Failure of high profile companies such as Enron, World.com had initiated a call for an investigation to analyse the reason for such radical consequence to prevent further similar financial crises. One of the common factors identified by the researchers is the poor disclosure, transparency and Corporate Governance (CG) mechanisms. Similar to the UK, the compliance towards CG codes are voluntary for the majority of the countries around the globe including Kuwait. CG codes aimed to improve the governance of a company including transparency. Thus, voluntary disclosure had been examined by numerous academics to emphasise the importance of accountability, transparency that in turn increase the confidence of investors and creditors in the financial markets of emerging economies. This thesis is based on Kuwait, as it is a resource rich country and attracts foreign investments. The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) issued instructions for CG mechanism especially to the financial sector in 2004. From the research in hand, there was no longitudinal study in Kuwait concerning the impact of GC mechanism to voluntary disclosure. The sample in this thesis consists of 155 Kuwaiti listed companies from 2007 to 2010, 620 firm-year observations. A self-constructed index was developed to evaluate the level of voluntary disclosure and how it developed over time. Both univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were used. Most of the thesis results were consistent with previous studies; there was a gradual increase in the level of voluntary disclosure and its categories over the observed period. All CG mechanisms findings revealed significant associations with voluntary disclosure, except board size and role duality, have a negative significant association. Ownership structure indicates insignificant association with voluntary disclosure. Firm characteristics have a significant positive association with voluntary disclosure, except profitability, has a significant negative association, while gearing is found an insignificant association. Furthermore, the level of voluntary disclosure in the financial sector is higher than the non-financial sector. The contributions to knowledge in this thesis are; 1) It is the first empirical longitudinal study in Kuwait concerning voluntary disclosure, and its relationship with GC mechanism, ownership structure and firm characteristics, as far as the researcher is aware. 2) It provided evidence of the importance of CG to enhancing the level of voluntary disclosure in Kuwait business environment, especially that the level of voluntary disclosure in the financial sector is higher than the non-financial sector. 3) Employed many quantitative methods, such as OSL regression, Normal score, GLS regression, Tobit regression and Quantile regression (divided into 25%, 50% and 75%). 4) A self-constructed index, which was developed in this thesis, could be suitable for other Arab Gulf countries that are similar in the business environment and experiencing the same economic changes. 5) Provides evidence of the possibility of employing the disclosure theories derived from developed countries in emerging countries. 6) It is possible to generalise the results of the disclosure index to other companies not investigated in this thesis. Moreover, this thesis implies that the legislative and regulatory authorities, in particular, the capital markets authority Kuwaiti, need to increase efforts to enhance the role of corporate governance practices in Kuwaiti listed companies.

In the aftermath of the 1997/1998 Asian financial crisis, there are signs that in Malaysia, corporate governance practices are gradually converging towards the Anglo-American model. Drawing on three key theoretical lenses, namely agency theory, institutional theory and resource dependence theory, this study investigates an unexplored phenomenon in corporate governance reformation, at least in the context of Malaysia. The study examines the relationship between corporate governance elements and the level of foreign equity ownership (FEO) in Malaysian public listed companies (PLCs). More specifically, the aim of this study is to answer the following research question - Does corporate governance influence the level of FEO in Malaysian companies? In the context of this study, corporate governance is taken to be the aggregate of board of directors characteristics, directors attributes and ownership structure. On the other side of the equation is FEO, which is taken to be the proportion of equity owned by foreigners. The majority of foreign investors who are making investments in Malaysia originate from Western countries, and are accustomed to the Anglo-American corporate governance system. Thus, this study examines the influence of governance mechanisms in attracting foreign investors in a unique governance context following a major economic event i.e. the Asian financial crisis of 1997/1998. Accompanied by institutional theory and resource dependence theory, agency theory is used as the key lens to explain the hypothesised relationships. The study's hypotheses are tested using the panel data derived from 1,836 observations over a 12 year period, from 2000 through 2011. By considering the existence of heteroscedasticity and the serial correlation problems, the generalised least square (GLS) method was employed to estimate the model. To enrich the findings, logistic regression analysis was further applied and the potential endogeneity issue was resolved with a GMM test. The findings indicate that the level of FEO in Malaysian PLCs is significantly related to foreign directorships, the Western educational background of directors, professional directors, and multiple-directorships. However, the results defy the significant relationships of board size and outside directors, as generally proposed in the extant literature. In addition, the role of ownership structure is important in foreign investors behaviour, since it is found that foreign investors avoid investing in family-controlled companies and in companies with high institutional ownership. Therefore, from the overall results of this study, it can be concluded that there is evidence that corporate governance mechanisms do influence foreign investors decision making, at least in Malaysian PLCs. The implications of this study are discussed in terms of the relevant literature, theory, methodology and practice. In brief, this study has great potential impact in many respects including its relevance for policymakers in setting up new policies, designing new rules and strengthening existing regulations, both at country and firm levels.

This study extends previous research on the effects of executive board diversity by examining the relationship between age-, gender- and nationality diversity on firm performance in the Netherlands. Based on a sample of 79 Dutch listed firms studied over the period 2010-2015, this study reports a positive link between board diversity and firm performance. Firm performance is, hereby, estimated using a forward-looking market performance measure (Tobin’s Q) and a backward-looking accounting measure (ROA).

The objective of the thesis is the comparative analysis of a system of corporate officers remuneration. The present state of the corporate officers remuneration in the Czech Republic and abroad will be analyzed. For the analysis data from selected companies will be used.

Magister Legum - LLM / Corporate governance is a principle that has had multiple evolving definitions. The Cadbury Report (also known as Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance) of 1992 is a report that sets out recommendations for best practice of a company board. Although the Cadbury Report was ideally formulated to apply to companies in the United Kingdom, its recommendations have formed the basis of many international codes over the years. It refers to corporate governance as the "system by which companies are directed and controlled". Solomons also explores the definitions of corporate governance in her book titled 'Corporate Governance and Accountability'. She acknowledges the existence of ‘narrow’ definitions and ‘broader’ definitions. Narrow definitions are more concerned with corporate accountability to a company’s shareholders. On the other hand, broader definitions seek to identify corporate accountability to shareholders and stakeholders. This definition encompasses a larger group of people, which include the society at large, future generations and the environment. For the purposes of this research, the broader definition will be utilised. Simply put, corporate governance refers to the practice in which companies are managed and controlled. This is achieved through balancing the interests of the many stakeholders of a company such as; employees, shareholders, suppliers, management, the government and many others. Corporate governance aims to create an environment whereby the company is managed in a way which promotes the interests of the stakeholders. These include, but are not limited to; the balance of powers in a company, compliance with laws and regulations, identification and management of potential risks, and ensuring accountability for its actions. In a nutshell, corporate governance can be viewed as the responsible leadership, governing and sustainability of a company. On the other hand, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be viewed as a branch of corporate governance and this shall be discussed further below. In many parts of the world, CSR functions as a voluntary code of conduct. This means that corporate entities are usually guided by a set of principles of good intent. Corporate entities are expected to self-regulate their affairs with their social effects in mind. Some scholars strongly believe that the voluntary nature of CSR is its very essence. It is a value that has to be realized through free will and philanthropy. However on the other hand, other scholars believe that this flexibility can be misused.

77 Abstract Economic and Legal Aspects of Corporate Governance with regard to the Impacts of the Financial Crisis in 2007 - 2009 This thesis deals with the impact of the financial crisis that occured from 2007 to 2009 on corporate governance of the United States, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, the OECD and the European Union. Even before the financial crisis, companies like Enron or WorldCom has already shown the need to regulate corporate governance but the responses to those bancrupts have not been sufficient because they could not prevent the financial crisis a few years later. The financial crisis is regarded as well as a crisis of corporate governance and the aim of this work is to analyze this crisis and its solution. The thesis is divided into 8 chapters, where the first chapter briefly gives definitions introduces the issues of corporate governance and the second chapter briefly describes the causes and course of the financial crisis. The next chapters deal with the impact of the crisis on corporate governance where the main topics addressed are compensation, risk management, practices and responsibilities of the board and the role of shareholders. The last chapter is devoted to description of corporate governance and its shift since the financial crisis. Finally, the conclusion summarizes...

Die Dissertation untersucht die Fragestellung, ob aufgrund rechtlicher Regelungen eine gesetzlich begründete Pflicht zur Unternehmensplanung bei kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen (KMU) besteht, bzw. ob eine solche Pflicht gesetzlich verankert werden sollte, falls sich aus den aktuellen gesetzlichen Vorschriften keine solche Pflicht ableiten lässt. Daran anknüpfend werden in die Betrachtung auch die Auswirkungen der Abschlussprüfung und der Unternehmensfinanzierung auf die Unternehmensplanung bei KMU mit einbezogen. Die Untersuchungen bewegen sich vor dem Hintergrund, dass die Informationen über die zukünftige Entwicklung der Unternehmen durch eine Vielzahl von Gesetzesreformen innerhalb der letzten ca. 15 Jahre, verstärkt an Bedeutung gewonnen haben. Ziel dieser Reformen ist es, die Transparenz und Publizität der Unternehmen, die Kontrolle der Unternehmensführung und die Qualität der Abschlussprüfung zu verbessern. Grundlage der Informationen über die zukünftige Entwicklung der Unternehmen ist die klassische betriebswirtschaftliche interne Unternehmensplanung, welche allerdings im Segment der KMU regelmäßig nicht vorhanden ist. Um dieses Problem zu lösen, wird vielfach eine gesetzliche Planungspflicht für alle Unternehmen gefordert. Erschwert werden die Untersuchungen durch die Tatsache, dass es in Deutschland keine einheitliche Definition für KMU gibt, so dass im Rahmen der Dissertation verschiedenen Typen von KMU entwickelt werden, die den späteren Betrachtungen als Grundlage dienen. Der Aufbau sowie die Hauptthesen der Dissertation werden im Folgenden zusammenfassend skizziert: Den Hauptbetrachtungen der Dissertation vorangestellt, werden in Kapitel 2 die Grundzüge der betriebswirtschaftlichen interne Unternehmensplanung dargestellt. Die dargestellte Konzeption einer betriebswirtschaftlichen Unternehmensplanung dient als Basis der späteren Ausführungen. In Kapitel 3 werden verschiedene Typen von KMU vor dem Hintergrund der für diese Unternehmen charakteristischen Merkmale entwickelt. Unterschieden wird zwischen typischen KMU (erfüllen die qualitativen und quantitativen Merkmale für KMU) und atypischen KMU (erfüllen lediglich die quantitativen Merkmale). Unter Zuhilfenahme einer Studie von Wolter/ Hauser wird eine zahlenmäßige Einteilung der einzelnen KMU-Typen, aufgegliedert in verschiedene Rechtsformen vorgenommen, so dass die Bedeutung der KMU-Typen innerhalb der jeweiligen Rechtsformen ermittelt werden kann. Anschließend wird die Durchführung der Unternehmensplanung bei KMU unter Berücksichtigung der bei diesen vorherrschenden charakteristischen Strukturen erörtert. Kapitel 4 untersucht die Auswirkungen der aktuellen Gesetzgebung zur Unternehmensführung auf die Unternehmensplanung bei KMU. Im Fokus der Betrachtung stehen dabei die folgenden Vorschriften: - Die Fortbestehensprognose gem. § 252 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 HGB mit einem Exkurs zur Fortbestehensprognose im Rahmen der InsO; - die Sorgfaltspflicht und die „Business Judgment Rule“ gem. § 93 Abs. 1 Satz 1 und 2 AktG; - das Überwachungssystem gem. § 91 Abs. 2 AktG; - die Berichterstattungspflichten des Vorstands an den Aufsichtsrat gem. § 90 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 AktG; - die zukunftsorientierte Lageberichterstattung gem. § 289 Abs. 1 Satz 4 HGB; die Untersuchungen werden erweitert um eine empirische Analyse zur zukunftsorientierten Lageberichterstattung im Segment der KMU. In Kapitel 5 wird die Bedeutung der Unternehmensplanung bei KMU für die Abschlussprüfung untersucht. Die Ausführungen kommen zu dem Ergebnis, dass sich zwischen den aktuellen für alle Unternehmen gültigen Prüfungsstandards des IDW auf der einen Seite und dem ebenfalls durch das IDW herausgegebenen Prüfungshinweis zu den Besonderheiten der Abschlussprüfung von KMU (IDW PH 9.100.1) auf der anderen Seite, erhebliche Abweichungen ergeben. Kapitel 6 erläutert und diskutiert die Auswirkungen und Anforderungen der im Jahr 2006 beschlossenen Basler Eigenkapitalanforderungen auf bzw. an die Unternehmensplanung bei KMU. Im Ergebnis wird festgestellt, dass sich eine Planungspflicht lediglich aus der Vorschrift des § 90 Abs. Nr. 1 AktG für KMU in der Rechtsform der AG und KGaA ergibt. Für die Erfüllung anderer Normen ist die Unternehmensplanung teilweise zwingende Voraussetzung. Diese Problematik sollte jedoch nicht durch die Verankerung einer Unternehmenspflicht für alle Unternehmen behoben werden, sondern vielmehr sollten diese Normen bzgl. ihrer Auswirkungen auf KMU überdacht werden. Eine gesetzliche Verankerung einer Planungspflicht aus Sicht der Wirtschaftsprüfung wird ebenfalls abgelehnt. Für den Bereich der Unternehmensfinanzierung bedarf es keiner gesetzlichen Regelungen, da sämtliche Anforderungen privatvertraglich fixiert werden können. / no abstract available

Research thesis submitted in partial fulfilment (50%) of the Degree of Master of Commerce University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management – School of Accountancy 2015 / Executive remuneration has been under intense scrutiny by both investors and the media over the past 10 to 20 years because of the increasing magnitude of these remuneration packages (Otten, 2007; Sapp, 2007). This research report explores the relationship between executive director remuneration and the performance of publically listed companies (JSE) in South Africa, as well as ascertaining whether any relationship exists between director profiles and director remuneration. The study population comprised all South African companies listed on the JSE during 2014. The final sample consisted of 49 companies after the transformation of the data. A total of 708 director profiles were examined. The results of the study appeared to indicate a lack of correlation between executive director remuneration and company performance in publically listed South African companies. On the other hand, the results of the regression provided empirical support for the existence of a significant positive relationship between director remuneration and total assets. The results also illustrated that, in general, directors who are male over the age of 50 and who have served as directors for periods of between six to 10 years receive higher total remuneration compared to other classes of directors. It was also noted that race appeared not to play a role in director remuneration. Key words: Executive director remuneration, executive director profiles, company performance, ROA, Tobin’s Q / MT2017

Corporations as such are often not perceived to have moral agency, and directors and officers of the corporation are frequently not considered responsible for corporate actions. However, I appeal to Peter French's view that reflection on a corporate internal decision (CID) procedure shows that a corporation should be considered a moral agent. Many writers have cast doubt on the correctness of French's view, but I defend it from several major objections.

Thesis (M. Com. (Accountancy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Accountancy, 2014 / Academic and commercial interest in the corporate governance practices of publicly listed companies has increased significantly in recent years (Rossouw, 2005). With high-profile corporate failures such as Enron and WorldCom heightening the interest in corporate governance practices (Rashid, 2011). It has become evident that the performance of well governed firms is superior to that of less well governed firms (Kyereboah-Coleman & Biekpe, 2005). Despite the fact that corporate governance is multi-dimensional (Kyereboah-Coleman & Biekpe, 2005), this study focused on the impact of board composition (defined by the percentage representation of independent non-executive directors on the board) and board size on the firm performance measures namely; Tobin’s Q (TOB), return on assets (ROA), and return on equity (ROE) of firms listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE). Annual data, from the period 2006 to 2012 was used while the analysis of data was done using the Multiple Regression Analysis Model. After having analysed the research results, it was found that no significant relationship exists between the proportion of independent non-executive directors on the board and board size, and firm performance measures. Thus, this research study suggests that performance of South African companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange is not influenced by board composition and board size.