Internet Disclosure by Nonprofit Organizations: Empirical Evidence of Nongovernmental Organizations for Development in Spain
This article examines the relevance of technology, and particularly the Internet, for the improvement of accountability and transparency in nonprofit organizations. The novelty of our work regarding the previous empirical evidence resides in the fact that we have taken into account the means through which these organizations diffuse voluntary information. In this article, we have proposed a model of information disclosure for the Web sites of Spanish nongovernmental organizations for development (NGODs) that can serve as a guide for improving their informative transparency and their accountability. The empirical evidence obtained reveals that Spanish NGOD Web sites are primarily ornamental…
Audit fees and cost of debt: differences in the credibility of voluntary and mandatory audits
Despite the extensive research on audit fees, few studies have examined the effect of audit fees on the cost of debt. Based on the credence goods theory, we examine whether the effect of audits on the cost of debt is affected by the type of audit (voluntary or mandatory) and the audit fees, as well as whether there is a combined effect of voluntary audits and audit fees, so that the effect of voluntary audits on the cost of debt is affected by audit fees. Using a sample of Spanish SMEs, we find an asymmetric effect of audit fees on the cost of debt: higher audit fees are associated with a lower cost of debt for voluntarily audited companies, while the association is not significant for mand…
Audit and Earnings Management in Spanish SMEs
Abstract Evidence about the relation between earnings management and voluntary audits is scarce, and there is no research about the effectiveness of mandatory audits to improve earnings quality. Using a sample of Spanish SMEs, where some companies are mandatorily audited and some are exempt from audit, we examine if audits, either mandatory or voluntary, help to improve accounting quality by constraining earnings management. We also examine differences between voluntary and mandatory audits, as well as the role of Big 4 and Middle-Tier auditors. After controlling for other characteristics that affect earnings management, we find that audited companies have lower absolute discretionary accru…
Audit fees and earnings management: differences based on the type of audit
In spite of the extensive research about the impact of audit fees on audit quality, there is no research examining if the association between voluntary audits and audit pricing affects audit quality. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to empirically examine whether the effect of audit fees on audit quality, measured by the level of earnings management, is affected by the type of audit (voluntary vs mandatory), as well as whether the effect of audit fees on audit quality is different depending on the type of audit. Using a sample of Spanish SMEs composed of both voluntarily and mandatorily audited companies, we find that voluntary audits have higher quality when audit fees are lower, but th…
Cost of debt capital and audit in Spanish SMEs
Evidence about the effect of voluntary audits on the cost of debt is mixed, and there is no research about the effects of mandatory audits and the non-compliance with the audit requirement. Using a sample of Spanish SMEs, where some companies are exempt from audit and some are mandatorily audited, we examine if audits, either mandatory or voluntary, help to reduce the cost of debt. We do not find a significant association between voluntary audits and cost of debt, whereas companies that breach the audit requirement have a higher cost of debt than the mandatorily audited ones. This suggests that differences in the cost of debt between audited and unaudited companies are associated with a “pu…
Determinants of internet‐based corporate governance disclosure by Spanish listed companies
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the corporate governance information disclosed by Spanish listed companies on the internet, with the objective of assessing the extent and the influence of several corporate characteristics on the level of information voluntarily disclosed.Design/methodology/approachThe study took as its reference the existing literature on the examination of the quality of web sites and the importance of content as a key variable in determining web site quality. To quantify the corporate governance information disclosed by Spanish listed companies, three transparency indexes were designed. To contrast which variables determine the information provided online, …
Combined Effects of Auditing and Discretionary Accruals on the Cost of Debt: Evidence From Spanish SMEs
Previous literature shows mixed evidence on the effect of discretionary accruals and auditing on the cost of debt. We hypothesize that, in the SMEs setting, auditing can act as a substitute for accruals quality, and thus audits may mitigate the effect of discretionary accruals on the cost of debt. Using a sample of Spanish SMEs, we find that auditing is negatively related with the cost of debt, while higher discretionary accruals are related with a lower cost of debt. Nonetheless, this effect is lower than that one observed for audits. When considering the combined effect of both variables, the effect of discretionary accruals is replaced by that of auditing. These results suggest that, am…
Determinants of web site information by Spanish city councils
PurposeThe purpose of this research is to analyse the web sites of large Spanish city councils with the objective of assessing the extent of information disseminated on the internet and determining what factors are affecting the observed levels of information disclosure.Design/methodology/approachThe study takes as its reference point the existing literature on the examination of the quality of web sites, in particular the provisions of the Web Quality Model (WQM) and the importance of content as a key variable in determining web site quality. In order to quantify the information on city council web sites, a Disclosure Index has been designed which takes into account the content, navigabili…
Digital transparency and Web 2.0 in Spanish city councils
Abstract The purpose of this study is to provide a Web 2.0 Disclosure Index to measure the Web 2.0 presence of Spanish city councils and the information disclosed by them on these media, and to test whether the use of Web 2.0 tools and social media by local governments improve their Web 1.0 digital transparency. We have structured the Web 2.0 Index as the sum of three partial indexes, referred to presence, the content and the interactivity of the Web, and we have estimated these indexes by a content analysis of the city council's websites. We find that the use of Web 2.0 tools has an essentially ornamental focus, and thus it is necessary to increase the content disclosed, especially at the …
Corporate e-Governance Disclosure in the Digital Age: An Empirical Study of Spanish Listed Companies
Corporate governance research has focused mainly on the analysis of the information that firms ought to disclose and the effects of disclosure, basically without considering the media involved. This paper examines the relevance of technology, and particularly the internet, for the improvement of corporate governance and transparency in listed companies. The need for this study is clear in view of the increasing interest shown by supervisory authorities for the oversight of the European and US capital markets in regulating not only content but also the manner in which corporate governance information is disclosed over the internet. In this paper we have quantified three corporate governance …
Innovación docente y resultados del aprendizaje: un estudio empírico en la enseñanza de la contabilidad de costes
RESUMENEl objetivo de este trabajo es contrastar si la adopcion de metodos docentes innovadores tiene o no un efecto positivo sobre el rendimiento academico de los estudiantes. Para alcanzar dicho objetivo hemos desarrollado un estudio empirico en el que analizamos, durante cinco cursos academicos, dos grupos de estudiantes de la Universidad de Valencia que cursaron la asignatura de Contabilidad de Costes. El interes y la oportunidad de este estudio radican en que el desarrollo del proyecto de innovacion docente analizado, tuvo lugar antes de la incorporacion efectiva de la titulacion de Administracion y Direccion de Empresas al EEES. Los resultados alcanzados confirman que el rendimiento a…