Pay disparity, investment in internal control personnel, and a firm’s investment inefficiency: Korean evidence

This study examines whether a suitable control environment increases the value relevance of earnings by providing greater assurance on the reliability of financial reporting. Specifically, the level of suitable control environment is assessed by considering the quantity and quality of IC personnel, which are closely related to the personnel integrity/ethical values, competence, and authority/responsibility. Using a sample of 1,834 firm-year observations of Korean listed companies covering 2005–2010, the author finds that earnings are more value relevant when the increase in the average work experience of IC personnel is greater. However, no evidence is found that the value relevance of earnings is positively associated with the increase in the proportion of IC personnel. The findings suggest that a suitable control environment, established by deployment of qualified IC personnel with more work experience, improves the IC effectiveness and, thus, provides greater assurance on the reliability of financial reporting to market investors.

There is an academic discussion about investment efficiency, regarding its determinants and effects. Corporate Governance (CG) and Audit Quality (AQ) are determinants of investment efficiency The main objective of the article is to investigate the effect of CG and AQ on investment efficiency, this objective is divided into sub-objectives: to investigate the direct effect of CG on AQ, AQ on investment efficiency, and CG on investment efficiency. Moreover, the indirect effect of CG on investment efficiency through AQ as a mediator variable. This paper focuses on non-financial listed firms in the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX), especially firms recorded in EGX 100 for four years’ period (2013–2018), for 103 firms and 412 completed observations. The researcher uses Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) through SmartPLS software. The paper shows evidence that management that has good CG mechanisms obtains a suitable atmosphere to prepare transparent financial statements, which helps enhance the auditor’s role and improve AQ. Improving AQ lowering IA, which increases the trust of investors in management decisions, this leads to reduce pressure on management and improve efficiency of investment decisions. Having good CG mechanisms provides management with a good atmosphere to make right investment decisions, and having good CG mechanisms increases AQ, which helps management to have a good environment to make investment decisions with higher efficiency, or in other words, there is a significant and positive effect of integration between CG and AQ on investment efficiency.

This study examines the importance of the application of forensic audit in controlling financial frauds that ravage or threaten the soundness and business continuity of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria. The study used survey design methods, and the primary data were obtained through the administration of structured questionnaire covering seventeen (17) banks out of twenty-two (22) Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) operating in the country, which is 77.3%. In this study, the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method was used to analyze and test hypotheses, and the findings showed that the involvement of qualified and experienced forensic auditors would not only contribute to the amelioration of financial frauds in DMBs, but would also lead to much-needed sanity in the banking sector of Nigeria. The study recommends that regulatory agencies, within the limits prescribed by law, mandate all the banks to create a special forensic department, managed by a professional forensic auditor, which will develop and constantly implement effective and efficient internal control, timely prosecution of fraudsters by considering them to be criminals and as a deterrent to others, and work out adequate training and development programs for their staff, especially in fraud control, in order to reduce the number of fraud cases in Nigerian banks.