In October 2022, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) issued Exposure Draft 500 (ED-500). This is focused on revising and integrating the standard auditors use when evaluating audit evidence during an external audit. This study contributes to the ongoing discourse as the IAASB evaluates feedback to ED-500 and executes its standard-setting agenda. We review academic literature published in the past 10 years to synthesize extant knowledge specifically on the use of technology and the application of professional skepticism during audit evidence evaluation. Our review offers factors the IAASB should consider when seeking to modernize and future-proof its standards, suggesting improvements to the proposed ED-500. We also identify fruitful avenues for future academic research.
International Journal of Rural Management, Ahead of Print. Acknowledging the importance of fiscal decentralisation, this paper evaluates the fiscal performances of all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) in Birbhum and North 24 Parganas of West Bengal and identifies the determinants of disparities in their fiscal performances. Our analysis reveals that smaller GPs generate greater own source revenues per person, receive higher grants per person and spend more per person. Several factors including demographic characteristics, socio-economic characteristics and geographical locations shape the needs and priorities of the GPs and, therefore, are important for explaining the variations in their fiscal performances. The regression results reveal that willingness to pay taxes is greater among literate people and also the incidence of expenditure is significantly higher for GPs with higher literacy rates. The proportion of agricultural labour and concentration of scheduled caste/scheduled tribes population in the GPs show a negative impact on the collection of own source revenue and also on per capita expenditure but a positive impact on the grants and transfers received from higher levels of governments.
South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management, Ahead of Print. This article examines factors pertaining to the development of Indian emerging market multinational companies (EMNCs) in African countries. India is a member of the BRICS grouping of developing countries, the others being Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa. Therefore, understanding its role, scale and dynamics of internationalising in the African context is particularly important. The following key areas are examined: the historical and socio-economic context, internationalisation strategies of Indian MNCs in African countries, home and host country factors, labour markets in host countries and human resource management (HRM) approaches of selected Indian EMNCs in particular African countries. Most work on international business and international HRM in Africa focuses on the Sino-Africa nexus. Both China and India are members of the BRICS grouping but have followed different trajectories in internationalising in the African context. This analysis helps fill a gap by evaluating the Afro-Indian relationship in business, particularly EMNCs from India. The analysis finds the following abiding themes in the historical connections and relationships of Indian EMNCs: the role of family-owned businesses, human resource development and long-term host country commitment.
South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management, Ahead of Print. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people work. When people started working from their homes, it also made them disconnected from the workplace. A majority of employees expected to continue to work from home, and organisations across the world saw high attritions during the latter half of the year 2021, and the main reason was that the employees did not feel a sense of belonging. Irrespective of whether the organisation adopts work from home, work from office, or even hybrid, it has become important for organisations to reinvent how they connect with their employees, to ensure that the employees feel that they are part of a larger cause. This study captures the evolution of ‘The Heartbeat Conversations’ (THBC), which is the critical component of The Heartbeat Framework (THBF). THBC is an outcome of a study within a product development company in South India with about 33 members over a period of 22 months. This study includes the iterative approach to refine the employee connect on a cadence, based on the feedback received. Through this work, we desire to provide a reference approach to initiate THBC to help practitioners. Two significant observations are (a) Keep the approach flexible and (b) People open up when they feel safe, and their opinions are valued. Hence, practitioners must ensure that they create a safe space for people to express themselves, which may sometimes need coaching at the leadership level.
This paper analyzes sustainability-linked loans (SLLs), a new category of debt instrument that incorporates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations. Using a large sample of loans issued between 2017 and 2022, we assess the design of SLLs by evaluating their key performance indicators (KPIs) using a comprehensive quality score. Our findings suggest that SLLs only partially rely on KPIs that generate credible sustainability incentives. We document that SLL borrowers do not significantly improve their ESG performance post issuance and show that stock markets are rather indifferent to the issuance of SLLs by EU borrowers, while SLL issuance announcements by US borrowers are met with significantly negative abnormal returns by investors. These findings call into question the beneficial sustainability and signaling effects that borrowers may hope to achieve by issuing ESG-linked debt.
This study examines the relationship between carbon risk and stock returns for listed firms in Korea, where firms are legally obligated to disclose their carbon emissions. While previous research mostly focuses on major markets like the United States and the European Union, demonstrating the impact of climate change on asset prices, there is a scarcity of studies examining emerging markets. Using data from Korean-listed firms from 2011 to 2021, we investigate the association between a firm's exposure to carbon risk and cross-sectional stock returns. We find that stocks with high exposure to carbon risk exhibit higher average returns and the abnormal returns associated with carbon risk are statistically significant and cannot be explained by the Fama-French three- or five-factor models. Furthermore, this phenomenon is more evident among stocks with high foreign ownership. Finally, the carbon factor commands a significantly positive risk premium, suggesting that carbon risk is an important risk factor even in emerging markets like Korea.
