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This study explores the institutional field of sustainability assurance in South Africa to explain how this emerging practice, largely embedded in the mature field of auditing, operates. Employing the institutional pillars approach to analyze data obtained from in‐depth interviews, archival sources, and documentary reviews, the study shows mechanisms by which governing norms of the sustainability assurance field in South Africa are maintained despite a conspicuous gap between the desired purpose of sustainability assurance and its actual practice. Building on prior research on capture of sustainability assurance field, we identify an institutional outcome of total—that is, managerial and professional—capture conditioned by (1) malleability of the objective and scope of sustainability assurance engagements and (2) inadequate regulative pillars that failed to manage the multiple and competing interests in the sustainability assurance field. We show that total capture enabled maintaining field norms of sustainability assurance that cater for the interests of assurors and clients with limited regard to enhancing corporate environmental sustainability. The study contributes to the literature by highlighting the institutional outcome of embedding the emerging practice of sustainability assurance in an established field of auditing in a setting with weak regulative pillars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to fill gap in the literature and explore policy options for resolving the problems of accountability by framing three research questions. The research questions are (i) whether certain elements of Scott's (2014) institutional pillars attenuate (accentuate) corporate and public accountability; (ii) whether the presence of ruling party-affiliated enterprises (RPAEs) create an increase (decrease) in the degree of corporate (public) accountability; and (iii) whether there is a particular form of ownership change that transforms RPAEs into public investment companies. Design/methodology/approach: Using a qualitative research methodology that involves term frequency and thematic analysis of publicly available textual information, the paper examines Mechkova et al.'s (2019 forms of government accountability. The paper analyzes the gaps between the de jure and de facto accountability using the institutional pillars framework. Findings: The findings of the paper are three. First, there are gaps between de jure and de facto in all three (vertical, horizontal and diagonal) forms of government (public) accountability. Second, the study finds that more than three fourth of the parties that contested the June 2021 election did have regional focus. They did not advocate for accountability. Third, Ethiopia's RPAEs are unique. They have regional focus and are characterized by severe forms of agency and information asymmetry problems. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of the paper is its exploratory nature. Extending this research by using cross-country data could provide a more complete picture of the link between corporate (public) accountability and a country's institutional pillars. Practical implications: Academic research documents that instilling modern corporate (public) governance standards in the Sub Sahara Africa (SSA) region has shown mixed results. The analysis made in this paper is likely to inform researchers and policymakers about the type of change that leads to better corporate (and public) accountability outcomes. Social implications: The institutional change proposed in the paper is likely to advance the public interest by mitigating agency and information asymmetry problems and enhancing government accountability. The changes make the enterprises investable, save scarce jobs, enhance diversity and put the assets in RPAEs to better use. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper that uses the institutional pillars analytical framework to examine an SSA country's corporate (public) accountability problem. It demonstrates that accountability is a domestic and a (novel) traveling theory. The paper identifies the complexity of resolving the interlock between political institutions and business enterprises. It theorizes that it is impossible to instill modern corporate (public) accountability standards without changing regulatory, normative and cultural cognitive pillars of institutions. The paper contributes to the change management and public interest literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of institutional, macroeconomic, industry, and firm characteristics on the adjustment speed of corporate capital structure within the context of developing countries. Design/methodology/approach – The authors considers a sample of 986 firms drawn from nine developing countries in Africa over a period of ten years (1999-2008). The study develops dynamic partial adjustment models that link capital structure adjustment speed and institutional, macroeconomic, and firm characteristics. The analysis is carried out using system Generalized Method of Moments procedure which is robust to data heterogeneity and endogeneity problems. Findings – The paper finds that firms in developing countries do temporarily deviate from (and partially adjust to) their target capital structures. Our results also indicate that: more profitable firms tend to rapidly adjust their capital structures than less profitable firms; the effects of firm size, growth opportunities, and the gap between observed and target leverage ratios on adjustment speed are functions of how one measures capital structure; and adjustment speed tends to be faster for firms in industries that have relatively higher risk and countries with common law tradition, less developed stock markets, lower income, and weaker creditor rights protection. Research limitations/implications – Future research should focus on examination of the adjustment speed of debt maturity structure. Identification of industry-specific characteristics that affect the pace with which firms adjust their capital structure to the optimum is another possible avenue for future research. Practical implications – Our findings have practical implications for corporate managers, governments, legislators, and policymakers. Originality/value – The study focuses on firms in developing countries for which the literature on adjustment speed of capital structure is virtually non-existent. Furthermore, unlike previous works on capital structure, it explicitly models industry variable as one of the determinants of adjustment speed. Therefore, it contributes to the literature on capital structure and adjustment speed in general and to the literature on developing countries in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The study aims to investigate the role of institutions, macroeconomic conditions, industry and firm characteristics on firm's capital structure decision within the context of nine African countries. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 986 firms over the period 1999-2008 were analysed using a series of models that link institutional, macroeconomic, industry and firm-specific characteristics, on the one hand, and measures of capital structure, on the other. The paper used system generalized method of moments and seemingly unrelated regression which are robust to data heterogeneity and endogeneity problems to estimate the relationships between variables. Furthermore, the paper checked the robustness of findings using various estimation procedures. Findings – The paper found evidence that the legal and financial institutions, income level of the country in which a firm operates, growth rate of the economy and inflation matter in capital structure choices of firms in the sample countries. Furthermore, capital structure choice of firms in the sample countries was affected by industry and firm-specific characteristics. These findings signify the role that probability of bankruptcy, agency costs, transaction costs, tax issues, information asymmetry problems, access to finance and market timing play in capital structure decisions of firms in Africa. Research limitations/implications – As in most empirical studies, this study focused on listed firms. Nonetheless, future studies that focus on non-listed firms could add additional insights to the extant literature. Practical implications – The findings have practical implications for corporate managers, governments, legislators and policymakers in the African continent. Originality/value – The study focuses on firms in African countries for which cross-country studies such as this are rare. It also explicitly models industry variable as one of the determinants of capital structure, a marked departure from previous studies on capital structure decision of firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between graduate workplace competency standards and teaching effectiveness (competency) evidences used in colleges and universities. The cognitive, emotional and soft skills of students and academics, and teaching performance evaluation systems at two unrelated tertiary institutions were studied. The paper documents that teaching effectiveness instruments in use at two institutions, and by extension in several institutions do not measure the cognitive skills (core competency) of the professor, and the summative questions appear to relate to the individual's soft skills. The diagnostic feedback, given to the professor neither logically connect to improved teaching and learning outcomes, nor does it enable the individual to obtain improved scores in key summative performance evaluation questions. The implications of the finding for quality assurance in teaching and learning, graduate competency, faculty tenure and promotion, and international comparisons of academic qualifications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]