For several decades, the Audit Committee (AC) has been a subject of substantial research interest in developed countries including the U.S.A. and the U.K. However, this still remains a relative new topic in developing countries. In an attempt to examine the scenario of AC practices from the perspective of an emerging economy like Bangladesh, this study investigates the state of AC practices in the companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). This study was undertaken through a questionnaire survey and an interview survey in order to collect the data. The respondents of these surveys consisted of four sample groups, namely: the AC Chairperson, the Company Secretary, the Head of Finance, and the External Auditor. The objective of the interviews was to complement the findings of the questionnaire survey by obtaining a greater insight into the issue. The findings of the study indicate that the overall effectiveness of ACs in Bangladesh is not at a satisfactory level. More specifically, the observations made in the study include: (i) the ACs are mostly dominated by executive directors; (ii) the expertise (in terms of qualification and experience) of AC members is not at a satisfactory level; (iii) the AC members do not devote much time to the committee’s affairs; (iv) the independent members of the committee are not adequately remunerated for the time and effort devoted to the company; and, (v) although the ACs are playing an important role in some areas including financial reporting, external auditing and internal auditing, there is still plenty of scope where the ACs can play a more proactive role. The study also found that the opinions of three sample groups namely, the AC Chairperson, the Company Secretary and the Finance Head were similar in most of the aspects of AC practices while the External Auditor group differed from the other three groups in some areas. Furthermore, the current study identified areas that need improvement in order to obtain more effective services from the ACs in Bangladesh. These include: (i) lack of qualification of the AC members; (ii) lack of experience of the AC members; (iii) majority of executive members in the ACs; and, (iv) lack of diligence of the AC members. The measures that can be taken to improve the effectiveness of ACs in Bangladesh include issues such as: (i) introducing new rules in relation to AC composition (in terms of minimum qualification and experience of AC members, and the number of independent members); (ii) enhancing the monitoring of compliance with the existing rules in relation to AC practices (instead of leaving them on a ‘comply or explain’ basis); and (iii) strengthening the internal audit functions of the company.

Despite increasing interest in the development of the accountancy profession and constitutive professional bodies in ex-colonies, little is known about the development of professional accountants as individuals. Similarly, although the continuing influence of the legacies of colonialism and imperialism on the accounting professionalisation trajectory in ex-colonies has been recognised, little attempt has been made to theorise such continuing colonial intervention as a postcolonial condition of accommodation and resistance, with implications for the development of professional accountants. This thesis fills this vacuum by employing four aspects of the critical lens of postcolonial theory – local-global nexus, psycho-existential complex, postcolonial hybridity and diaspora - to gain an insight into the development of accounting professionals in ex-colonies with specific reference to Sierra Leone. Specifically, it examines the current model of accounting professionalisation adopted in Sierra Leone and implications for the development of professional accountants in the country; investigates the historical and ideological legacies of colonialism that shaped and continue to influence the professionalisation trajectory in Sierra Leone; explores the perceptions of Sierra Leonean chartered and aspiring accountants of their professional identity in terms of their professional development within Sierra Leone; and explores the lived experiences of Sierra Leonean chartered and aspiring accountants in the diaspora and the diaspora effect on accountancy in Sierra Leone. The empirical evidence presented here emanated from two sources: a web-based survey and semi-structured interviews with Sierra Leonean chartered and aspiring accountants both within and outside the country at the time of the study. The model for developing professional accountants in Sierra Leone comprises a partnership between the local professional body, ICASL, and the British-based global body, the ACCA. A postcolonial analysis of the empirical evidence reveals that an unintended consequence of this model is that the local is co-opted within the global while the global becomes increasingly localised. The analysis also shows that the presence of a perceived global body ‘inferiorises’ the local body to the point of undesirability among local chartered and aspiring accountants. Thus the partnership has to date done little by way of developing ICASL’s capacity to ensure the development of a localised profession and professionals. Instead, it produces, within the Sierra Leone accountancy space, professional hybrids that at once pose as global as well as local accountants. This has significant implications for the local profession because many of the hybrid professional accountants who could potentially drive the local profession forward end up in the diaspora, which leaves the local profession in a weaker state. Also, given the established link between a robust accountancy profession and sustainable economic development, such professional diasporisation could negatively impact on the country’s economic development. In sum, Sierra Leone has failed to establish an accounting professionalisation model that develops professional accountants (through contextualised professional education and training) that meets the specific accounting needs of its growing economy.

The UK Companies Act 2006 has made it a legal requirement for companies, since October 2013, to disclose their 'Strategy' and 'Business Model' as part of their annual report. The Act, however, does not define what is meant by the two terms. This means that the content of the disclosure remains at the discretion of managers. Prior to this, the UK 2010 Corporate Governance Code required companies to disclose their Strategy and Business Model. The Code, however, is based on a 'comply or explain' approach. This study contributes to the understanding of the disclosure of Strategy and Business Model in the annual reports of UK listed companies before and after the introduction of the regulatory requirements. To achieve this, the thesis aims to investigate the extent of the disclosure of Strategy and Business Model, the impact of regulations and the determinants of such disclosures. The sample includes companies operating in three industry sectors: Banking; Food and Drug Retailers; and Gas, Water and Multi-utilities, over a period of 10 years, taking into consideration, the periods before and after the Corporate Governance and Companies Act requirements. To achieve the aims of the thesis, it has been necessary to adopt a pragmatic approach, which entails the use of results from a qualitative approach as inputs to a quantitative approach. Further, the study adopts a longitudinal approach and collects empirical data from annual reports and databases. This study also relies on agency and signalling theory to provide explanations on Strategy and Business Model disclosures in annual reports. The study finds that the mandatory requirement has had a statistically significant influence on the disclosure of both Strategy and Business Model. However, the practice of Business Model disclosure is not yet at the same level as Strategy. Lastly, the findings reveal that disclosure is mostly affected by market and corporate governance incentives.

This study aims to investigate narrative disclosures in corporate annual reports in developing economies, using Saudi Arabia as an example. The primary objective is to understand which institutional factors—including regulation and socio-political and religious contexts—influence narrative disclosures and which challenges are faced by preparers of narrative reports. The data were collected using two methods. First, 175 narrative sections from annual reports (from 2011–2015) of 35 Saudi listed companies were randomly selected and subjected to content analysis. Second, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 Saudi annual report preparers and regulators. New Institutional Sociology theory was used to as the theoretical framework of the study to interpret the findings. The findings suggest that corporate narrative disclosures in Saudi Arabia are heavily influenced by the Capital Market Authority as a regulatory body and via coercive isomorphism. Furthermore, the size and complexity of a firm; the desire to create a good company image; and the influence of report users, (foreign) investors and stakeholders, all positively shape narrative disclosures. Peer competitors in institutions and markets have an impact via mimetic isomorphism. Issues concerning the professionality of management and the company philosophy may increase the level of narrative report disclosures; whereas other issues, such as preparer awareness, top management control, negativity of society and characteristics of family institutions (control of decision making, conflict of interest, resistance to change and privacy breaching), negatively influence disclosure. Although the strongest forces are coercive and mimetic isomorphism, economic, political, social, cultural and educational factors influence companies via normative isomorphism, revealing that all three isomorphic forces collectively influence Saudi corporate disclosure practices. The study considers the implications of this research regarding the future of narrative disclosure in the Saudi context and discusses, for example, how to reduce the negative and enhance the positive institutional influences. Finally, suggestions for further research are offered.

This thesis concerns the ideas of management accounting and control, as it examines poverty management, oral accounts and social control perspectives in a Bangladeshi Microfinance Institution (MFI). It traces how poverty management technologies are put in place and traditional oral accounts and social control mechanisms are expropriated for microfinance operation in the village. It ultimately seeks to understand how an alternative form of management accounting and control was made operable in a rural setting. The research involved intensive ethnographic fieldwork with in-depth interviews, direct observations, and documentation reviews. Drawing on the theoretical notions of the ‘society of control’ and ‘ethopolitics’, it illustrates how microfinance technologies are put in place to work especially in the emerging terrain of a control society; whether microfinance toolkits form a set of disciplinary and biopolitical mechanisms for the management of poverty; how local networks, social relations etc. are materialised in the making of a particular version of control society; how oral accounts are produced in such settings; how community ethos and values act as important aspects of ethopolitical social control systems; and how social controls are accommodated, reproduced and sustained for management control purposes in microfinance operation. It was the emergence of MFIs that integrated management accounting and control with household and village exchange relations, their social structures, and associated values and beliefs. This analysis makes several contributions to management accounting and control: first, by revealing poverty management technologies that MFIs design, modify and retain to monitor, report and evaluate the lives of poor people; second, to the discussion of accounting presence and absence; third, to the oral and verbal use of accounting; fourth, to the discussion of social control mechanisms; and finally, to the issues of microfinance in accounting. The thesis also has some theoretical contributions: first, it adds to the discussion of accounting in post-panopticon organisations; second, it shows the existence of alternative mechanisms of control while the organisation is in the becoming process; and finally, it employs ethopolitics as a governmental strategy which is unique in the accounting literature.

This thesis studies the emergence of executive remuneration consulting as a distinct occupation from the 1990s, and the co-emergence of remuneration consultants and remuneration committees from the early 2000s. These actors, their work processes, norms and interlinkages are studied within the context of key social, economic and political factors, which shape the fields of remuneration consulting work and remuneration governance. In light of recent conflicting governance recommendations, it is important to evaluate the system of governance in relation to the historical reference points which have shaped executive pay practices. In so doing, this thesis analyses the dynamic processes in which numerous actors (remuneration committees, executive directors, Reward/HR directors, remuneration consultants and institutional investors), documents (corporate governance codes, governance guidelines and regulations) and tools (market trends analysis and pay benchmarking) are collectively engaged. Executive remuneration has overwhelmingly been researched from the agency perspective, delineated into two theoretical points of departure: optimal contracting (Jensen and Meckling, 1976) and managerial capture (Bebchuk and Fried, 2003; 2004). Despite managerial capture theorists seeking to address perceived shortcomings in optimal contracting, both result in an undersocialised (Granovetter, 1985; cf. Main, 2006) view of executive pay practices. Drawing on a genealogical approach (Foucault, 1971), Chapter 3 studies the emergence of executive remuneration consulting, while Chapter 4 examines the co-emergence of remuneration consultants and remuneration committees. Drawing on a field-based study at a leading remuneration consultancy, Chapter 5 presents the day-to-day work processes of executive remuneration consultants, and the ways in which consultants have produced their relevance in executive pay design and governance. Chapter 6 problematizes the market for executive talent and presents a conceptualisation of pay benchmarking practice. Chapter 7 argues that a dominant logic of risk has gone undocumented; that it is risk and risk management that ‘percolates and pervades’ (Power, 2004) executive remuneration governance.

This thesis explores the development of the accounting profession with a specific reference to the case of Lebanon, utilising a qualitative research design. The establishment of the exclusive body of accounting in Lebanon, the Lebanese Association for Certified Public Accountants (LACPA), in 1994 constitutes a central element of this development. The analysis refers back to the period preceding the LACPA, specifically from when the first union of accountants in Lebanon was established in 1963. While the professionalization project of accounting in Lebanon, which is when the accounting profession was recognised by the state like other reputable professions, along with institutionalising entry requirements, could be understood in terms of several influencing factors, such as the French colonial legacy, or the Civil War and the reconstruction project associated with it, this case argues that this project is the outcome of the work of indigenous accounting practitioners. The data collected in this study is theoretically analysed within the concept institutional work, defined as the purposive action of individuals and organisations aimed at creating, maintaining and disrupting institutions (Lawrence et al., 2009). As institutions are traditionally framed within a structural understanding, the concept of institutional work, while not neglecting the significance of structural factors in relation to institutions, demonstrates that the role of actors and their actions in relation to institutions should not be overlooked. After addressing the establishment of the exclusive body of accounting in Lebanon, this case explores how the accounting profession is being maintained amid political, religious and sectarian divisions, and demonstrates that the survival of this profession is understood beyond the technical aspects of the accounting profession and practice, to embody these broader divisions. Given this multidimensional nature of the maintenance/survival of the accounting profession as an institution, the notion of agonistic pluralism (Mouffe, 2013) provided a more nuanced understanding of the accounting profession as an arena that is composed of different groups, and how these groups' interactions enhance our knowledge and understanding of the accounting profession. This study relies on semi-structured interviews with key players of the accounting profession in Lebanon, mainly executive members of the LACPA, and supports these interviews with archival documents. This approach was chosen because personal experiences and discourses enable a better understanding of actions and intentions of actors, and their inter-relatedness with political and religious/sectarian considerations. This study reveals what takes place in the backstage of governance, how and on what basis the different groups interact with each other, and ultimately how this is reflected on the function of the LACPA as the exclusive body of accounting in Lebanon. This thesis provides an empirical study that enables a re-thinking of the essence of the accounting profession, not only because this context is under-researched, but also because of the following reasons. First, this case addresses how local accounting practitioners, through engaging in strategies of institutional work, were able to grant the accounting profession authority and recognition at a time when the state and politicians were unwilling to legislate for the accounting profession. Second, this case understands the establishment and maintenance of the accounting profession in terms of agonising relations between groups with different perspectives. Thus, an integral part of institutional work is to establish an agonistic environment that would ensure the survival of the accounting profession, amid divided re-constructed identities of actors. Moreover, by addressing the work of actors of a professional association, this case illustrates how the accounting profession and its maintenance are related to other institutions operating at a broader level. This contributes to our knowledge about how professional associations engage in institutional work (Ramirez, 2013) by demonstrating that the aspired agonistic environment encompasses not only professional considerations, but also other political and religious considerations that are vital for the maintenance of the accounting profession. This case sheds light about phenomena, relationships, and divisions that are present nearly in all contexts, yet not explicitly associated with the accounting profession, hence, a broader understanding of the essence of the accounting profession is presented in this thesis.

This study seeks to examine the applicability of performance management systems (hereafter, PMSs) framework in public sector. Using a teaching hospital as a case study, this thesis provides empirical evidence on how PMSs are functioning from the context of Nigeria. It demonstrates the extent to which performance management can be understood/explained using a framework developed in the western context. To maintain anonymity the hospital is termed the Nigerian State Hospital (NSH). The study draws on the contingency theory of management accounting to identify and explain contextual factors which could influence the design and operation of PMSs in the NSH. Data were collected using a triangulated approach. Interviews were the main sources of evidence and were conducted with various members of staff of the NSH. The interview evidence was supplemented with observation and document analysis. Various documents on health policies, newspaper articles were analysed. Furthermore, a number of observations were made and documented. The case findings were analysed using Ferreira and Otley’s (2009) PMSs framework and interpreted using the lenses of contingency theory. The study revealed the implication of contextual factors on the operation and structure of PMSs from an emerging economy context. It showed that the application of PMSs framework cannot be generalised but needs to be contextually understood and adapted to local structural conditions. Based on the findings, the study proposes an extension to Ferreira and Otley’s (2009) PMSs framework to incorporate contingencies which are likely to implicate its application in healthcare settings in EEs. Overall, the study contributes to PMSs literature in emerging economies by providing empirical evidence on how PMSs are functioning from the context of Nigeria. The findings have implications for the design and use of PMSs in public sector in Nigeria and emerging economies.

Tax planning and compliance in transfer pricing are sensitive issues that potentially affect the level of world trade. Advance pricing agreements (APAs) are intended to prevent disputes between fiscal authorities and multinational enterprises (MNEs) but to date the benefits and costs of applying for an APA are under-specified. From a theoretical perspective, foreign direct investment FDI) theories tend to provide strong support for the view that MNEs utilize international transfer pricing (ITP) as a means of ensuring the exploitation of FDI market imperfections. MNEs, however, presently find it difficult to achieve this objective given the need for them to demonstrate compliance with the arm’s length principle (ALP) in their transfer pricing operations. The APA serves as one obvious avenue to overcome this tension. Normally, an APA is formally initiated by a taxpayer and requires negotiations between the taxpayer, one or more related-party entities, and the tax administration(s) of one or more nation states. Given the critical need for MNEs to manage their transfer pricing risk in modern times, the APA programme should have been popular with many MNE taxpayers. However, recent statistics showed that this is not the case,especially in the UK where Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have operated the APA programme since 1999. Some researchers have attempted to examine the reasons for the non-popularity of the APA programme. This study, however, goes beyond the traditional mono-method approach usually adopted by such authors. This study adopts a mixed-method methodological choice to examine the APA process. A sample of MNEs based in the UK was investigated and also their reasons for applying or not applying for an APA, particularly with HMRC in the UK. Together with the uniqueness of the methodological approach adopted, the study provides a clearer lens through which the topic of APAs can be explored and understood better. The study uncovers the confusion faced by MNEs in understanding the role being played by fiscal authorities in relation to the APA process. MNEs also face uncertainties in distinguishing between the benefits of an APA when compared with the cost of undergoing a transfer pricing audit as typically conducted by HMRC. The study concludes that three key themes (i.e., Cost and Benefit of an APA, Clarification of APA Guidelines and Generic APA Process) are critical to the MNEs’ decision on whether or not to apply for APAs. There is a need to address these issues in order to improve the UK APA process in general.

By recognising Climate Change and man-made environmental problems as global issues of 21st century, human has increasingly started to ‘account’ for his environmental impacts by means of accounting-based practices and ‘report’ on his environmental performance via publishing Corporate Social Responsibility reports even though accounting’s potency in serving environmental spheres is criticised. This research, by drawing on Foucault’s ‘bottom-up’ approach of practice, studies ‘accounting as discourse and practice and in practice’ to investigate how and how far the ‘experience’ of implementing environmental accounting practices is made to happen. In seeking to explore ‘what accounting is’ and ‘what accounting does’ where and when it plays role in generating environmental solutions or being part of environmental problem-solving, this study first begins with historical context to the emergence of ‘green’ discourses and practices of our ‘present’. An ethnographic fieldwork within two dissimilar organisational sites is also carried out through observing how implementation of environmental accounting practices is made to happen by subjects acting as Report Preparers (RPs) in process of composing CSRoriented reports. This study sheds light on backstage of CSR-oriented reports to explore role and functioning of accounting wherever and whenever it shows environmental intervention. This study discovers that how ‘green accounting’ has emerged as a ‘trans-disciplinary’ knowledge-based technique with ‘green power’ and ‘truthrevealing’ performance in three possible ‘green roles’. It also shows that how RPs’ ways of thinking, acting, and strategising are shaped through their interplay with the forms of accounting that they are implementing, who are consequently constituted as ‘green ethical subjects’ that act on non-environmental actions of others. By demonstrating the ways in which practices of ‘naming and counting’ in conjunction with cost-benefit thinking and three interconnected issues of ‘Economy’, ‘Efficiency’, and ‘Effectiveness’ may enable management of man-made environmental problems, this study contributes to critical accounting and environmental accounting literature.