This thesis investigates the effects of micro-saving on the performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) using unbalanced panels that straddle the period 2000-2012. This issue is also examined in a country-specific case study of Vietnam. There are four important findings. First, we found that serving more voluntary savers is costly and curtails depth of microfinance outreach. Second, micro-savings, in terms of the total deposits and the number of deposit accounts per staff member have a positive and significant impact on financial sustainability, cost-efficiency and breadth of outreach of MFIs. Third, a trade-off between financial sustainability and depth of outreach was found for deposit-taking MFIs, compared with MFIs that do not offer micro-savings financial products. Fourth, the findings from the cross-country studies are consistent with the findings from Vietnam. Overall, these findings have important implications for policy makers, microfinance practitioners and researchers.

This study investigates the predictive ability of current and past cash flows with respect to the estimation of future cash flow, and compares this predictive ability with that of current and past earnings. Future cash flow is estimated in this study on the basis of a model hierarchy that initially incorporates aggregated predictors and then their disaggregated components, with the objective of improving on conventional research design with respect to the problematic issues surrounding missing values in source databases, extreme values in the sampled data and variability in fiscal year length. In determining whether the disaggregation of earnings into cash flow, accruals and their components adds to the predictive ability of cash flow, the present thesis also documents out-of-sample accuracy tests for the UK based on initial in-sample estimations, with accruals being computed using both the information in the Statement of Cash Flows and the information that may be derived from Balance Sheet changes. Using the information in the Statement of Cash Flows, the results of the in-sample estimation indicate that, whilst there is no notable difference between the ability of cash flow and aggregate earnings to predict future cash flow, the disaggregation of earnings into cash flow and accruals improves the prediction. The out-of-sample accuracy tests confirm the standard result that this disaggregated earnings model is a better predictor of future cash flow. In contrast, this thesis shows that, when using information in the Balance Sheet, by way of changes from one period to the next, the results of both the in-sample estimation and the out-of-sample accuracy tests show that disaggregated earnings is unable to outperform aggregate earnings in predicting future cash flow. Nevertheless, when the total accrual is further disaggregated into its deferral and accrual components, in-sample estimation reveals additional improvement in predictive ability, using each of the two sources of information to compute total accruals (the Statement of Cash Flows and Balance Sheet changes), although this is less evident with the out-of-sample tests. Whilst further analysis indicates that disaggregation is more informative when the firm size is large, the magnitude of accruals is low and the firm reports a positive CFO and EBIT, the thesis shows that the ability of the estimation models to predict future cash flow differs across industries in the UK, and that the findings are generally sensitive to the effect of database choice, the fiscal year length, and the identification and treatment of unrecorded data.

This thesis explores Corporate Social Responsibility disclosures related to gender equality and female empowerment in a developing country context. The study identifies Saudi Arabia as a country undergoing a State-driven gendered transformation in its society, in which laws and regulations positively targeting females are embedded within its National plans and country visions. The investigation used Nvivo Pro 11 to follow voluntary corporate disclosures of eleven (11) national organisations for a period of ten years (2005-2015) to determine the extent of textual and visual disclosures related to gender equality and female empowerment communicated to the public within that time frame. An index card was developed based on the literature and best practice in reporting on gender from international and local frameworks to analyse 140 corporate reports. Findings from the content analysis fed the exploration of the drivers behind this reporting practice. Twenty-nine (29) semi-structured interviews were conducted with 4 participant groups (Companies, Governing bodies, Financial analysts and CSR consultants) in addition to one focus group with female job seekers to determine the factors that influence reporting on gender in the Saudi context. Three theoretical frameworks led the analysis; Stakeholder theory (Freeman, 2010), Institutional Theory(Meyer and Rowan, 1977) and Resource Dependency Theory (Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978). By adopting triangulation in both theory and methodology, findings indicate that workplace gender equality disclosures dominate within the reports, followed by disclosures empowering females within the community. Gender equality organisational practices are led by State legislation and National plans while reporting on gender is driven by institutional factors rooted in the culture and norms of the region.

Local government accounting in Portugal has been through a radical transformation since 1999. As additions to the traditional cash-based budgetary accounting, the system now includes accrual-based financial accounting and reporting, as well as cost accounting. The keystone for the changes was the Chart of Accounts for Local Government, issued in 1999 as a consequence of a wider reform process (comprising administrative, financial management and accounting issues) started in 1990 for the whole Portuguese Public Administration. This thesis describes how the Portuguese local government accounting system currently works, specifically addressing budgetary, financial and cost accounting techniques. Using Lüder’s Financial Management Reform Process Model, it also explains the current innovations in the Portuguese governmental accounting, and presents the context within which the reforms have been taking place. The same framework is used to predict the conduciveness to future developments, providing some insights into the probability of further reforms. Finally, it offers an inductive theory of Portuguese local government accounting in comparative-international perspective, in comparison with the United Kingdom. In the process, this shows that, despite the similarities in the form and content of the reports produced, differences still remain as to their aims and purposes.

This thesis examines the role of internal auditors in three key areas: strategy, control models and control self assessment. Research findings are based on the results of a survey of a specialist group of professionals with an interest in Control Self Assessment. This group comprises both internal auditors and non-internal auditors. Membership is multinational and a full range of industries is represented. The actual and potential contribution that internal auditors can make to strategy is assessed and evaluated, with particular reference to the Balanced Scorecard. Control models were examined to identify use and effectiveness and the potential link with successful implementation of Control Self Assessment. Control Self Assessment was also examined as a specific activity. This part of the research addressed how it was perceived by the respondents and their organisations, and also to examine the importance of facilitation skills and IT support. The results show that internal auditors already play a significant role in strategic issues, and that there is a significant awareness of the potential benefits of the Balanced Scorecard to internal audit practice. Control models are seen as highly important to the effective implementation of Control Self Assessment, which can be seen to have developed into a mature and established audit tool.

The primary objective of the thesis is to investigate whether African banks use loans loss provisions estimates to smooth reported earnings, and to determine the factors that influence the extent of earnings smoothing among African banks. Earnings smoothing via loan loss provision has been examined in several regions, but the case of Africa remain unexplored in the literature. In the thesis, earnings smoothing is viewed as an earnings management practice while loan loss provisions estimate is considered to be the tool used by African banks to smooth reported earnings. Using African bank data obtained from Bankscope database, I test the earnings smoothing hypothesis for 370 African banks during the 2002 to 2014 period using the specific-accrual approach. The specific-accrual approach estimates a specific discretionary accrual as a function of its non-discretionary determinants and other factors that influence the manipulation of the specific accrual. The model specification expresses discretionary loan loss provisions as a function of earnings before provisions and tax, its non-discretionary determinants and other factors that influence the decision regarding the level of bank provisions for each period. The findings indicate that African banks manipulate loan loss provisions estimates to smooth reported earnings and this behaviour is influenced by bank differences, accounting disclosure differences and institutional differences across African countries. The primary contribution to knowledge of the thesis is its extension of our understanding of the role of discretionary accruals in the bank financial reporting, focusing on African banks - a context that has not been extensively examined in the literature. Also, the thesis extends the bank earnings smoothing debate to the African context and the findings of this study are useful to bank regulators in Africa in their evaluation of whether bank loan loss provisions solely reflect credit risk considerations or whether bank loan loss provisions estimates reflect opportunistic considerations of African bank managers. Finally, the findings are useful to local accounting standard setters in the region in their evaluation of several accounting numbers that bank managers might use to manipulate reported earnings.

This thesis investigates the effectiveness of Corporate Governance (CG) reforms in Pakistan. Using a sample of 160 Pakistani firms from 2003 to 2013 and governance data collected manually from the annual reports, this thesis investigates seven closely related and important corporate issues that are related to the compliance of governance rules. Specifically, it aims to : (i) investigate the degree of CG compliance with 2002 Pakistani Code of CG (PCCG); (ii) determine whether the introduction of 2002 PCCG has improved Pakistani CG practices; (iii) investigate the determinants of CG compliance and disclosure for Pakistani listed firms; (iv) test the nexus between CG compliance with the 2002 PCCG and firms’ cost of capital (COC); (v) investigate the impact of different individual CG mechanisms on listed firms COC; (vi) examine how different ownership structures impact on firms’ COC; and (vii) analyse relationship between CG structures and Cost of Equity (COE) as well as Cost of Debt (COD) for Pakistani listed firms. These empirical investigations report some important results. First, the reported findings suggest that Pakistani firms have responded positively to governance disclosure requirements over the eleven year period from 2003 to 2013. The results also show that the introduction of the PCCG in 2002 has improved CG standards by Pakistani listed firms. Second, the reported results related to the determinants of CG compliance demonstrate that significant and positive association between institutional, government and foreign ownership with CG compliance. However, findings relating to the determinants of CG compliance show a negative and significant association between board size and block ownership with CG compliance and disclosure. The study finds no significant relationship between director ownership, audit firm size and the presence of female board members with the constructed Pakistan Corporate Governance Index (PCGI). Third, the investigation on the relationship between CG and COC report a significantly negative nexus between PCGI and firms’ COC. The investigation on the association between ownership structures and COC report a negative and significant nexus between block ownership with firms’ COC. Further, a number of robustness analyses performed in this study suggest that the empirical results reported in this study are generally robust to the alternative CG variables, alternative COC variables and potential endogeneity problems.

To date, very few studies have investigated accounting absence in organisations, and only two of these have investigated the absence of accounting in higher education (HE). This has posed difficulties to the author of this thesis to identify a framework of accounting absence against which to conduct the research. To mitigate this, the Grounded Theory (GT) approach was applied and developed in this research to facilitate an in-depth explanation of the issue of accounting absence. Subsequently, the researcher extensively and intensively conducted semi-structured interviews in addition to reviewing documents that would shed light on the status of accounting in the case study. Empirically, this study has – in depth - explored, examined and understood accounting absence in a leading and public university in Saudi Arabia which should contribute to the few related studies in HE and the public sector in general and in developing countries in particular. The origin, status and daily practices of its accounting system were described. For example, this research found that the University’s antiquated accounting system had rarely been subject to any updates or developments since the rules were first established in 1956, although they are criticised for being primitive, bureaucratic and centralised. After comparing the open and axial codes to reach a saturation stage of developing a theory, a substantive theory of accounting absence was introduced to explain accounting absence, and describes conditions that create, resist and/or sustain the absence of accounting by describing the strategies that are applied by those conditions. The consequences of accounting absence and these strategies are described, and finally, this research defined accounting absence, drawing a distinction between technical absence and functional absence. The substantive theory is then compared with the extant literature where this research found a new type of decoupling taking place, and new practices of coercive pressure. After the comparisons, a Formal Grounded Theory was developed to achieve an abstract theory of accounting absence that should be more applicable to studies on accounting absence in general and accounting absence in the field of HE in particular.

This thesis deals with the various ways taxpayers have employed to avoid paying tax on income, profits and gains and the responses of the judges and legislators. Each type of avoidance is followed from its first appearance to the present day, where appropriate. The respective manoeuvres of the taxpayers, on the one hand, and the Legislature, on the other, are chartered, as is the attitude of the courts. There are four sections. In the first, the various categories of tax avoidance arrangements that have been implemented over the years in the United Kingdom are examined. The second is concerned with international tax avoidance as seen from a United Kingdom perspective. Thirdly, the approach in the United Kingdom is compared with that of other countries, with particular reference to the United States of America, Canada and Australia. The last section analyses the role of the judges and examines the extent to which they have been prepared to look through the form of a transaction to consider the underlying substance. The role of the judges as makers of tax law is also considered. The way in which the subject was researched was to examine each category of tax avoidance in a chronological order, beginning with the first moves by the taxpayer, and charting the ensuing battle of wits between the taxpayer and the Legislature from the standpoint of those who have had to adjudicate on the process: the Judges.

This research investigates the phenomenon of budgeting practices in the Tanzanian Central Government. It seeks to understand how budgeting systems under the New Public Management (NPM), World Bank- and IMF-exhorted systems were adopted and implemented. There were several motives for this research: the significance of budgeting in financial management, the sparsity of empirical studies on NPM in developing countries, and a call for an understanding of the local contexts of the country and an evaluation of the reforms themselves. Additionally, the complexity of NPM reforms and the mixed results of previous empirical studies, indicated the need for a more appropriate methodology. The study adopts interpretive research and executes a grounded theory strategy. It develops a substantive grounded theory on budgeting practices and a formal grounded theory on accounting changes in organizations (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Strauss, 1987). Fieldwork was undertaken in three Tanzanian Ministries. Struggling for conformance is the central phenomenon of the substantive and the formal grounded theory. The substantive grounded theory explained a process through which the Tanzanian Central Government actors were determined to implement budgetary reforms, despite difficulties. Struggling for conformance was illustrated by the establishment of rhetorically applied (rhetorical) rules and regulations, followed by budgeting attempts and games in their implementation, due to the uncertain environment, complex budgeting systems, the donors‟ influence, and cultural and administrative practices. The process of struggling for conformance had positive and negative impacts on budgeting operations and budgeting allocations. The formal grounded theory proposes that organizations adopt and implement accounting changes in order to achieve legitimacy, efficiency and self-interests. Rhetorical rules on accounting changes are established and implemented through accounting attempts and games, which may reveal the coexistence of instrumental and ceremonial aspects of accounting (Covaleski and Dirsmith, 1991), and even fulfill individual, rather than organizational, interests (strategic deterioration). Struggling for conformance is caused by conflicting and enabling power, complex rules, and a fragmented environment. Its consequences reflect the extent of the acquisition of efficiency and legitimacy. This research contributes to the limited amount of empirical accounting research on NPM in developing countries, to grounded theory and interpretive accounting research, and to the expansion of New Institutional Sociology. It further provides a framework of struggling for conformance, which produces possible explanations for the complexities of budgetary and NPM reforms, the adoption and implementation of accounting changes in organizations, and loose coupling.