Intellectual capital disclosures and corporate governance:an empirical examination

Empirical examinations of the links between corporate governance and intellectual capital are underresearched, particularly from the context of emerging economies where corporate governance mechanisms tend to be largely ceremonial due to family dominance. This study aims to address this gap in the intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) literature by undertaking an empirical examination of the relationship between corporate governance and the extent of ICD of Bangladeshi companies. Inter alia, the key findings of this study suggest that there is a non-linear relationship between family ownership and the extent of ICD. This research also found that foreign ownership, board independence, and the presence of audit committees are positively associated with the extent of ICD. Conversely, family duality (i.e., where the positions of CEO and chairperson are occupied by two individuals from the same family) is negatively associated with the extent of ICD

The Effect of The Tumor Microenvironment on Multi-Drug Resistance and the Assessment of Agents that Overcome this Effect

Multidrug resistance (MDR) development is a major obstacle in the fight against cancer, primarily because of the over expression of ATP-binding cassette transporters (ABC transporters) such as P-glycoprotein (Pgp). Pgp typically protects cancer cells through the efflux of a diverse range of cytotoxic chemotherapeutics, such as Doxorubicin (DOX). Recently developed novel iron chelators (i.e., Dp44mT, DpC) demonstrate potent anti-tumor activity in these drug resistance cells. However, while the mechanism of Pgp drug efflux and function is known, the intracellular distribution and role of Pgp is yet to be determined. Additionally, the responsiveness to chemotherapeutics has been shown to be heavily influenced by the microenvironment of tumor cells. Thus, exploring these factors would be beneficial to potentially developing alternative agents and treatments to target MDR. This thesis consists of 6 chapters: A comprehensive literature review (Chapter 1 Introduction); a general methods chapter (Chapter 2 Materials and methods); 2 result chapters (Chapters 3-4) describing and discussing the results obtained; a concluding discussion of the findings and future directions (Chapter 5 Discussion) and a Bibliography (Chapter 6)

Family firm disclosure and accounting regulation reform in the Middle East : the case of Jordan

We examine the quality of accounting disclosures by family firms using mandatory and voluntary disclosures as proxies for the quality of disclosure. We find that family firms comply more fully with mandatory disclosure requirements than do non-family firms but they disclose significantly less voluntary information. We also document that the enhanced accounting regulation improves the strength of the association between family ownership and mandatory disclosure compliance. Another important finding is the greater disclosure, both mandatory and voluntary, for firms with high family ownership compared to firms with low family ownership

The value relevance of corporate voluntary disclosure in the Middle East : the case of Jordan

We examine whether higher voluntary disclosure, resulting from privatization and the accompanying governance reforms, enhances the value of privatized Jordanian firms. We use panel data for 243 firm-year annual reports (over a period of 9 years from 1996 to 2004) and employ univariate and multivariate tests in order to test our hypothesis,. We construct a governance index to proxy for the impact of privatized firms' governance on voluntary disclosure. Also, we control for the endogeneity of voluntary disclosure in its relation with firm value. Our multivariate results indicate that voluntary disclosure is positively associated with firm value. We also find that firm value is associated with industry types as a proxy for size. However, we did not find that growth and liquidity are associated with firm value

Value relevance of voluntary disclosure and the global financial crisis: evidence from China

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether the level of voluntary disclosure affects firm value in the Chinese capital market. It also investigates whether voluntary disclosure and the values of Chinese firms are influenced by the global financial crisis (GFC). Design/methodology/approach: The study used a sample of 714 firm-year annual reports of listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges over a period of five years from 2005 to 2009 and adopt a two-stage OLS (2SLS) procedure. Findings: It is found that the extent of voluntary disclosure has improved in China during the period studied. The multiple regression results indicate that more voluntary disclosure does not create value for Chinese firms. It is also observed that multinational ownership, non-executive directors, and audit committee presence are positively and significantly associated with voluntary disclosure. Furthermore, the study reports that state and individual ownerships are negatively associated with firm value while multinational ownership and liquidity have a positive significant association with firm value. During the financial crisis, voluntary disclosure continues to increase, however, firm value has decreased. Originality/value: Using data from the Chinese market, the study fills a research gap by examining the value relevance of voluntary disclosure and tests whether the Global Financial Crisis has influenced voluntary disclosure levels and Chinese firms' values