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The main aim of this study is to examine the effect of investment in outside governance monitoring (IOGM), through non-executive directors' remuneration (NEDR) and external audit fees (AFEE), on real earnings management (REM) in an emerging market in the Southeast Asia region, Malaysia.

The data comprises 1,056 observations from manufacturing companies listed on Bursa Malaysia for the four-year period, 2013 to 2016. The study tests IOGM individually and aggregately with REM. Feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) regression is used to test the hypotheses.

The results show that NEDR is negatively and significantly associated with REM. Likewise, AFEE is significantly associated with lower REM. Aggregate IOGM significantly mitigates REM. Additional tests conducted show consistent findings.

This evidence supports agency theory and signaling theory, that a high level of investment in governance monitoring signals a high demand for monitoring and fewer agency problems. It justifies more investment in outside scrutiny and monitoring to limit the existence of managers' opportunistic behavior in concentrated markets. This study relies on an aggregate measure of REM and focuses on manufacturing companies in Malaysia; thus, the results may not be the same using other measurements and samples.

The study, to the best of the researchers' knowledge, is the first to document evidence in an emerging market suggesting that higher NEDR and AFEE are individually and aggregately associated with lower REM. Policymakers, shareholders and researchers may consider investment in these two mechanisms as a proxy of high-quality monitoring that mitigates REM.

This study aims to investigate the monitoring role of internal audit function (IAF) on real earnings management (REM) practices. It examines the effect of investment in IAF (IIAF) and IAF sourcing arrangements on REM, unlike prior literature which has mainly examined the effects of IIAF on accrual-based earnings management.

This study uses a sample of 1,056 observations from an emerging market, Malaysia, between 2013 and 2016. Feasible generalised least square (FGLS) regression is used to analyse the data. To corroborate the results of this study, the authors use an ordinary least square (OLS) regression model with robust standard errors adjusted and also consider alternative REM measures.

The results of this study suggest that IIAF has a significant negative relationship with REM practices. Further, in-house IAF sourcing has a significant negative association with REM. The additional analysis supports the main results confirming the essential role of IAF in reducing REM in the Malaysian market.

The evidence relates to the important role of IAF in mitigating REM practices. High-quality of IAF impairs managers’ ability to manage earnings in their own interests. The findings may be useful in informing regulators, managers, shareholders and other investors, as well as researchers, about improving the role of IAF.

This study contributes to the existing literature by providing the first evidence of the significant role of IIAF and IAF sourcing arrangements in mitigating REM in an emerging country.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the interplay between institutional investors' ownership (IIO), politically connected firms (POC) and sell-side analysts' stock recommendations (ASR).

This study employs ordinary least square (OLS) regression to test the hypotheses. The sample comprises 280 Malaysian public listed companies (PLC) and encompasses the 2008–2013 time frame (a total of 735 observations).

The results show a significant and positive link between IIO and ASR. In addition, a negative association is found between POC and ASR. Moreover, the POC weakens the positive relationship between the IIO and ASR.

One important implication of this study is that political involvement in corporate decisions is a prominent characteristic of the Malaysian market, which can significantly affect the information environment and analysts' reactions.

The findings of this study provide useful empirical guidance to the regulators in evaluating the efficacy of recent regulatory initiatives. Investors may also gain useful insights from this study, specifically in recognising the crucial monitoring role played by institutional investors and how politically patronised firms are viewed unfavourably by equity analysts.

This study is one of the first to examine the joint influence of IIO and POC, on ASR.

This study aims to assess whether non-financial corporate social responsibility (CSR) information decreases audit risk and audit scope and enables speedier completion of audit reports. The study also investigates whether institutional investors’ ownership (IIO) has an influence on the association between CSR disclosures and audit report lag (ARL).

This study uses a sample of 154 Saudi firms over 2016–2021 (837 observations) and applies ordinary least square regression to examine the study hypotheses.

This study’s results show that ARL is significantly shorter for firms with higher CSR disclosures. Furthermore, the findings show that IIO has no significant impact on the association between CSR disclosures and ARL.

This study offers new insights into how auditors respond to CSR disclosures and whether institutional investor monitoring influences the audit process in an emerging economy.

The global economy has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has placed greater responsibility on companies to fulfill their obligations to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) amid the crisis. This chapter investigates the role of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) attributes in improving a firm's CSR in the emerging economy of Jordan and how the COVID-19 pandemic modifies this relationship. Using a Jordanian sample of 655 firm-year observations during the 2014–2021 period, the research results show that older CEOs, well-educated CEOs, CEOs' remuneration, and CEOs' ownership positively correlate with CSR reporting. However, long-tenured CEOs are associated with lower CSR initiatives. The subsample analysis findings also validate the significance of CEO attributes in improving CSR practice during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the prepandemic period. These findings are beneficial for the regulatory setters to understand better whether CEO attributes are linked to engagement in CSR-related information. This research is among the limited number of studies that have explored how CEO attributes impact CSR reporting for the stakeholder's welfare. Moreover, it uniquely concentrated on contrasting the findings before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Integrated reporting (IR) is a new trend in corporate reporting that has spread rapidly in recent years for disclosing financial and non-financial information. This study aims to assess the status of the current regulations and the trends in IR disclosure practice in an emerging market, Malaysia, by providing a comparative analysis of the IR disclosure level (IRDL) and IR disclosure quality (IRDQ).

The current study has developed a comprehensive IR disclosure index based on the international integrated reporting framework (IIRF), which comprises 100 items divided into four categories (background, assurance and reliability, content and form). The data were collected from annual reports of companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia over the three years 2017 to 2019, based on 267 observations. Content analysis technique was used to evaluate and measure IRDL and IRDQ. Descriptive analysis was performed to provide the background statistics of the variables examined.

IR regulations are at an early stage, and IR adoption is still voluntary in the Malaysian market. Only 267 Malaysian company-year observations during the years 2017–2019 have adopted IR techniques. However, descriptive analysis results showed that Malaysian companies have moved towards the preparation of IR consistent with the IIRF. The findings indicate a significant increase in both IRDL and IRDQ over this period, after the recent recommendation by the Malaysian code of corporate governance (2017) on adopting IR. Further, the results show statistically significant differences in the mean of IRDL and IRDQ between large and small companies.

These results are important for regulators and policymakers in articulating new IR legislation in an emerging market and for corporate entities and investors in shaping their understanding of IR disclosure practice in the Malaysian institutional context.

To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, the study is among the first to address the IR regulation status and practice in Malaysian companies. It also established a comprehensive index for measuring IRDL and IRDQ based on the IIRF. The results add to the meagre descriptive literature on IR practice by providing comprehensive insights into IR practice from the perspective of an emerging country.