares regression model in order to investigate whether companies with higher levels of voluntary disclosure exhibit lower levels of earnings management practices.

The results indicate that the level of voluntary disclosure is positively responsive to specific corporate attributes, namely, the type of auditing firm and the two industries of Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals, and Chemicals. However, no significant indications were found that firm size, leverage, profitability and liquidity are important determinants of corporate disclosure. Also, the results show no evidence to support the prior anticipation that a higher level of voluntary disclosure reduces the ability of managers to make use of earnings management. On the contrary, it was found that leverage and the tendency of firms to avoid reporting declines in earnings are the main drivers of the phenomenon of earnings management in Egypt.

This paper has important implications for both domestic and overseas investors in Egypt as well as the regulatory authorities in the developing economies.

The main contribution of this paper is its focus on the extent of voluntary disclosure in a developing country such as Egypt, which has a high potential for economic growth in the near future. Besides, this paper is the first to examine the relationship between the level of voluntary disclosure and the phenomenon of earnings management in the Egyptian context.

This study aims to investigate the association between corporate governance and financial transparency, using the moderating role of an Egyptian currency devaluation decision as a policy shock.

Data was collected for a sample of companies listed on the Egyptian stock exchange from 2014 to 2019. To control for time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity, the authors analyse panel data using an estimated generalised least squares regression model.

The findings underline the pitfalls of assuming that corporate governance mechanisms are effective regardless of circumstances and support the complementary roles of a number of theories in interpreting the empirical findings.

This study is limited to non-financial companies and includes only corporate board and audit committee governance mechanisms. The study results have important implications for policymakers, international lending institutions, investors and accounting standards setters. It is of particular importance to policymakers in other less-developed countries with similar economic conditions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical attempt to provide evidence of the impact of a currency devaluation shock on the relationship between corporate governance and financial transparency within the Egyptian context as an example of a transitional economy. Hence, it provides a significant theoretical and empirical contribution to the literature.

In countries where disclosing and reporting matters on sustainability are optional, what are the drivers promoting voluntarily disclosing information related to social responsibility and environmental sustainability corporate environmental and social responsibility? Exploring drivers promoting the demand for voluntarily disclosing information related to social responsibility and environmental sustainability in Saudi Arabia, where regulatory and professional bodies have not mandated information on corporate environmental and social responsibility, motivates this study.

A total of 48 individuals voluntarily participated in the survey.

Findings reveal that creating a better social, ethical and mental image, building a public relations image for the company, improving stakeholder trust in the company, signaling to investors the company’s care for the earth to meet the ethical motivation of stakeholders, enhancing corporate social responsibility awareness and exhibiting surpasses the mere generation of profits, all derive such disclosure. Such disclosure also signifies the firm’s value as well as improves the overall firm’s economic performance.

Regulatory and professional bodies must issue and adopt reporting models for entities, principally private companies, whether publicly traded or not, of the content. Their reports should aim to inform users and stakeholders about fulfilling the social and environmental responsibilities of entities toward society and its members.

Out of the drivers for the demand, perceptions of elders toward meeting ethical motivation of senior management significantly differ from that of younger.

Few studies have been attempted on drivers of the demand for reporting environmental sustainability and social responsibility in an environment where such reporting is not mandated. This study offers insight from Saudi Arabian corporate reports.

Content analysis was used to measure corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. The ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions with robust standard errors are used to examine the relationships for a sample of 168 firm-year observations listed on the Palestine Exchange during 2018–2021. A logistic regression is also utilized as an alternative measurement for CSR quantity disclosure and to ensure the robustness of the author’s main findings.

Based on 168 observations listed on the Palestine Exchange (PEX) between 2018 and 2021, this study examines the impact of women's representation on the CSR reporting of Palestinian firms' boards. Moreover, the moderating effect of ownership concentration on the relationship between BGD and CSR reporting is examined. In order to test the hypotheses, the author’s employ OLS regressions with robust standard errors. A logistic regression is also utilized as an alternative measurement for CSR quantity disclosure and to ensure the robustness of the author’s main findings.

The results reveal that Palestinian companies with more women on their boards have higher CSR practices and disclosure levels. In addition to the validity of agency, stakeholder and legitimacy theories, the findings show the relevance of gender socialization and critical mass theories in explaining the favorable influence of women's presentation on boards in promoting best practices among Palestinian firms, such as CSR disclosure.

The study contributes to the limited literature in the MENA and Arab region countries by examining the influence of BGD on CSR reporting in Palestine, an emerging economy characterized by highly political and economic instability. The study offers a novel contribution by examining the impact of BGD, on not only the CSR reporting quantity but also the reporting quality. However, the generalizability of the study is limited due to the small sample size.

The findings of the study may bring the issues of CSR disclosure and female representation on board of directors to the attention of Palestinian firms' board of directors and managers, investors, professional associations, policymakers and regulators. While listed firms are only required to provide general information that falls under the scope of CSR in their annual reports under the Palestinian code of corporate governance, women representation on boards of directors is not addressed.

This study adds to the very limited literature on the role of the BGD in promoting CSR reporting in the Middle Eastern and Arabic markets in general, and in the Palestinian context in particular. This paper not only investigates but also seeks to theorize this role.

This study investigates determinant factors (influence of the third party (ITP), credit policy (CP) and follow-up process (FP)) of micro, small and medium enterprises' (MSMEs) accounting processes (APs) and strategic debtors' management.

The study employed a sequential mixed-method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods for comprehensive data analysis. Phase I involved purposively selecting and interviewing 10 MSME owners or accountants to gain insights into debtors' management. In Phase II, a quantitative approach was used for collecting survey data from 72 MSME owners or accountants. Structural equation modeling-partial least squares (SEM-PLS) are the statistical tools that validated the study's proposed hypotheses.

The findings indicate that determinant factors (ITP, CP and FP) positively affect MSMEs' AP, significantly influencing strategic debtors' management. As a result, sole proprietors can use this study's findings to create value through systematic management of their debtors, guaranteeing sustainable firm growth and profitability.

The sample has restricted to MSMEs in Oman, where the findings may not be generalized to other companies. Overall, the findings suggest that it requires considering the proposed determinant factor of MSMEs' AP to manage their debtors or accounts receivable (AR) to be more profitable.

MSMEs play an essential role in the growth of any country's economy. However, the dearth of comprehensive research on influential factors of MSMEs' debtors’ management studies justifies the significance of the current study.