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This study examines the incentives motivating listed companies in Malaysia to voluntarily choose the Direct Method over the Indirect Method in reporting cash flow from operating (CFO) activities in their 1997 annual financial reports following the adoption of the IAS 7 (Revised) Statement of Cash Flows (SCF), which was used prior to the current standard MASB No. 5 Cash Flow Statement promulgated by the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) in 1999. Adopting the signalling perspective, the general hypothesis of this study is that the choice of the Direct Method over the Indirect Method in reporting CFO activities is to maximize a firm’s value via engagement in quality signalling to the market. Specifically, it is hypothesised that such decision is influenced by the firm’s level of managerial efficiency, financial risk, size, its auditor, and industry membership. The sample consists of 231 firms listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange; 32 firms in the treatment group (Direct Method) and 199 firms in the control group (Indirect Method). Based on the results from the univariate and multivariate analyses, we found all variables to be in the hypothesised directions. However, we infer that the decision to choose the Direct Method for reporting CFO activities in SCF is significantly influenced by the firm’s level of managerial efficiency, size, and its auditor. Thus, there is support for the general hypothesis of maximization of the value of the firm via quality signalling. The authors gratefully appreciate the helpful comments of the discussant and workshop participants at the 11th Asian‐Pacific Conference on International Accounting

This study revisits the issue of the usefulness of the Statement of Cash Flows (SCF) by examining the perceptions of mutual fund investment analysts in India on the relative usefulness of the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Notes to the financial statements and reports of Chairperson, Directors, and Auditors. Six testable hypotheses were developed and tested. The evidence of this study, drawn from a mail survey that achieved a high response rate, suggests that the SCF is read significantly less thoroughly, poses greater difficulty in understanding, and is perceived to be less useful than any of the other components of annual reports. The results of the study are also compared against those reported in similar studies undertaken in New Zealand and Malaysia, which show significant differences. A possible explanation for the contrasting results of the current survey is that Indian regulation allows only for an indirect format for presenting the statement of cash flows. The results of the survey suggests a pressing need for the Indian regulators to modify the format of reporting the SCF or give an option to companies accorded under IAS ‐7 (revised).

The objective of this study is to undertake a qualitative study to examine the influence of religion, specifically Islam, on corporate governance statement disclosure in the annual reports of three major Malaysian banks, both conventional and Islamic banks. It has been argued that given the characteristics and values espoused by Islam, there is an expectation that in Malaysia, an Islamic organization ‐like the Bank Islam ‐ should make additional governance disclosures that would set it apart from conventional banks. The evidence thus far seems to suggest that the role of Islam has not been as expected. Specifically, being an Islamic organization (by virtue of label attached to and/or the nature of its operations) and/or having Malays/Muslim directors leading such Islamic organization have not resulted in better corporate governance practices and disclosure relative to other secular banking institutions that have fewer Malay/Muslims directors. Possible implications of these findings are proffered in the paper.

This study examines the perceptions of Malaysian investment analysts on the usefulness of statement of cash flows compared with other sections in the annual report. Namely, the Chairperson's Statement, Director's Report, Profit & Loss Account, Balance Sheet, Auditor's Report, and the Notes to the Financial Statements. The inference of this study, drawn from a mail survey, suggests that investment analysts perceive the statement of cash flows to be as useful as the balance sheet and less useful than the profit and loss account but more useful than the other sections forming the basis of the study. It is read less thoroughly than the balance sheet and profit and loss account and poses greater difficulty in understanding, however, surprisingly, requires less explanation. A comparison with a prior New Zealand study indicates differences between the two studies. Plausible reasons are proffered for these differences.

This paper examines why a sample of Singaporean listed companies voluntarily report Value Added Statements (VASs) in their annual reports. Given prior studies regarding the factors motivating disclosure of VASs in Australia, this study seeks to compare its findings with those prior studies. The result suggests that the decision to voluntarily report VAS is positively related to firm's interest coverage, size, and industry membership, of which the latter two variables, firm size and industry membership, are also found to be significant in the Australian studies. In addition, while firm's effective taxation burden and leverage are significant predictors in the Australian studies, they are not significant in this study. Explanations are advanced for differences in the results of the studies between the two countries.

Gema Dari Menara (1968) was intended as a mode of da’wah (the propagation of Islamic teachings) in response to the situation faced by the local community in Brunei at that time. Following its status as a medium of disseminating the Islamic values, the film embodies Islamic teachings that guide Bruneian Muslims to fully embrace Islam. This current study aims to unravel the meaning of the Islamic value of Amar Ma’ruf Nahi Mungkar (enjoining good and forbidding wrong) that is strongly depicted in the film and perceived as the enlightening Islamic value from the film. Therefore, this study examines the extent of the manifestation of Amar Ma’ruf Nahi Mungkar in the film. It is found that the portrayal of da’wahism using Amar Ma’ruf Nahi Mungkar is imbued in education, social interaction, clothing, and one’s upbringing which is the most influential factor. By applying the Islamic requisites, the scenario and sentiments in the film also encourage the audience to ponder upon the cause and effect of the characters’ actions and deeds.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the direction and strength of the influence of inherent factors of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and to extend a model with the variable “uniqueness-seeking lifestyle” to better explain the variance in the intention to purchase organic food and the referent actual behaviour.

The authors empirically investigated what drives consumers to purchase organic food using structural equation modelling in AMOS. The research was based on an in-person survey carried out on a convenient sample of 411 primary household shoppers in Croatia.

The study was able to capture not only the influence of inherent factors in TPB and the extension variable (all proposed constructs were shown to have a significant positive influence on intention, and intention had a significant positive influence on actual behaviour), but also the indirect and mediation effects of the variables within the model, which explain 87 per cent of the variance in intention and 21 per cent of the variance in actual behaviour.

This study provides empirical evidence of the role that desired uniqueness plays in a situation involving the purchase of organic food and responds to the requests of many researchers to investigate beyond intention and to try to identify what influences actual behaviour. This study proposes a new way of measuring actual purchases by asking a respondent to consider their actual purchase in different product categories. Furthermore, this research proposes measuring intention as a latent variable that consists of the variable “willingness to pay more” as well as the “commitment” to the decision regardless of any perceived obstacles.

The main aim of the study is to find out the level and trend of CSR disclosure pattern of industrial companies in Malaysia and its relationship with companies' characteristics.

Content analysis is used to analyse the data from the corporate annual reports of the companies from 1998 to 2003. Samples are selected using simple random sampling technique.

Research findings, inter alia, indicate that there is positive relationship between CSR and companies' turnover but no apparent relationship is noticed with companies' capital. Relationship between CSR and companies' profitability is also found to be positive but weak. More disclosure by local companies as compared to their foreign counterparts is another noteworthy finding. Overall, CSR level of industrial companies in Malaysia is increasing both in terms of amount of the disclosure and the number of participating companies.

The use of annual reports may not give a complete picture of the disclosure practices as the company may use other medium to disseminate the information. In addition, his study focuses on industrial companies in Malaysia. Thus all conclusions derived cannot be generalized to other industries.

The current research is the only study in Malaysia thus far that covers a disclosure pattern of six years thereby widens the horizon of CSR research. Besides that it extends the previous research to cover new variables such as individual and corporate ownership, influence of the chairman's race on the disclosure and exploring the disclosure pattern by paid‐up capital.

Reports that urban poverty in Malaysia is not considered a serious phenomenon; however, rapid urbanization and industrialization is expected to bring in rural migrants into urban centres bringing along low incomes while putting pressure on urban services, infrastructure and the environment. Reviews past and present trends of urbanization and urban poverty, especially in the metropolitan city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and highlights evidence on the nature and causes of urban poverty based on a recent survey of urban poverty in Kuala Lumpur. Also assesses past policies on urban development and urban poverty alleviation programmes and makes recommendations for alternative policies.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of the existing literature on corporate governance (CG) aspects of the Malaysian market. It offers insights into the phases of Malaysian CG, identifies crucial gaps in the literature and outlines an agenda for impending research.

Following a systematic literature review approach, a final sample of 125 studies from Scopus and Web of Science databases was used in this study. These studies were selected based on quality assessment criteria. Then, the sample literature was evaluated in terms of journals, methodology, theories, modelling, research outcomes and CG characteristics.

The results show that there is a growing interest among researchers to further explore CG aspects in Malaysia due to the continuous development of the Malaysian CG codes. Likewise, the review reveals that the majority of prior studies are quantitative and were carried out using archived data from non-financial firms. Also, the existing literature has primarily focused on the outcomes of CG, especially firm performance.

Overall, the results show that there is ample room for future research. The present paper identifies a number of methodological problems and concerns, and discusses the implications of these problems, while also providing recommendations for future research. The main caveat is that the authors use scholarly papers published in academic journals only, but this approach offers them with opportunities for considerable further developments.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study contributes to the literature by being the first of its kind to concentrate on the Malaysian context. It provides a comprehensive knowledge assessment of the Malaysian CG research and offers advice regarding improvements in research, policy and practice by identifying possible knowledge gaps. Consequently, this study provides a cohesive story of the past and a road map for future research on Malaysian CG.