Ines Amara | University of Tunis El Manar (original) (raw)

Papers by Ines Amara

Research paper thumbnail of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Investment Decisions: Evidence from Saudi Indexed Companies

Journal of Risk and Financial Management

This study investigated the investment decisions of Saudi corporations in the corporate social re... more This study investigated the investment decisions of Saudi corporations in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) context and examined the moderated role of corporate governance quality. The panel dataset consisted of 82 firms and 328 Saudi firm-year observations listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange over the period of 2018–2021, and feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) regression was used for model estimation. The empirical findings indicated that companies with higher levels of CSR reporting invested more effectively than companies with lower CSR reporting levels. The empirical analysis suggested two main findings: (i) corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting has a significant effect on investment decisions and (ii) this relationship depends on corporate governance practices. This research presents new evidence that improves the discussion around CSR involvement and corporate investment decision making in the emerging market of Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, it presents pra...

Research paper thumbnail of Political connections, political corruption and auditing: a literature review

Journal of Financial Crime, 2021

Purpose Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections ... more Purpose Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections and political corruption on auditor behavior, this paper aims to review empirical studies in the accounting and finance domain dealing with these topics. Design/methodology/approach Keywords used to search for relevant studies include “political connections or political corruption” with “audit fees, audit report lag, audit independence and audit opinion.” This paper consults several editorial sources including Elsevier, Electronic Journals Service Elton B. Stephens Company, Emerald, Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, Sage, Taylor and Francis and Wiley-Blackwell. The search yields 16 published studies since 2006. Findings The review reveals that the majority of studies dealing with the economic effect of political connections are conducted in an Asian setting. Political connections increase the likelihood of receiving a favorable audit opinion and they are associated with higher audit fees lon...

Research paper thumbnail of Political Connections, Corruption, and Tax Practices

Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Internal control quality and voluntary disclosure: does CEO duality matter?

Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 2020

PurposeThe authors examine the association between internal control quality (ICQ) and voluntary d... more PurposeThe authors examine the association between internal control quality (ICQ) and voluntary disclosure and test whether chief executive officer (CEO) duality, as a proxy for CEO structural power, moderates such a relationship in an emerging market (Egypt).Design/methodology/approachICQ is measured using a survey of external auditors, while a content analysis approach is used to measure the level of voluntary disclosure in annual reports.FindingsBased on a sample of 512 firm-year observations over the period of 2007–2014, the authors document that ICQ is positively and significantly associated with voluntary disclosure, suggesting that better controls improve corporate reporting policy. In addition, CEO duality moderates the association between ICQ and voluntary disclosure since this positive relationship association becomes insignificant for companies characterised by CEO duality. These results remain stable after controlling for endogeneity (self-selection problem), political i...

Research paper thumbnail of A review of the influence of political connections on management’s decision in non-US settings

Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, 2020

Purpose Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections,... more Purpose Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections, this paper aims to review empirical studies in the accounting and finance domain investigating the effects of firms’ political connections on management’s decision in non-US settings. Design/methodology/approach Key words used to search for relevant studies include “political connections” linked with “tax avoidance,” “earnings quality” “voluntary disclosure.” The authors consult several editorial sources including Elsevier, Electronic Journals Service EBSCO, Emerald, Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, Sage, Taylor & Francis and Wiley-Blackwell. The authors’ search yields 46 published studies since 2006. Findings The review reveals a prevalence of studies conducted in Asia. A narrative synthesis of empirical findings shows mixed effects of political connections on earnings management, as measured by accrual-based or real earnings management practices. Mixed evidence also exists for the associ...

Research paper thumbnail of Financial crime, corruption and tax evasion: a cross-country investigation

Journal of Money Laundering Control, 2018

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between the financial crime and tax evasion a... more Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between the financial crime and tax evasion and tests whether corruption moderates such a relationship. Design/methodology/approach Tax evasion measure is based on Schneider et al. (2010). Financial crime is collected from Basel anti-money laundering (AML) report. Findings Using a sample of 120 countries, the authors find that the level of financial crime is positively associated with tax evasion. When testing for the moderating effect of corruption, they document that the positive relationship between financial crime and tax evasion is more pronounced for high corrupt environments. Originality/value The findings have policy implications for governments aiming to combat tax evasion and financial crimes.

Research paper thumbnail of Money laundering and infrastructure quality: the moderating effect of the strength of auditing and reporting standards

Pacific Accounting Review

Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between money laundering and infrastructure qu... more Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between money laundering and infrastructure quality and whether the strength of auditing and reporting standards (SARS) moderates this association. Design/methodology/approach The sample includes 348 country-year observations over the period of 2015–2017. The authors use Basel Anti-Money Laundering reports for 2015, 2016 and 2017 to collect data concerning money laundering. Infrastructure quality and the remaining variables are gathered from the Global Competitiveness reports for the same years. Findings Results show that money laundering is negatively associated with infrastructure quality. This negative association remains stable for countries characterised by low SARS, while it becomes less pronounced for countries with high SARS. Additional tests for the moderating impact of the SARS, using an interaction term between money laundering and SARS dummy variable, confirm that high SARS mitigates the adverse effect of money launderin...

Research paper thumbnail of The Effect of Discretionary Accruals on Financial Statement Fraud: The Case of the French Companies

The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of discretionary accruals and governance mechanism... more The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of discretionary accruals and governance mechanisms in the occurrence of financial statement fraud. The sample consists of 250 annual reports spanning from 2006 to 2010 for listed French companies, which 45 detected fraudulent company by the Financial Market Authority (AMF). Our findings such that discretionary accruals have a positive effect in corporate fraud, when distinguish between positive discretionary accruals (aggressive accounting policy) and negative discretionary accruals (conservative accounting policy); we provide evidence that aggressive accounting manipulation increases the likelihood of financial statement fraud. By contrast, conservative accounting policy is negatively associate with corporate fraud. Additionally, the outside director and ownership concentration are the most significant variables of governance to explain the corporate fraud.

Research paper thumbnail of Political connections, political corruption and auditing: a literature review

Purpose-Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections ... more Purpose-Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections and political corruption on auditor behavior, this paper aims to review empirical studies in the accounting and finance domain dealing with these topics. Design/methodology/approach-Keywords used to search for relevant studies include "political connections or political corruption" with "audit fees, audit report lag, audit independence and audit opinion." This paper consults several editorial sources including Elsevier, Electronic Journals Service Elton B. Stephens Company, Emerald, Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, Sage, Taylor and Francis and Wiley-Blackwell. The search yields 16 published studies since 2006. Originality/value-The review discusses the political connections and political corruption literature specifically devoted to auditor behavior. It identifies some limitations of this literature and offers guidance for future research avenues.

Research paper thumbnail of Political connections, political corruption and auditing: a literature review

Purpose-Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections ... more Purpose-Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections and political corruption on auditor behavior, this paper aims to review empirical studies in the accounting and finance domain dealing with these topics. Design/methodology/approach-Keywords used to search for relevant studies include "political connections or political corruption" with "audit fees, audit report lag, audit independence and audit opinion." This paper consults several editorial sources including Elsevier, Electronic Journals Service Elton B. Stephens Company, Emerald, Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, Sage, Taylor and Francis and Wiley-Blackwell. The search yields 16 published studies since 2006. Originality/value-The review discusses the political connections and political corruption literature specifically devoted to auditor behavior. It identifies some limitations of this literature and offers guidance for future research avenues.

Research paper thumbnail of Internal control quality and voluntary disclosure: does CEO duality matter

Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 2020

Purpose-The authors examine the association between internal control quality (ICQ) and voluntary ... more Purpose-The authors examine the association between internal control quality (ICQ) and voluntary disclosure and test whether chief executive officer (CEO) duality, as a proxy for CEO structural power, moderates such a relationship in an emerging market (Egypt). Design/methodology/approach-ICQ is measured using a survey of external auditors, while a content analysis approach is used to measure the level of voluntary disclosure in annual reports. Findings-Based on a sample of 512 firm-year observations over the period of 2007-2014, the authors document that ICQ is positively and significantly associated with voluntary disclosure, suggesting that better controls improve corporate reporting policy. In addition, CEO duality moderates the association between ICQ and voluntary disclosure since this positive relationship association becomes insignificant for companies characterised by CEO duality. These results remain stable after controlling for endogeneity (self-selection problem), political instability and industry characteristics. Research limitations/implications-The findings of the study provide preliminary evidence on the association between ICQ and voluntary disclosure, and how CEO structural power may affect this association. Future empirical investigations may extend this work to cover the relationship between ICQ and other attributes of corporate transparency including earnings quality and accounting conservatism. Practical implications-The findings highlight the need for Egyptian regulators to enact new rules obliging firms to communicate information about ICQ or charging auditors to report information about firm's ICQ in their reports. The results also alert policymakers about the adverse effect of combined leadership structure (CEO duality) since it mitigates the positive impact of ICQ on voluntary disclosure. Originality/value-The authors contribute to internal control literature by exploring the association between ICQ and voluntary disclosure on an emergent unregulated market with respect to internal control disclosure. They also highlight how CEO duality, as a proxy for CEO power, mitigates the beneficial effect of ICQ on corporate reporting policy on the Egyptian stock exchange (EGX).

Research paper thumbnail of The Value Relevance of Accounting Fraud and Discretionary Accruals

International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, 2017

The objective of this study is to analyze the value relevance of accounting fraud and discretiona... more The objective of this study is to analyze the value relevance of accounting fraud and discretionary accruals (positive and negative discretionary accruals) in French context during the period 2006-2010. Using the model of Ohlson (1995) which test the price and return model, we note that the price model provides a more significant result on the value relevance than the return model. In addition, fraud has a more significant and negative effect than discretionary accruals and even dilutes its existence in the price and return model. This finding proves the signals theory that bad information transferred quickly in the stock market.

Research paper thumbnail of Strength of auditing and reporting standards, corruption and money laundering: a cross-country investigation

Managerial Auditing Journal, 2020

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the strength of auditing and repo... more Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the strength of auditing and reporting standards (SARS) and money laundering, and test whether the SARS moderates the association between corruption and money laundering. Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of 348 country-year observations over the period 2015–2017. Data on money laundering are collected from Basel Anti-Money Laundering Reports for 2015–2017, while data on SARS and corruption are collected from the Global Competiveness Reports for the same years. Findings The findings of this study suggest that the SARS is negatively associated with money laundering, while corruption has an insignificant effect on the same variable. The effect of corruption on money laundering becomes positive and significant after removing the SARS. This result implies that the SARS and corruption represent two concurrent forces influencing money laundering phenomenon with a prevailing negative effect for the SARS. When tes...

Research paper thumbnail of Political connections, corruption and tax evasion: a cross-country investigation

Journal of Financial Crime, 2009

Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between political connections and tax evasion ... more Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between political connections and tax evasion and test whether corruption level affects this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Tax evasion measure is based on Schneider et al. (2010), while country’s political connection trend is based on Faccio (2006). Findings Using a sample of 35 countries, the authors document that political connections are positively associated with tax evasion and this relationship becomes stronger for high corrupt environment. Originality/value The findings have policy implications for countries aiming to combat tax evasion as political connection trends in one country reduce the level of tax compliance. In addition, political connections and corruption play a complimentary role in increasing tax evasion practices.

Research paper thumbnail of Detection of Fraud in Financial Statements: French Companies as a Case Study

International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 2013

The objective of this research is to test the impact of the "Fraud Triangle" elements on the dete... more The objective of this research is to test the impact of the "Fraud Triangle" elements on the detection of fraud in the financial statements. The data used in our empirical research are related to a sample of 80 French companies in the SBF 250 over the period 2001 to 2009. Using the method of logistic regression, this study shows that the performance issue exerted on the manager is a factor of pressure leading to commit fraud in the financial statements. However, factors related to financial difficulties (debt, liquidity) and the size of auditing firm are not associated with the detection of fraud.

Research paper thumbnail of Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting

Ines Amara, Hichem Khlif , 2020

Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections, this pa... more Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections, this paper aims to review empirical studies in the accounting and finance domain investigating the effects of firms’ political connections on management’s decision in non-US settings.
The review reveals a prevalence of studies conducted in Asia. A narrative synthesis of empirical findings shows mixed effects of political connections on earnings management, as measured by accrual-based or real earnings management practices. Mixed evidence also exists for the association between political connections and reporting policy (e.g. corporate social responsibility reporting). The review also reveals that firms with political ties adopt an aggressive tax policy aimed at reducing effective tax rates and are more likely to choose a Big 4 auditor.

Research paper thumbnail of Financial crime, corruption and tax evasion: a cross-country investigation

Ines Amara, Hichem Khlif, 2018

This paper aims to examine the relationship between financial crime and tax evasion and tests whe... more This paper aims to examine the relationship between financial crime and tax evasion and tests whether corruption moderates such a relationship.
Using a sample of 120 countries, the authors find that the level of financial crime is positively associated with tax evasion. When testing for the moderating effect of corruption, they document that the positive relationship between financial crime and tax evasion is more pronounced for high corrupt environments.
.

Research paper thumbnail of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Investment Decisions: Evidence from Saudi Indexed Companies

Journal of Risk and Financial Management

This study investigated the investment decisions of Saudi corporations in the corporate social re... more This study investigated the investment decisions of Saudi corporations in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) context and examined the moderated role of corporate governance quality. The panel dataset consisted of 82 firms and 328 Saudi firm-year observations listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange over the period of 2018–2021, and feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) regression was used for model estimation. The empirical findings indicated that companies with higher levels of CSR reporting invested more effectively than companies with lower CSR reporting levels. The empirical analysis suggested two main findings: (i) corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting has a significant effect on investment decisions and (ii) this relationship depends on corporate governance practices. This research presents new evidence that improves the discussion around CSR involvement and corporate investment decision making in the emerging market of Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, it presents pra...

Research paper thumbnail of Political connections, political corruption and auditing: a literature review

Journal of Financial Crime, 2021

Purpose Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections ... more Purpose Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections and political corruption on auditor behavior, this paper aims to review empirical studies in the accounting and finance domain dealing with these topics. Design/methodology/approach Keywords used to search for relevant studies include “political connections or political corruption” with “audit fees, audit report lag, audit independence and audit opinion.” This paper consults several editorial sources including Elsevier, Electronic Journals Service Elton B. Stephens Company, Emerald, Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, Sage, Taylor and Francis and Wiley-Blackwell. The search yields 16 published studies since 2006. Findings The review reveals that the majority of studies dealing with the economic effect of political connections are conducted in an Asian setting. Political connections increase the likelihood of receiving a favorable audit opinion and they are associated with higher audit fees lon...

Research paper thumbnail of Political Connections, Corruption, and Tax Practices

Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Internal control quality and voluntary disclosure: does CEO duality matter?

Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 2020

PurposeThe authors examine the association between internal control quality (ICQ) and voluntary d... more PurposeThe authors examine the association between internal control quality (ICQ) and voluntary disclosure and test whether chief executive officer (CEO) duality, as a proxy for CEO structural power, moderates such a relationship in an emerging market (Egypt).Design/methodology/approachICQ is measured using a survey of external auditors, while a content analysis approach is used to measure the level of voluntary disclosure in annual reports.FindingsBased on a sample of 512 firm-year observations over the period of 2007–2014, the authors document that ICQ is positively and significantly associated with voluntary disclosure, suggesting that better controls improve corporate reporting policy. In addition, CEO duality moderates the association between ICQ and voluntary disclosure since this positive relationship association becomes insignificant for companies characterised by CEO duality. These results remain stable after controlling for endogeneity (self-selection problem), political i...

Research paper thumbnail of A review of the influence of political connections on management’s decision in non-US settings

Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, 2020

Purpose Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections,... more Purpose Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections, this paper aims to review empirical studies in the accounting and finance domain investigating the effects of firms’ political connections on management’s decision in non-US settings. Design/methodology/approach Key words used to search for relevant studies include “political connections” linked with “tax avoidance,” “earnings quality” “voluntary disclosure.” The authors consult several editorial sources including Elsevier, Electronic Journals Service EBSCO, Emerald, Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, Sage, Taylor & Francis and Wiley-Blackwell. The authors’ search yields 46 published studies since 2006. Findings The review reveals a prevalence of studies conducted in Asia. A narrative synthesis of empirical findings shows mixed effects of political connections on earnings management, as measured by accrual-based or real earnings management practices. Mixed evidence also exists for the associ...

Research paper thumbnail of Financial crime, corruption and tax evasion: a cross-country investigation

Journal of Money Laundering Control, 2018

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between the financial crime and tax evasion a... more Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between the financial crime and tax evasion and tests whether corruption moderates such a relationship. Design/methodology/approach Tax evasion measure is based on Schneider et al. (2010). Financial crime is collected from Basel anti-money laundering (AML) report. Findings Using a sample of 120 countries, the authors find that the level of financial crime is positively associated with tax evasion. When testing for the moderating effect of corruption, they document that the positive relationship between financial crime and tax evasion is more pronounced for high corrupt environments. Originality/value The findings have policy implications for governments aiming to combat tax evasion and financial crimes.

Research paper thumbnail of Money laundering and infrastructure quality: the moderating effect of the strength of auditing and reporting standards

Pacific Accounting Review

Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between money laundering and infrastructure qu... more Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between money laundering and infrastructure quality and whether the strength of auditing and reporting standards (SARS) moderates this association. Design/methodology/approach The sample includes 348 country-year observations over the period of 2015–2017. The authors use Basel Anti-Money Laundering reports for 2015, 2016 and 2017 to collect data concerning money laundering. Infrastructure quality and the remaining variables are gathered from the Global Competitiveness reports for the same years. Findings Results show that money laundering is negatively associated with infrastructure quality. This negative association remains stable for countries characterised by low SARS, while it becomes less pronounced for countries with high SARS. Additional tests for the moderating impact of the SARS, using an interaction term between money laundering and SARS dummy variable, confirm that high SARS mitigates the adverse effect of money launderin...

Research paper thumbnail of The Effect of Discretionary Accruals on Financial Statement Fraud: The Case of the French Companies

The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of discretionary accruals and governance mechanism... more The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of discretionary accruals and governance mechanisms in the occurrence of financial statement fraud. The sample consists of 250 annual reports spanning from 2006 to 2010 for listed French companies, which 45 detected fraudulent company by the Financial Market Authority (AMF). Our findings such that discretionary accruals have a positive effect in corporate fraud, when distinguish between positive discretionary accruals (aggressive accounting policy) and negative discretionary accruals (conservative accounting policy); we provide evidence that aggressive accounting manipulation increases the likelihood of financial statement fraud. By contrast, conservative accounting policy is negatively associate with corporate fraud. Additionally, the outside director and ownership concentration are the most significant variables of governance to explain the corporate fraud.

Research paper thumbnail of Political connections, political corruption and auditing: a literature review

Purpose-Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections ... more Purpose-Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections and political corruption on auditor behavior, this paper aims to review empirical studies in the accounting and finance domain dealing with these topics. Design/methodology/approach-Keywords used to search for relevant studies include "political connections or political corruption" with "audit fees, audit report lag, audit independence and audit opinion." This paper consults several editorial sources including Elsevier, Electronic Journals Service Elton B. Stephens Company, Emerald, Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, Sage, Taylor and Francis and Wiley-Blackwell. The search yields 16 published studies since 2006. Originality/value-The review discusses the political connections and political corruption literature specifically devoted to auditor behavior. It identifies some limitations of this literature and offers guidance for future research avenues.

Research paper thumbnail of Political connections, political corruption and auditing: a literature review

Purpose-Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections ... more Purpose-Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections and political corruption on auditor behavior, this paper aims to review empirical studies in the accounting and finance domain dealing with these topics. Design/methodology/approach-Keywords used to search for relevant studies include "political connections or political corruption" with "audit fees, audit report lag, audit independence and audit opinion." This paper consults several editorial sources including Elsevier, Electronic Journals Service Elton B. Stephens Company, Emerald, Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, Sage, Taylor and Francis and Wiley-Blackwell. The search yields 16 published studies since 2006. Originality/value-The review discusses the political connections and political corruption literature specifically devoted to auditor behavior. It identifies some limitations of this literature and offers guidance for future research avenues.

Research paper thumbnail of Internal control quality and voluntary disclosure: does CEO duality matter

Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 2020

Purpose-The authors examine the association between internal control quality (ICQ) and voluntary ... more Purpose-The authors examine the association between internal control quality (ICQ) and voluntary disclosure and test whether chief executive officer (CEO) duality, as a proxy for CEO structural power, moderates such a relationship in an emerging market (Egypt). Design/methodology/approach-ICQ is measured using a survey of external auditors, while a content analysis approach is used to measure the level of voluntary disclosure in annual reports. Findings-Based on a sample of 512 firm-year observations over the period of 2007-2014, the authors document that ICQ is positively and significantly associated with voluntary disclosure, suggesting that better controls improve corporate reporting policy. In addition, CEO duality moderates the association between ICQ and voluntary disclosure since this positive relationship association becomes insignificant for companies characterised by CEO duality. These results remain stable after controlling for endogeneity (self-selection problem), political instability and industry characteristics. Research limitations/implications-The findings of the study provide preliminary evidence on the association between ICQ and voluntary disclosure, and how CEO structural power may affect this association. Future empirical investigations may extend this work to cover the relationship between ICQ and other attributes of corporate transparency including earnings quality and accounting conservatism. Practical implications-The findings highlight the need for Egyptian regulators to enact new rules obliging firms to communicate information about ICQ or charging auditors to report information about firm's ICQ in their reports. The results also alert policymakers about the adverse effect of combined leadership structure (CEO duality) since it mitigates the positive impact of ICQ on voluntary disclosure. Originality/value-The authors contribute to internal control literature by exploring the association between ICQ and voluntary disclosure on an emergent unregulated market with respect to internal control disclosure. They also highlight how CEO duality, as a proxy for CEO power, mitigates the beneficial effect of ICQ on corporate reporting policy on the Egyptian stock exchange (EGX).

Research paper thumbnail of The Value Relevance of Accounting Fraud and Discretionary Accruals

International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, 2017

The objective of this study is to analyze the value relevance of accounting fraud and discretiona... more The objective of this study is to analyze the value relevance of accounting fraud and discretionary accruals (positive and negative discretionary accruals) in French context during the period 2006-2010. Using the model of Ohlson (1995) which test the price and return model, we note that the price model provides a more significant result on the value relevance than the return model. In addition, fraud has a more significant and negative effect than discretionary accruals and even dilutes its existence in the price and return model. This finding proves the signals theory that bad information transferred quickly in the stock market.

Research paper thumbnail of Strength of auditing and reporting standards, corruption and money laundering: a cross-country investigation

Managerial Auditing Journal, 2020

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the strength of auditing and repo... more Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the strength of auditing and reporting standards (SARS) and money laundering, and test whether the SARS moderates the association between corruption and money laundering. Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of 348 country-year observations over the period 2015–2017. Data on money laundering are collected from Basel Anti-Money Laundering Reports for 2015–2017, while data on SARS and corruption are collected from the Global Competiveness Reports for the same years. Findings The findings of this study suggest that the SARS is negatively associated with money laundering, while corruption has an insignificant effect on the same variable. The effect of corruption on money laundering becomes positive and significant after removing the SARS. This result implies that the SARS and corruption represent two concurrent forces influencing money laundering phenomenon with a prevailing negative effect for the SARS. When tes...

Research paper thumbnail of Political connections, corruption and tax evasion: a cross-country investigation

Journal of Financial Crime, 2009

Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between political connections and tax evasion ... more Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between political connections and tax evasion and test whether corruption level affects this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Tax evasion measure is based on Schneider et al. (2010), while country’s political connection trend is based on Faccio (2006). Findings Using a sample of 35 countries, the authors document that political connections are positively associated with tax evasion and this relationship becomes stronger for high corrupt environment. Originality/value The findings have policy implications for countries aiming to combat tax evasion as political connection trends in one country reduce the level of tax compliance. In addition, political connections and corruption play a complimentary role in increasing tax evasion practices.

Research paper thumbnail of Detection of Fraud in Financial Statements: French Companies as a Case Study

International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 2013

The objective of this research is to test the impact of the "Fraud Triangle" elements on the dete... more The objective of this research is to test the impact of the "Fraud Triangle" elements on the detection of fraud in the financial statements. The data used in our empirical research are related to a sample of 80 French companies in the SBF 250 over the period 2001 to 2009. Using the method of logistic regression, this study shows that the performance issue exerted on the manager is a factor of pressure leading to commit fraud in the financial statements. However, factors related to financial difficulties (debt, liquidity) and the size of auditing firm are not associated with the detection of fraud.

Research paper thumbnail of Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting

Ines Amara, Hichem Khlif , 2020

Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections, this pa... more Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections, this paper aims to review empirical studies in the accounting and finance domain investigating the effects of firms’ political connections on management’s decision in non-US settings.
The review reveals a prevalence of studies conducted in Asia. A narrative synthesis of empirical findings shows mixed effects of political connections on earnings management, as measured by accrual-based or real earnings management practices. Mixed evidence also exists for the association between political connections and reporting policy (e.g. corporate social responsibility reporting). The review also reveals that firms with political ties adopt an aggressive tax policy aimed at reducing effective tax rates and are more likely to choose a Big 4 auditor.

Research paper thumbnail of Financial crime, corruption and tax evasion: a cross-country investigation

Ines Amara, Hichem Khlif, 2018

This paper aims to examine the relationship between financial crime and tax evasion and tests whe... more This paper aims to examine the relationship between financial crime and tax evasion and tests whether corruption moderates such a relationship.
Using a sample of 120 countries, the authors find that the level of financial crime is positively associated with tax evasion. When testing for the moderating effect of corruption, they document that the positive relationship between financial crime and tax evasion is more pronounced for high corrupt environments.
.