research project
research project代写 This form will be used in order to allocate your research to a suitable supervisor. So please be mindful when selecting…
Please ensure you place this at the FRONT of your Research Proposal
| Matriculation number: | 2581922 |
| Title of your research project: | Characteristics of Board of Directors and Financial reporting quality |
| Degree Programme (MAcc, MFin, etc.) | MAcc |
Please tick one box under the “Subject” area and one box under the “Methodology” area.
This form will be used in order to allocate your research to a suitable supervisor. So please be mindful when selecting the following categories which relates to your proposal. Remember, you can ONLY select areas related to the degree that you are studying.
_____________________________________________________________________
Subject of your proposal and the main issues discussed in the proposal falls into which of the following categories: research project代写
☐ Accounting History
☐ Auditing
☐ Banking
☐ Business Ethics
☐ Corporate Finance
☒ Corporate Governance
☐ Financial / Capital Markets Behaviour
☐ Financial Reporting
☐ Management Accounting (including cost accounting, budgeting, etc.)
☐ Management Information / Management Control Systems
☐ Organizational Change
☐ Social and Environmental Reporting
☐ Taxation
☐ Other (please note here ………………………………………)
___________________________________________________________________
Methodology / Method: research project代写
According to your research proposal, which of the following methods will be adopted for your dissertation?
☐ ONLY Literature Review (without any empirical data collection using the following methods)
☐ (Laboratory/Field) Experiment
☐ Survey/Questionnaire
☐ Interview/Case Study
☒ Database, including Datastream, Bankscope, etc.
☐ Other (please note here ………………………………………)
Thank you very much for your collaboration!
PGT Dissertation Team
Table of Contents research project代写
1.2 The significance of the question/problem
3.1 Research approach, philosophy, and strategy
3.4 Data analysis and empirical model
Introduction research project代写
Corporate accounting scandals have become common in the past few decades, and with an increase in such scandals, questions have been raised about the overall integrity and the relevance of accounting as a profession. Aifuwa and Embele (2019) investigated whether or not board characteristics have any effects on the quality of financial reporting. It is important to note that corporate governance affects an array of operations in an organization, and as Alzoubi (2014) reiterate, the quality of corporate government could determine the difference the success or failure of an organization, and board characteristics is an important facet of corporate governance. The question that Aifuwa and Embele (2019) ask, therefore, is whether board characteristics as a facet of corporate governance significantly affects or impacts the quality of financial reporting.
Alzoubi (2012) investigated the how board characteristics can affect the quality of financial reporting in the Jordanian context, and reiterated the importance of quality corporate governance as one of the ways that companies in Jordan can resuscitate the investor confidence, especially as far as financial reporting is concerned. As a proxy for quality financial reporting, or financial reporting quality, Alzoubi (2012) used earning management as the dependent variable, and sought to determine the extent to which the effectiveness of the board affected earning management.
The author establishes that effectiveness of the board and corporate governance effectiveness in general can reduce earning management.
These findings contradict the findings by Aifuwa and Embele (2019), who concluded that board characteristics can only partially impact the quality of financial reporting, since from their findings, board diversity and board independence did not have any significant impact on financial reporting quality.
Kantudu and Samaila (2015), on the other hand, investigated the oil sector in Nigeria, and sought to understand what effects board characteristics had on the quality of financial reporting. The study argued that having an independent audit committee, CEO duality, power separation, and having independent directors are all factors that significantly influence the quality of financial reporting in an organization. This study partly contradicts the previous two studies on the effects or the significance of board characteristics on financial reporting quality. Clearly, the results tend to vary in different sectors, an indication that there is still not a clear link between the role of board characteristics in financial reporting quality.
Research question/problem research project代写
What is the impact of board characteristics on financial reporting quality?
The significance of the question/problem
Corporate accounting scandals persist in many countries across the world, and the investor’s confidence in the financial reporting of different companies has not seen much improvement either. The question has always been how companies can turn this around, which has led to an array of hypotheses including the proposition that when board characteristics are improved and optimized, then financial reporting quality would improve. Studies such as Kantudu and Samaila (2015), Alzoubi (2012), and Aifuwa and Embele (2019) among others have thus far, obtained mixed results as far as this proposition is concerned. One possible reason for these mixed results could be the fact that they investigated different contexts.
Based on the premise that good corporate governance promotes accountability, transparency, and lawfulness in general, promoting good corporate governance could lead to quality financial reporting. What is not known, however, is how exactly an important facet of corporate governance such as board characteristics affect financial reporting. The current study seeks to answer this question decisively by using a sample that constitutes companies from different countries and sectors. The study will utilize a sample that categorizes companies by size rather than by country or region. Most of the previous studies focused on a particular context, and this is why the results obtained have cannot be generalizable in terms of how board characteristics affect the quality of financial reporting. By filling this gap, the current study would have made very important contributions to the body of academic literature.
Motivation research project代写
Some of the key reasons why the researcher prefers this topic is the fact that financial reporting quality and corporate governance in general is an area that has attracted a lot of scholarly interest, and the researcher wanted to be part of the debate. Secondly, investor confidence is dependent on the quality of financial reporting, and investment is an important aspect of economic growth and stability, which is why government and other policymakers are interested in ensuring that financial reporting is scrupulously done. Thirdly, the researcher finds a gap in research, such that there are either very few or no studies that empirically examine the effect of board characteristics on financial reporting quality using an all-inclusive sample. The current study proposes the use of an all-inclusive sample that will use firm size rather than sector or region to select the sample. In other words, this study proposes a new way of examining this phenomenon.
Literature Review
This chapter will critically examine the various scholarly works that have examined this topic in the past, and will synthesize these findings to derive meaning in the context of the overarching research question. It examines studies carried out in different contexts such as Oba (2014) who investigates the Nigerian context, Alzoubi (2012), who investigates the Jordanian context, Vitolla, Raimo and Rubino (2020) who investigated the international context, and Cohen, Krishnamoorthy and Wright (2004) who carried out a critical review on the subject among many others. The arguments in these studies would be critically evaluated and synthesized in order to determine how effectively previous research has investigated the impact of board characteristics on financial reporting quality.
For the dissertation, the inclusion criteria of the studies to be reviewed would be as follows:
- All the studies to be included in the study must be relevant to the research topic
- All studies that examine the relationship between board characteristics and financial reporting quality will be included regardless of the context of the study, or the sector the study has been set.
- Studies on the relationship between corporate governance and financial reporting quality will also be included
- All studies included in the study will be no older than 25 years
- All studies to be included in the study must have been published in English.
The dissertation will target to examine at least 40 studies in the literature review section.
Methodology research project代写
Research approach, philosophy, and strategy
The current research will be driven by a positivist research paradigm, and a deductive approach. The positive research paradigm was the philosophical assumption in this study because the researcher will seek to objectively examine the research question, and also seeks to test hypotheses. A deductive approach facilitates this. The research strategy in this study will be an experimental research strategy since it will involve seeking to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the proxies of board characteristics and financial reporting quality. The researcher will seek to manipulate the independent variables to facilitate the measuring of the dependent variable.
The data on board characteristics such as board independence, board diversity, and board size among others would be obtained from the respective companies’ financial reports. The financial reporting quality will also be obtained from company websites and respective financial reports.
Variables
The dependent variable in this study is financial reporting quality. The proxy for financial reporting quality willing be earning management (EM).
The independent variable is board characteristics, and the proxies for board characteristics will include board size, independence of the board, and board diversity.
Data analysis and empirical model
Data analysis will be done using descriptive and inferential statistics. The tool that will be used for analysis will be SPSS or Stata. Multiple linear regression will be used to determine the cause-and-effect of the variables. The empirical model is as shown below;
Y (EM) = β0 + β1 (board size) + β2 (board diversity) + β3 (board independence) + ℯ board activity(number of meetings)
Possible limitations research project代写
One of the possible limitations of this study would be data unavailability on some of the companies that will be included in the sample. The current study will rely on the data that is published in the annual financial reports of the companies, and the availability and accuracy of this data could be something that is outside the control of the researcher.
Expected conclusions
The current study will examine how board characteristics (board size, independence of the board, and board diversity) impact financial reporting quality (EM), and the evidence from previous research will guide the empirical investigation, as well as help in identifying the gap in literature. The review of literature is expected to show mixed results, and the empirical analysis will most likely show significance of board characteristics as an influencing factor in financial reporting quality.
References research project代写
Aifuwa, H.O. and Embele, K., 2019. Board Characteristics and Financial Reporting. Journal of Accounting and Financial Management, 5(1), pp.30-44.
Alzoubi, E.S., 2012. Board characteristics and financial reporting quality among Jordanian listed companies: Proposing conceptual framework. Asian Journal of Finance & Accounting, 4(1), pp.245-258.
Alzoubi, E.S.S., 2014. Board characteristics and financial reporting quality: evidence from Jordan. Corporate Ownership and Control, 11(3), pp.8-29.
Cohen, J.R., Krishnamoorthy, G. and Wright, A., 2004. The corporate governance mosaic and financial reporting quality. Journal of accounting literature, pp.87-152.
Kantudu, A.S. and Samaila, I.A., 2015. Board Characteristics, Independent Audit Committee and Financial Reporting Quality of Oil Marketing Firms: Evidence from Nigeria. Journal of Finance, Accounting & Management, 6(2).
Oba, V.C., 2014. Board dynamics and financial reporting quality in Nigeria. Revista de Management Comparat Internațional, 15(2), pp.226-236.
Vitolla, F., Raimo, N. and Rubino, M., 2020. Board characteristics and integrated reporting quality: an agency theory perspective. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(2), pp.1152-1163.
John’s model
Sample area ? check data base apply to china? UK FTSE 500 , TOP 100
Check available data
Which contest
Theory framework: previous govenence literature review. Be aware of the time!
Control valuable liquidity ins=dustry
Aly paper: list of the paper
- Consolidated balance sheet
- Agency theory principle agent theory
