This study examines the relationship between key audit matters (KAM) disclosures and audit report lag (ARL) in the Saudi capital market and investigates whether this relationship is moderated by auditor type. Using feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) on a panel dataset of 832 firm-year observations for firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) over the period 2016–2021, the study finds that the number of KAM is positively associated with ARL, consistent with recent studies (Bajary et al., 2025; Cameran & Campa, 2025), suggesting that a greater number of KAM reflects increased audit complexity and audit effort, thereby requiring additional time to complete the audit. The results also show that this relationship is significantly stronger for firms audited by Big 4 auditors (Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers [PwC], Ernst & Young [EY], or KPMG), and insignificant for those audited by non-Big 4 auditors. The findings remain robust across alternative model specifications and variable measurements. The study extends the audit reporting literature by demonstrating that the effect of KAM disclosures on audit report timeliness depends on auditor type. The findings also provide practical implications for regulators, investors, and auditors by highlighting that greater audit transparency through KAM may require additional reporting time and audit effort, particularly for Big 4 auditors.
The circular economy transition is a strategic imperative for developing economies like Vietnam, yet the mechanisms translating intentions into genuine commitment remain insufficiently understood. An extended version of the theory of planned behavior was used to examine how environmental concern, attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms shape behavioral intention, perceived circular economy role, and ultimately circular economy willingness and commitment (CEWC), while testing the moderating role of institutional and governance quality. Survey data from 752 Vietnamese businesses were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (Hair et al., 2018). Results show environmental concern as the strongest predictor of behavioral intention, which completely mediates the effect of perceived circular economy role on CEWC. Unexpectedly, institutional and governance quality weakens the intention-commitment link, offering critical insight for accelerating the transition in emerging markets.
This paper aimed to present the concept of flexible work and differentiate it from related concepts. It also sought to illustrate the various forms of flexible work and analyze the legal framework governing it in the human resources and civil service laws of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Furthermore, the paper examined the social, economic, administrative, and organizational impacts of flexible work in the public sector (Brega et al., 2023). The paper employed multiple methodologies, including a descriptive-analytical approach to examine the concept of flexible work and its various forms in the literature, and a comparative approach to analyze the legal frameworks governing flexible work in the public sectors of the GCC countries. The paper concluded with several findings, the most important of which is that flexible work offers numerous benefits at the social, economic, and administrative levels, but these benefits are accompanied by challenges that must be considered when adopting this system in the public sector.
The paper examines the interrelationships among climate change, gender, and governance. It interrogates whether legal and governance frameworks at the international and national levels possess the capacity to address the structural underpinnings of women’s climate vulnerability. The core argument focuses on assessing the effectiveness of these frameworks and identifying gaps in gender integration, utilising both international and domestic lenses (Sharma et al., 2024). Employing doctrinal legal analysis and governance critique, the study first assesses international climate law through a gendered lens, with reference to post-2015 normative developments and the International Court of Justice’s recent advisory opinion. The paper then appraises India’s national and sub-national climate governance architecture, highlighting institutional and legal gaps in gender integration. It ultimately argues that transforming climate governance into a gender-inclusive system requires moving beyond procedural mainstreaming toward substantive reforms that embed gender equality as a criterion in climate policy design, implementation, and accountability. India is examined as a focal case study due to its demographic scale, developmental trajectory, and democratic governance structure, which together make it a critical site for assessing whether gender-responsive climate governance can be operationalised in practice.
The current study adopts a multivariate model to investigate the impact of board size, board independence, managerial ownership, audit committee independence, and external audit quality (proxied by audit fees) on creative accounting practices. Data for the study were obtained from commercial banks’ annual reports published on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) during the period from 2017 to 2021. The results of the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis reveal that managerial ownership and audit fees have a significant positive impact on creative accounting, while audit committee independence has a significant negative impact. In addition, the results reveal that neither board independence nor board size influences creative accounting. The study findings highlight the need for effective regulatory oversight and monitoring of the extent of managerial ownership and audit fees to curb earnings management practices. In addition, the findings accentuate the importance of audit committee independence for enhancing financial reporting quality and integrity within the banking sector. The study concludes with several recommendations that hopefully enhance transparency and the quality of financial reporting in the banking sector.
