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This paper aims to investigate the impact of board characteristics on the financial performance of listed firms in Tanzania. Board characteristics, including outside directors, board size, CEO/Chair duality, gender diversity, board skill and foreign directors are addressed in the Tanzanian context by applying two corporate governance theories, namely, agency theory and resource dependence theory.

The paper uses balanced panel data regression analysis on 80 firm-years observations (2006-2013) from annual reports, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 key stakeholders. The study uses also a mixed methods approach and applies a convergent parallel design (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2011) to integrate quantitative and qualitative data.

It was found that in terms of agency theory, while the findings support the separation of CEO/Chairperson roles, they do not support outside directors-financial performance linkage. With regard to resource dependence theory, the findings suggest that gender diversity has a positive impact on financial performance. Furthermore, the findings do not support an association between financial performance and board size, PhD qualification and foreign directors.

The study contributes to the understanding of board-performance link and provides academic evidence to policy makers in Tanzania for current and future governance reforms.

The findings contribute to the literature by providing new and original insights that, within a developing setting, extend current understanding of the association between corporate governance and financial performance. This is predicated, also, on the use of uncommon mixed methods approach.

This study aims to explore the extent of Intellectual Capital Disclosure (ICD) in the annual reports of the top 50 listed Vietnamese companies. It assesses the influence of firm characteristics and corporate governance structure on ICD practices.

ICD was measured using content analysis, specifically word count percentage. Panel data regression analysis was employed to examine the relationship between firm characteristics, governance structures and the level of ICD.

Results reveal that ICD levels among Vietnamese firms sampled are relatively low, averaging 17.43% of the overall annual report word count. Relational capital emerges as the most disclosed category of IC. Firm size, profitability, industry type, number of independent board members and CEO duality significantly impact the level of ICD. However, leverage, board size and the presence of an audit committee show no significant influence on ICD.

These findings offer insights into agency and signaling theories. They provide empirical evidence for stakeholders, academics and regulatory bodies to comprehend ICD practices and identify factors that could enhance ICD in emerging markets like Vietnam.

This study contributes to the literature by examining ICD practices in an emerging market context and identifying the impact of firm characteristics and governance structures on ICD levels, offering valuable implications for both theory and practice.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of corporate governance on financial reporting quality (FRQ) in Pakistan and the UK.

In this paper, three accrual-based models are used to analyse FRQ for a sample of 1,550 firm-year observations, including 78 Pakistani firms and 77 UK firms, for the period 2009–2018.

The analysis shows that board size has a negative impact on FRQ while foreign ownership has a positive impact for Pakistani and UK firms. It also shows that board independence has a positive impact on FRQ of Pakistani firms, while board meetings frequency and audit committee independence have a negative impact. We make no such observation for UK firms. In addition, the analysis shows that board gender diversity and ownership concentration negatively affect FRQ of UK firms. This study makes no such observation for Pakistani firms.

Due to the study’s focus on Pakistani and UK firms, the findings may not be generalizable to other developed and emerging economies.

The findings provide valuable insight to policymakers, regulators and investors by suggesting that the impact of board composition on FRQ of both Pakistani and UK firms is weak. The findings suggest that board size and foreign ownership are the attributes that require regulatory focus to increase FRQ. The negative impact of audit committee independence on FRQ induces rethinking among the policymakers in Pakistan and calls for fully independent audit committees.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research endeavour to compare the context of a developed and an emerging economy regarding the impact of corporate governance on FRQ. It also contributes to the governance literature by using three measures of FRQ and a comprehensive set of corporate governance attributes.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the level of online disclosure of firms in the USA and to evaluate the impact of diversity in terms of director nationality (boardroom internationalisation) on online disclosure.

The authors apply, for the first time, a new modified scoring system to measure online disclosure levels by securing more detailed information on each of the items in the voluntary disclosure index. Regarding the percentage of foreign board members, unlike in previous research, the authors calculate two additional proxies to more accurately specify the level of international diversity on the board: the Blau Index and the Shannon Index. Moreover, the authors use a cross-sectional model for the sampled non-financial S&P500 firms using both ordinary least squares (OLS) and heteroskedasticity-corrected estimates to analyse the impact of boardroom internationalisation on the level of online disclosure.

The findings reveal that the average online disclosure level for the sample in question is 64% for the 0–1 index and 57% for the 0–4 index. In addition, the results of the regression analysis confirm the study’s proposed hypothesis, which is that the presence of international board members correlates with an improvement in the level of online disclosure. This can be attributed to the fact that foreign directors bring unique skills and knowledge from their home countries and thus, increase board discussion, creativity and innovation, which has a positive impact on the level of online disclosure.

Financial firms are subject to capital requirement regulations; consequently, disclosure practices can be influenced. Therefore, these firms were excluded from the sample of the study.

This research contributes to the body of literature on nationality diversity of firm boards and corporate online disclosure in several respects. Firstly, the study adds an international dimension to the existing literature. Secondly, this study provides new evidence that foreign diversity on the board can improve firm value, insofar as the corresponding enhancement of online disclosure leading to positive capital market implications. Thirdly, the authors use, for the first time, a new scoring system approach to measure the level of online disclosure. Finally, it contributes to the corporate governance literature by basing its analysis on a multi-theoretical approach.

This study aims to address a notable gap in the existing literature by exploring the relationship between gender diversity and dividend policy within the context of US Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).

The authors use a substantial data set comprising 1,398 firm-year observations across 209 US REIT companies from 2011 to 2021 to address the research aims. Fixed effects models and generalized least squares regression methods are used in the analysis.

The results demonstrate a significant positive association between board gender diversity and higher dividend payouts among US REITs. This relationship holds after controlling for corporate governance and other firm-level factors. The findings have strong implications that the presence of women on REIT boards contributes to a greater propensity for discretionary dividend increases in the USA.

This research contributes to the literature by empirically examining female directors’ role in influencing US REITs’ dividend policies, an area lacking adequate prior scholarship. The paper also considers the unique regulatory environment of REITs, highlighting the importance of the study for externally financed firms.

This paper aims to examine the extent to which financial performance (FP) represents one of the main determinants for tone disclosure (TD) in Egyptian annual reports. The authors also measure the bidirectional relationship between TD and FP.

The manual content analysis is used to measure the levels of TD in annual reports for a sample of 105 firms listed on the Egyptian stock market. The sample covers a three-year period (2011-2013).

The descriptive analysis in this paper shows that Egyptian firms disclose more good news than bad news. Therefore, the net news disclosure, or net variances, between good/bad is positive. The empirical analysis shows a positive association between the narrative disclosure of good/bad news and FP based on return on assets. The authors also find a highly significant association between the auditor, profitability, leverage, firm growth and financial reporting of good/bad news information. Finally, the results of the ordinary least squares regression show that the causality between the two endogenous variables runs from FP to TD. Thus, TD is determined by FP.

This study offers a novel contribution to disclosure studies by being the first study to examine TD in one of the developing countries.

This paper aims to examine stakeholders’ expectations of accountability in non-profit organisations (NPOs) in general, and State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCs) in particular.

An online survey was used to collect data, which was then analysed descriptively. Furthermore, the differences between stakeholder groups were evaluated using the Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests.

The findings indicate that NPOs generally and SIRCs specifically need to clarify the meaning of accountability to meet the expectations of their stakeholders, especially the public, and to address accountability inquiries.

The research method was a limitation of this study. The data was collected using a survey. Generally, surveys contain restricted numbers and types of questions that the authors have outlined. Consequently, respondents might be constrained in their choice of how they perceive accountability. So, surveys used to collect respondents’ opinions may have an adverse effect on their responses. In addition, a number of respondents may also give superficial answers, particularly if they are required to answer a number of questions over a long period of time. Finally, the data collected using surveys might show what respondents think about accountability, but they do not show the actual practice.

Owing the highest accountability to the Board of Directors is akin to the practices of corporations. The findings of this study could assist their top officials to understand the accountability chain within SIRCs. This is consistent with the findings regarding accountability within SIRCs, whereby they perceived that they are responsible to their board for performance. Therefore, this should encourage the reporting of performance to both internal and external stakeholders.

Overall, perceptions on accountability are an ongoing debate, and they depend on the role of the organisation and expectations of stakeholders. Identifying a clear accountability chain is essential to develop the best reporting practices for SIRCs. The paper contributes to the literature by addressing two questions on accountability for NPOs: to whom and for what.

This study aims to investigate the influence of corporate governance (CG) on environmental disclosure (ED) practices within UK and US firms, addressing the contemporary challenges confronting firms in both contexts.

Using the dynamic panel regression framework of system generalised method of moment (GMM), this study analyses a sample comprising 121 FTSE and 200 S&P firms from 2010 to 2020.

The findings emphasise the dynamic nature of ED practices among UK and US firms, demonstrating their propensity to swiftly adjust to desired levels whenever deviations occur. Besides, this study identifies board independence and the frequency of board meetings as significant determinants of ED for UK firms. In contrast, for US firms, board independence and audit committee independence are found to be significant determinants of ED.

The research highlights the fundamental role played by CG in shaping how firms in the UK and the US navigate agency problems and respond to diverse stakeholder demands through ED in their annual reports. This study advocates for the promotion of robust governance systems that concurrently serve the purposes of accountability and monitoring to bridge the information expectation gap between firms and stakeholders. The findings reinforce the necessity for regulatory initiatives involving policy formulation and corporate oversight to enhance private sector awareness regarding environmental reporting practices.

This study contributes to the scarce literature on the impact of board and audit committee characteristics on ED practices in the UK and US contexts. In addition, by using the system GMM estimation technique, this study provides robust and updated evidence that addresses the weaknesses inherent in previous studies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential factors that may affect the level of corporate internet reporting by Egyptian listed companies.

The content analysis approach to examine the information cited by the largest Egyptian companies is used in their web sites. The paper modifies and uses the disclosure index of Xiao et al. Ordinary least square multiple regression analysis is used to examine the determinants of the internet reporting.

It is found that 56 per cent of Egyptian companies report a significant portion of information on their web sites. In addition, the paper finds that some financial characteristics explain the variation in the degree of internet reporting between Egyptian listed companies. In particular, profitability, foreign listing and industrial type (communications and financial services) are the determinants of the amount and presentation formatting of information disclosed on Egyptian companies' web sites. However, other firm characterises, such as firm size, leverage, liquidity and auditor size, do not explain corporate internet reporting.

The research finding is essential as it assists in informing regulators about the characteristics of Egyptian companies that are, and are not, satisfying national and international investors' demand of updated/online information. It also assists current and potential stakeholders to know the drives of corporate internet reporting in Egypt. Consequently, they may further investigate and verify such reporting practices. In practice, online reporting can be used as an effective tool for improving stakeholders' decision‐making process. Therefore, further research can be undertaken to examine the degree to which online reporting provides value‐relevant information for stakeholders.

To the best of the knowledge, there is no study examining the potential drivers of internet corporate reporting practice in Egypt. This paper is the first to examine the potential factors affecting corporate internet reporting in Egypt. The disclosure index used is designed to be suitable for companies working in the Egyptian environment.

The purpose of this work is to perform an application study on experimental animals (dogs) to investigate the efficiency of using weft knitted mesh fabric as cardiac support mesh to support left ventricular hypertrophy.

In this work, weft-knitted mesh sample “Knitted Cardiac Support Mesh” manufactured using Nylon (6, 6) yarns, with count 20 Denier and medium mesh size, was placed around the two ventricles to prevent further dilatation, support and reduce left ventricular wall stress.

Medical textile is a rapidly expanding field in technical textiles that are widely used in a variety of medical applications. One of these medical textile applications is “Knitted Cardiac Support Mesh”, which is used in the treatment of Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

After the implantation of the manufactured Knitted Cardiac Support Mesh around the myocardium, all dogs survived for three months before being euthanized, and some clinical examinations were performed to investigate and evaluate the sample performance. It was demonstrated from the experimental application, that the nylon mesh sample performed the best during the surgical operation due to its good ability to stretch and recover at a moderate rate, as well as the textile mesh lightweight.