Abstract

Global virtual teamwork has emerged as a cornerstone of collaborative teamwork in today’s work landscape, characterized by cross-border collaboration using digital technologies. Although research has started to investigate the mechanisms underlying effective teamwork through information and communication technologies (ICTs), an often-neglected dimension is the pivotal social context within which this collaboration unfolds. To address this research gap, this study adopts a social capital lens on teamwork in proposing social capital as a multidimensional mediator between the usage of ICTs and team effectiveness. The research model was tested using questionnaire data from 271 technologically sensitive and aware companies in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). The findings reveal that using multiple ICTs alone does not suffice for effective global virtual teamwork. Therefore, this study highlights the significance of social capital for the effectiveness of global virtual teamwork, which holds significant implications for theory and practice.

Introduction

Advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs), coupled with the increasing prevalence of globalization, have driven organizations to rely on digital technologies for globally distributed collaboration—so-called global virtual teamwork ( Tavoletti & Taras, 2023 ). Due to several benefits, such as time and cost savings, talent pooling, and increased team diversity, global virtual teams were already well established in today’s workplace before the COVID-19 pandemic ( Jimenez, Boehe, Taras, & Caprar, 2017 ; Kozlowski & Ilgen, 2006 ; Tavoletti & Taras, 2023 ). However, global virtual teamwork also presents significant challenges that can threaten team effectiveness. Reliance on ICTs reduces media richness and delays feedback, including an increased risk of miscommunication and misunderstanding ( Bilotta et al., 2021 ; Klitmøller & Lauring, 2013 ; Mangla, 2021 ).

Based on the premise that a single medium cannot support the two fundamental communication processes of conveyance (i.e., sharing new information) and convergence (i.e., reaching a common understanding), we introduce the concept of ICT usage, which refers to the frequent and strategic use of multiple ICTs ( Dennis, Fuller, & Valacich, 2008 ; Niinimäki, Piri, Lassenius, & Paasivaara, 2012 ). We propose that high levels of ICT usage will increase team effectiveness, which consists of performance, longevity, and satisfaction ( Dennis et al., 2008 ; Hackman, 1987 ).

Conclusion

The confluence of digitalization and globalization has had an enduring influence on utilizing virtual and global collaboration in the workplace. Due to their embeddedness in a social context, teams are a focal point of multiple levels, linking the individual team members and the organizational system holistically ( Kozlowski & Bell, 2013 ). This requires a profound comprehension of the social context, which can enhance the uptake of ICTs and the effectiveness of global virtual teamwork. To fill this research gap, we conceptualized social capital as a multidimensional mediator, encompassing structural, cognitive, and relational social capital ( Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998 ), between the adoption of ICTs and team effectiveness composed of performance, satisfaction, and longevity.

In summary, this study provides a solid foundation for integrating social capital in global virtual teamwork. The results of our study indicate that frequent use of multiple ICTs does not influence the effectiveness of global virtual teams. Instead, a significant positive relationship was found between ICT use and social capital. Regarding the individual dimensions of social capital, this relationship was only found for structural social capital. Similar results were obtained for the mediator hypotheses, with both total and structural social capital acting as strengthening mediators between ICT usage and team effectiveness. Conversely, cognitive and relational social capital did not show significant mediating effects. The present research context makes developing cognitive and relational social capital difficult, although their importance cannot be denied, as both social capital and its individual dimensions show a positive relationship with team effectiveness. Possible ways to build cognitive and relational social capital include allocating sufficient time for team interactions and creating shared physical spaces, such as face-to-face meetings, to balance them. Overall, our study provides insights into the extent to which the integration of social capital enhances team effectiveness in today’s digitized and globalized world.

Abstract

This study investigated the determinants of financing decisions of firms from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly the effect of public corruption on financing decisions and the effect of disorder following the Arab Spring on public corruption-financing structure relationship. The study encompasses a total of 800 business entities from 14 different countries, spanning the time frame of 2005–2018. Data is analyzed through the application of static fixed effects and dynamic GMM-System models. Results indicate that large, tangible companies prefer debt, whereas profitable companies with more room for growth choose equity. Less corruption is associated with increased corporate debt. The use of debt decreased because of the Arab Spring, and corruption’s effect on leverage became weaker. The speed of adjustment to the target leverage is comparatively slow for book leverage, while it is significantly greater for market leverage. These outcomes are consistent with the pecking order behavior resulted from increasing information asymmetry, but the tradeoff theory has some support as well. The implications of this study entail the need for enhancing investor protection, strengthening control measures, increasing transparency, and fostering the overall growth of the financial system to facilitate enterprises’ use of debt financing, particularly in the post-Arab Spring era. This paper provides fresh empirical evidence demonstrating the effect of the Arab Spring on capital structure and on the relationship between country corruption and capital structure in the MENA region. The paper also expands the body of research on capital structure and corruption across countries by providing empirical findings from a region that has been relatively overlooked in previous scholarly works.

Introduction

Lack of a perfect capital market necessitates the need for capital structure (CS) policy [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The choice of debt and equity is important not only for stable corporate financial health but also for the role it plays in economic growth [6,7]. Since Modigliani and Miller’s [8] slice-of-the-cake argument, the literature has identified many firm-specific CS determinants [6,9] as well as macroeconomic factors [7,10, 11, 12]. Country corruption facets, such as weak regulations and inconsistent policies at the macro level, may affect financing decisions as they influence agency conflicts of interest, the risk of financial fraud, and resource waste at the business level [10,13]. Such consequences are exacerbated if accompanied by weak disclosure policies that enhance the information asymmetry problem and increase the cost of capital [14]. Consequently, financial market activity reduces as a result of investors’ low confidence.

Public corruption is a potential determinant of CS that is largely ignored. A common link is through asymmetric information as a result of ineffective management transparency, monitoring, and law enforcement [15]. This information gap is also caused by manager-shareholder agency conflicts [16]. Because of poor ruling systems and regulations, emerging countries are deemed more corrupt than developed countries [17]. Non-financial enterprises are less regulated compared with financial firms, and thus they are more exposed to corruption [18].

Conclusions

This study investigates the CS practices of non-financial companies operating in the MENA region. Country-level corruption and the Arab Spring’s effect on CS is analyzed through the application of static and dynamic models. Country corruption has an effect on CS because of the significant agency problems and information asymmetry that are associated with corrupt practices. The developing countries in the MENA region are more susceptible to corruption because of inadequate governance systems and regulations, which make them a suitable choice for this study.

Our contribution to the literature on capital structure is threefold. The study expands the research on CS across countries in a geographic area that has been relatively overlooked in previous scholarly works. Our second contribution is emphasizing the significance of enhancing institutional environments in developing countries to facilitate firms’ access to external finance, particularly when the level of corruption in a country is found to have a significant effect on the decisions that corporations make about their CS. Finally, addressing the effect of the Arab Spring, a period of political instability, on the CS decisions is the first instance in which such an analysis has been conducted. The findings of this research are likely to be significant to other developing countries and regions and carry major implications for emerging economies that share similar attributes.

Abstract

To what extent does the collapse of a commercial bank spread contagion across cryptocurrency markets? How do markets behave around bankruptcy if digital assets remain stuck within the bank and cannot be withdrawn? We use a BEKK model to examine contagion effects across major digital assets during the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse period in early March 2023. We find evidence of contagion across major stablecoins and Bitcoin. We also examine the price action when nearly all withdrawals at SVB were prohibited. We find substantial abnormal movements in stablecoin cumulative returns and traded volumes, indicating a “flight to safety” from less to more authoritative and trusted stablecoins. The implications for practitioners and policymakers are discussed.

Introduction

Cryptocurrencies are gradually gaining traction in trading and becoming a notable segment of the financial landscape, providing new investment avenues. However, their inherent volatility continues to hinder their broader acceptance. Among cryptocurrencies, a subset known as stablecoins, which is intended to maintain a “stable” peg to a reference currency, is crucial to the market as it allows traders to work around the volatility issue and keep money in a form equal to US dollars (De Blasis et al., 2023). Access to those digital assets is typically given by new financial technologies (also called Fintech) such as digital wallets or Centralized cryptocurrency Exchanges (CEXs), with the aim of decentralizing finance through innovative offers of financial services. However, due to the high costs associated with the trading of cryptocurrencies in US dollars, the impossibility of using US dollars on cryptocurrency exchanges,1 and the simplicity and speed of transferring those virtual assets between exchanges, stablecoins occasionally trade at a premium2 to the underlying asset they imitate (De Blasis et al., 2023). The recent bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the largest commercial bank for nearly half of all venture-backed tech startups in Silicon Valley,3 in March 2023 tied up $3.3 out of $40 billions of stablecoins in its financial statement, making this exogenous shock a significant event to study.

Thus, the aim of this research is to examine the impact of bank failure on the stability of stablecoin markets. Specifically, we examine the question of whether halting access to digital assets through the bankruptcy procedure of a traditional finance institution spills over contagion effects across those innovative instruments. Answering this question is important as the March 2023 collapse of SVB, together with the ensuing instability in a number of major stablecoins, demonstrated the importance of the interlinks between traditional and digital financial systems. The results of this research are therefore relevant to policymakers in both the traditional and modern financial systems interested in avoiding the risk of financial contagion, as well as investors willing to defend their savings and balance their portfolios against market uncertainty.

Conclusion

This study examined the extent to which the collapse of a commercial bank spread contagion across cryptocurrency markets and how those markets behave around the failure when asset withdrawals are halted. We use a BEKK-GARCH multivariate model to test for financial contagion around the Silicon Valley Bank collapse across multiple digital assets. Arguably, this is the second-largest bank run after the global financial crises experienced in history. We find evidence of volatility spillover effects across major stablecoins and Bitcoin, with a “flight to safety” from less to more stable virtual currencies.

Hence, this study provides important evidence of the ways the traditional and cryptocurrency financial systems are interlinked. Arguably, it links centralized and decentralized finance, showing the ways in which spillovers can occur between what seem to be separate realms of finance. Academics, practitioners, and policymakers alike interested in destabilizing risk in the digital finance ecosystem should pay attention to the connections with traditional finance and thus to the results of this research. A limitation of this study is that it focuses on the most liquid stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. Future studies may, therefore, further explore the links between centralized and decentralized finance, including stablecoins and other means of digital value exchange.

Abstract

Corporate bankruptcy and financial distress prediction is a topic of interest for a variety of stakeholders, including businesses, financial institutions, investors, regulatory bodies, auditors, and academics. Various statistical and artificial intelligence methodologies have been devised to produce more accurate predictions. As more researchers are now focusing on this growing field of interest, this paper provides an up-to-date comprehensive survey, classification, and critical analysis of the literature on corporate bankruptcy and financial distress predictions, including definitions of bankruptcy and financial distress, prediction methodologies and models, data pre-processing, feature selection, model implementation, performance criteria and their measures for assessing the performance of classifiers or prediction models, and methodologies for the performance evaluation of prediction models. Finally, a critical analysis of the surveyed literature is provided to inspire possible future research directions.

Introduction

Corporate bankruptcy prediction (BP) and financial distress prediction (FDP) have been a field of investigation by researchers around the world for nearly a half century. However, increasing attention has been paid to this evergreen subject since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 (Alaminos et al., 2016), as predictions can have a significant impact on the decisions and returns of various stakeholders (Alam et al., 2021).

Corporate bankruptcy and financial distress events are not desirable (Gordon, 1971), as their legal and financial costs are prohibitive (Weiss, 1990). In addition, these events increase the expected costs for financial institutions, such as banks, to hedge against the risk of these events happening (Alnassar & Chin, 2015). To reduce exposure to risk and catch early warning signs, stakeholders including investors, bankers and governments are proactively looking for solutions to effectively analyze and predict corporate bankruptcy and financial distress events. The earliest study in terms of modern bankruptcy prediction can be traced back to 1932 when Fitzpatrick (1932) presented a successful way to distinguish between failed and healthy companies by analyzing 20 pairs of companies’ accounting ratios. Since the 1960s, several accounting-based statistical and probabilistic models have been proposed to predict corporate bankruptcy and financial distress (e.g., Beaver, 1966; Altman, 1968; Ohlson, 1980; Zmijewski, 1984; Zavgren, 1985). In addition, several studies focused on the identification of bankruptcy and financial distress drivers2 (e.g., Altman, 1968; Liang et al., 2016; Tobback et al., 2017; Tinoco et al., 2018; Mai et al., 2019), on one hand, and others focused on the design of methodologies for selecting such drivers (e.g., Tsai, 2009; Lin et al., 2014; Tian & Yu, 2017; Uthayakumar et al., 2020; Kou et al., 2021), on the other hand. Furthermore, a stream of literature investigated the causes of the under-performance of bankruptcy and financial distress prediction models such as data sample imbalance (e.g., Le et al., 2018; Veganzones & Séverin, 2018; Zoričák et al., 2020, Shen et al., 2020). In the era of the rise of machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies, the prediction of bankruptcy and financial distress has been lifted to a whole new level, as more and more new methodologies managed to improve prediction accuracy through the design features of new models (e.g., Ouenniche & Tone, 2017; Ouenniche et al., 2018a, 2018b, 2018c, 2019; Hosaka, 2019; Matin et al., 2019; Yuan et al., 2022), the type of implementation decisions such as over-sampling and under-sampling (e.g., Le et al., 2018; Sun et al., 2020; Shen et al., 2020; Du et al., 2020), and bagging and boosting (e.g., West et al., 2005; Zięba et al., 2016; Jones & Wang, 2019; Chen et al., 2020). On the other hand, another stream of research focused on reducing the computational requirements of prediction models or methods using parallel implementations that take advantage of today’s powerful computers, or to be more specific, GPUs (e.g., Huang & Yen, 2019; Le et al., 2019).

Conclusions and future research directions

The topic of corporate bankruptcy and financial distress prediction has attracted the attention of many researchers for several decades and continues to evolve with more and more advanced prediction methodologies and issue fixation solutions being proposed. This study contributes to this domain of research by providing an up-to-date state-of-the-art review, classification and critical analysis of the current BP and FDP literature, where six major research streams are identified and discussed, namely, the definition and coding of bankruptcy and financial distress; design of new prediction models/classifiers or new application of existing ones; design of new drivers or evaluation of existing ones; design or evaluation of feature selection methods; design of methodologies for the performance evaluation of prediction models; and issues affecting the performance of prediction models and related solutions. By painting the landscape of research and analyzing each research stream, this study would serve as a guide for researchers who intend to explore this field of study and/or contribute to its development.

Our analysis of the surveyed papers revealed a clear trend in terms of prediction methodologies of bankruptcy and financial distress, where more emphasis is put on advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence models such as ensemble learning models. Ensemble learning models and other methodological advances, such as DEA- and MCDA-based prediction methods, have contributed to further pushing the boundaries of research. Overall, it is fair to conclude that there is no single methodology that is better than the others, as each methodology has its strengths and weaknesses, some of which are design-related, and others are implementation decisions related, which have made the design and implementation of new ensemble models more popular.

Abstract

We examine auditor responses to the voluntary resignation of independent directors. We show that auditors respond by increasing audit fees or rescinding engagement with their clients, but not by increasing their audit effort. Mechanism tests reveal that independent directors’ voluntary resignation leads to increased regulatory sanctions and negative media coverage, these relationships are more pronounced after the New Securities Law. Auditor response strategies follow an order of priority: at an acceptable level of perceived risk, auditors increase audit fees; when perceived risk exceeds this level, auditors will discontinue the client relationship. Auditors associate greater risk with firms that have (vs. have not) experienced consecutive voluntary resignations by independent directors. Mandatory resignation has no such effect.

Introduction

The board of directors plays a crucial role in corporate governance. The proportion of independent directors on the board is an important metric of the effectiveness of board supervision, which is emphasized by regulatory authorities (Zhu et al., 2016). The independent director system was initially established to mitigate agency problems between shareholders and management (Fama and Jensen, 1983, Dai et al., 2014). Independent directors also supervise, advise and provide support in the form of resources for listed companies (Fama and Jensen, 1983, Liu et al., 2018a, Liu et al., 2018b, Zhou et al., 2021). What signals are sent by the voluntary resignation events of independent directors? Can auditors identify the risks involved? How do auditors respond? We explore this series of questions.

Typically, the resignation events of independent directors are categorized as mandatory or voluntary. Mandatory resignation occurs when independent directors are required to step down from their roles under regulatory pressure; voluntary resignation occurs when independent directors proactively relinquish their positions, judging that the benefits of those positions do not compensate for the risks incurred. According to signaling theory, the voluntary resignation of independent directors signals company risk to external parties (Gupta and Fields, 2009, Lin et al., 2012, Bar-Hava et al., 2021, Cao et al., 2023), such as poor company performance (Arthaud-Day et al., 2006), high levels of earnings management (Zhi and Tong, 2005) or elevated legal risks (Yang and Huang, 2015). This paper focuses on the responses of auditors, as stakeholders in listed companies, to the voluntary resignation of independent directors.

Conclusion

This paper presents an in-depth exploration of auditors’ responses to the voluntary resignation of independent directors. The findings reveal that the voluntary resignation of independent directors of a listed company transmits risk signals to auditors that elevate their perception of the risk associated with that company. In response, auditors seek to mitigate this risk by charging higher audit fees or terminating their engagement with the client company. Interestingly, we find no evidence that auditors also increase their audit effort following the voluntary resignation of independent directors, indicating that the higher audit fees charged are due primarily to an increased risk premium, rather than to cost compensation. Mechanism analysis indicates that companies with voluntary resignations by independent directors face an increased risk of regulatory penalties in both the current and subsequent periods, and such companies also receive more negative media coverage.

Further analysis reveals that since the implementation of the New Securities Law, the positive relationship between the voluntary resignation of independent directors and abnormal audit fees has become more pronounced. This suggests that the new law has a deterrent effect on auditors, increasing their perception of risk and leading them to raise audit fees. Moreover, we discover that auditors follow an order of priority in responding to the risk signals conveyed by the voluntary resignation of independent directors: when they perceive the level of corporate risk to be acceptable, they prefer to increase audit fees, but when the risk exceeds their tolerance level, they are likely to terminate the engagement, leading to an auditor change.

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates the role of bank structural characteristics on firms’ creation in the Italian local credit markets from 2009 to 2020. By departing from the existing research, our analysis takes the perspective of the so-called “biodiversity argument” in banking (Ayadi et al., 2009, 2010). As this viewpoint echoes insights from the ecological sciences, we measure bank diversity by retrieving two “biodiversity” indexes: the Gini-Simpson index and, for robustness, the Shannon index. Our results suggest that the coexistence of different institutional models in the banking landscape benefits the formation of new firms – especially those taking the legal form of limited liability companies, as innovative start-ups. We also find that, at the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis, bank diversity might have mitigated the adverse effects of the pandemic turmoil. Our policy recommendation is that authorities design regulations to encourage institutional variety in the banking market.

Introduction

A sizable part of the literature investigating the drivers of entrepreneurship (e.g., Parker, 2018; Verheul et al., 2002) focuses on the financing sources for nascent firms and the role played by banks.1 In this respect, an open research debate concerns the relevance of banks’ structural and organizational characteristics. According to some contributions, small banks (local, single-market, typically stakeholder-value institutions), exploiting the knowledge of the local economy and their organizational structures characterized by few management layers, would have an advantage over large (nonlocal, multimarket, shareholder-value institutions) in collecting and using soft information (e.g., Liberti & Mian, 2009; Stein, 2002)2 – and, thus, in forging lending relationships that are crucial for the financing of firms suffering more intense information asymmetries (Berger et al., 2015, 2017; Berger & Udell, 2002; Cole et al., 2004; Mkhaiber & Werner, 2021; Petersen & Rajan, 1994; Scott, 2004).

Other studies claim that the paradigm by which small banks are advantaged in lending to opaque firms is misleading. For instance, Bartoli et al. (2013) assert that “complementarity among transactions and relationship lending technologies is indeed a prevailing phenomenon, compared to specialization in one primary lending technology, and that complementarity is higher for large banks compared to small local banks.” (p. 5477). Black and Strahan (2002) provide evidence that large banks’ superior ability to diversify credit risks across borrowers allows them to reduce agency lending costs and, thus, finance risky and opaque firms at better conditions than smaller banks. Not least, by exploiting the rapid ICT advances, large banks can finance informationally opaque firms by using transaction technologies such as credit scoring, asset-based lending, factoring, fixed-asset lending and leasing (e.g., Berger et al., 2005, 2014; Berger & Udell, 2006; Carter & McNulty, 2005; De Young et al., 2011; Frame et al., 2001; Petersen & Rajan, 2002).

Results

Column 1 of Table 3 shows the pooled Tobit estimation results of our benchmark model (Equation (3)). The estimated coefficient of ZGINI displays a positive sign and appears statistically significant at the conventional level. In terms of numerical interpretation, we find that one standard deviation increase in ZGINI is associated with an increase in the latent outcome variable – the propensity of new firms entering the market – of around 5% (a rise of 0.1112 percentage points over a baseline of 2.15).14 This finding suggests that the coexistence of different institutional bank types in local credit markets may be paramount in facilitating new firms’ formation, thus supporting the biodiversity argument discussed in Section 1. Far from questioning the role of each bank model, our results align with the view that, beyond the strengths and weaknesses of any of these models, institutional variety in the banking landscape matters in financing the real economy. Therefore, to borrow the words of Ferri (2010), a policy implication of our analysis is that “authorities must be aware that any regulation – e.g., levelling the playing field – should not damage the biodiversity of banking (p. 3)”.

Abstract

The paper examines whether common ownership along supply chains (i.e., vertical shareholding) is associated with better firm performance during supply chain shock. We find that supplier-customer dyads with vertical shareholding report higher combined monthly returns since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dedicated common investors have the most positive effects, followed by the common quasi-indexers.

Introduction

As overlapping institutional ownership becomes more prevalent, it has been heatedly debated whether it plays a positive role in market competition and corporate governance (e.g., Azar et al., 2018; Edmans et al., 2019; Schmalz 2021; Koch et al., 2021; Bebchuk and Hirst 2022). Most studies focus on its effects on industry rivals (i.e., horizontal shareholding). Compared to industry rivals, firms along the supply chain network have more collaborative and interdependent relationships. Hence, overlapping institutional ownership of supplier-customer dyads (i.e., vertical shareholding)1 may have distinct effects, especially in response to disruptive events that could jeopardize collaboration.

We utilize the COVID-19 pandemic as an exogenous supply chain shock to investigate whether vertical shareholding is associated with stock performance. Supply chain disruptions can be devastating to both upstream and downstream firms (e.g., Carvalho et al., 2021) and significantly exacerbate interfirm conflicts as opportunism and information asymmetry increase. Economic theories predict that cross-ownership can address inherent interfirm conflicts, such as the holdup problem (e.g., Klein et al., 1978; Grossman and Hart 1986). Institutional investors simultaneously holding shares of economically connected firms have incentives to prevent either contracting party from making a move that will hurt the value of their portfolios. Hence, they can influence the management of both upstream and downstream firms and thereby encourage information sharing and balance the bargaining power in supply chain contract renegotiations. For example, institutional investors can influence the supplier firms to prioritize the co-owned customer firms during supply shortages (Sheffi 2020).

Conclusion

We show that supply chain dyads with vertical shareholding have significantly better aggregate stock market performance since the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects vary with the incentives of common institutional shareholders. To our knowledge, we are one of the first empirical studies to show that vertical shareholding mitigates negative consequences of supply chain shocks. Our evidence sheds light on the debates over the roles common institutional investors play in interfirm relationships and supply chain risk management.

Abstract

We test whether firm sustainability positively affects access to bank credit. We carry out a panel data analysis of 125 listed Italian SMEs across 14 regions over 2017–2021. A quantitative score comprising 20 items grouped into three areas, disclosure, processes, and governance, is computed to determine the level of implementation of sustainable practices of sampled SMEs. Results show that SMEs with more sustainable orientation have greater access to bank credit and better ability to pay the cost of bank debt. This, in turn, reinforces bank-SME relationships. We contribute to the literature on SMEs, highlighting the relationship between sustainability and the availability of bank loans.

Introduction

Starting from the notions of sustainable development in the Brundtland Report published by the World Commission on the Environment in 1987 (WCED, 1987), further attention on sustainability has increased, culminating in several important initiatives such as the Paris Climate Agreements (COP 21) and the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations for Sustainable Development, both adopted in 2015. More recently, specific activities and regulations implemented by the European Union, including the EU Taxonomy and the European Green Deal, provide additional support for the green transition and integration of sustainability into company business models (BIS 2021).

From the perspective of banks, financial regulators are strengthening regulations in an attempt to encourage these institutions to support and promote sustainability practices. Recently banking supervisors have launched important appeals and recommendations to raise awareness on the potential effects of environmental risk, improve the understanding of climate risk measurement issues facing banks and on transitioning to a low-carbon and more circular economy. Specifically, increasing pressure is being exerted on all EU banks to integrate sustainability factors into the lending decision-making processes. In turn, increased commitment to climate issues could lead banks to develop a more effective environmental management system and environmental credit risk management which mediates bank riskiness and improves overall financial stability (EBA – European Banking Authority, 2020a, EBA – European Banking Authority, 2020b).

Conclusions, implications and future research lines

The ‘sustainability challenge’ represents a global issue that affects all companies, whether financial or non-financial, especially following the Covid-19 pandemic. Falling behind in this process of adaptation not only means losing a competitive advantage but also risking being pushed out of the marketplace altogether. This is true for banks, which are now being asked by regulators to rearrange all their main business processes (e.g., strategies, risk management, capital allocation, loan origination and monitoring, disclosure), adapting them to comply with specific ESG sustainability criteria. It is even more true, however, for non-financial firms, especially SMEs. These firms are a pillar of the European economy and a central player in value chains and community dynamics (Beck, 2013; Gomes and Pinho, 2023; Angilella and Mazzù, 2015). Thus, involving them in the sustainability process is vital to ensuring the success of the transition to sustainability in Europe. In addition, for SMEs, being included in the sustainability agenda is paramount to accessing key resources and opportunities, obtaining better financial conditions and entering into important partnerships (European Investment Bank-EIB, 2023).

Scholars have revealed that an increasing number of banks are starting to include ESG factors in their lending decisions (Scholtens, 2009, Goss and Roberts, 2011). Many financial intermediaries, facing the threats generated by ESG risks, tend to prefer lending to businesses that are more sustainable and, therefore, less risky (Weber, 2012). Academic research shows that this strategy is virtuous because granting credit to more sustainable companies creates value for banks in terms of a higher net interest margin and a reduction in default risk (Mirza et al., 2023). For these reasons, banks are also increasing their share of green operations by offering capital at lower cost to firms more compliant with environment goals (Attig et al., 2013, El Ghoul et al., 2018, Wellalage and Kumar, 2021).

Abstract

Supply chain resilience and the ripple effect have been widely studied, mostly focusing on material flow-related practices. The financial flow adjustments to cope with supply chain disruptions have received much less attention. We contribute to the literature by examining the impact of adapting payment terms during and after disruptions. In particular, we perform a discrete event simulation analysis in anyLogistix for a complex supply chain network to investigate the impact of adjusting payment terms on supply chain cash flows. Our results suggest that collaboratively adjusting payment terms is an effective strategy for coping with disruptions. In contrast, ad hoc adjustments and immediate returns to pre-disruption payment schemes do not yield visible improvements. Positive effects on cash and loans are observed if an adjustment of payment terms occurs proactively and in a coordinated manner, especially when expediting payments downstream and payment slowing down upstream. The results from our sensitivity analysis on the impact of accelerating/decelerating cash conversion cycles favour shorter cycles when coping with disruptions. We deduce useful managerial insights and reveal some new theoretical tensions related to the impact of payment adjustments on cash flows in supply chains.

Introduction

Supply chain resilience and the ripple effect have been significantly visible research avenues ( Chervenkova and Ivanov, 2023 , Dolgui et al., 2023 , Sawik, 2023 , Ivanov, 2024a , Ivanov, 2024b ). The extant literature offers numerous strategies and practices for the preparedness and recovery of supply chains ( Hosseini et al., 2019 , Ivanov and Dolgui, 2021 , Ivanov et al., 2021 , Gruchmann et al., 2024 ). Most of these strategies and practices are related to material flows – e.g. backup suppliers, risk mitigation inventory, and capacity flexibility ( Lin et al., 2021 , Mitręga and Choi, 2021 , Brusset et al., 2023 , Hägele et al., 2023 , Aldrighetti et al., 2024 ). Some research examined the role of information flows in supply chain resilience, focusing on visibility, digital technology, and cybersecurity ( Ivanov, 2021 , Sawik, 2022 , Dubey et al., 2023 ). However, practices of financial flow adjustments to cope with supply chain disruptions have received much less attention ( Choi et al., 2023 ).

The role of financial flows in supply chain resilience is a distinct but underexplored topic of high practical relevance. Consider an example. In the fall of 2023, Ford’s supply chain experienced a series of disruptions caused by strikes ( Shepardson and White, 2023 ). Assembly plants stopped, leading to significant monetary losses at Ford ($1.7 billion in lost profits and about 100,000 units fewer wholesale vehicle sales from the strike) ( Gomes, 2023 ). Adversely, the ripple effect from the disruptions at the assembly plants could have resulted in setting Tier 2 suppliers at financial risk and danger of bankruptcy because of missing liquidity, higher interest rates, and difficulties to get loans from the banks ( Vicci, 2023 ).

Conclusion

In this study, we departed from the existing research gap about the role of cash flows in supply chain resilience and ripple effect analysis. The extant literature mostly focuses on strategies for preparedness and recovery related to material flows. Practices of financial flow adjustments to cope with supply chain disruptions have received much less attention. However, the practical and academic importance of this topic are unquestionable.

The main contribution of our study to the literature is an examination of the impacts of payment term adaptation during and after disruption responses, along with proposing useful coping strategies based on adjusting deferment periods and the role of coordination in this adaptation. The objective of our analysis was to investigate the impact of adjusting payment terms on supply chain cash flows.

Methodologically, we utilised a discrete event simulation analysis in anyLogistix applied to a complex supply chain network. We performed simulations with nominal (disruption-free) and disruption scenarios considering different response strategies. The computational results of this study have been translated into useful managerial insights on the importance of payment term adjustment during disruptions to avoid bankruptcies in the supply chain and improve its resilience.

Abstract

Audit practice is a team effort led by signing auditors. We examine the impact of the heterogeneity of signing auditors’ audit-firm serving experiences on the disclosure of key audit matters (KAMs). Auditors with more heterogeneous serving experiences demonstrate more adequate KAM disclosure, as evidenced by more KAMs, longer texts and clearer attributions in their disclosures. This effect is influenced by the quality of audit knowledge that auditors accumulate from different serving experiences and the team- and audit-firm-level knowledge integration environment. Furthermore, signing auditors with more diverse service experience tend to improve audit quality, reduce the incidence of restatement or misconduct and enhance the informativeness of financial reports. Our findings enrich the KAM disclosure research and provide insights into audit firms’ human resource allocation and internal management.

Introduction

In 2016, China’s Ministry of Finance mandated new audit report standards, introducing Key Audit Matters sections in listed companies’ audit reports to bolster transparency and highlight financial statement risks through auditors’ judgment ( Chen et al., 2021 ). Studying the disclosure of key audit matters (KAMs) is pivotal for enriching the content of audit report information and nurturing capital market health ( Reid et al., 2015 , Wang et al., 2018 , Li et al., 2019 ). Research predominantly examines the economic consequences of KAM disclosure ( Wang and Li, 2019 , Liu and Lei, 2020 , Zhou et al., 2020b ). Only a few studies investigate the determinants of KAM disclosure, with major focuses on client characteristics ( Pinto and Morais, 2019 ; Li et al., 2020; Qian et al., 2022 ), individual auditor attributes ( Cao, 2021 , Chen et al., 2021 ), client–auditor relationships ( Hu and Hu, 2021 ) and abnormal audit fees ( Chen et al., 2022 ). Audit practice is inherently team work, with the leading signing auditors critically influencing team efficiency ( Jiang and Tang, 2016 , Yan et al., 2017 ). In the context of integrated management within accounting firms, exploring effective personnel allocation for audit teams is important for promoting the integration of internal resources within organizations and driving the audit market toward intrinsic, high-quality development. We investigate how the heterogeneity of signing auditors’ audit-firm serving experience affects KAM disclosure from a team theory perspective. 1

Auditing is a profession characterized by a relatively high turnover rate, with auditors often transitioning between audit firms ( Hermanson et al., 2016 ). For instance, the Shanghai Institute of Certified Public Accountants announced that in September 2022, 122 certified public accountants in Shanghai handled issues related to transferring to other firms. The professional experiences gained in various firms have a profound impact on individual auditors’ knowledge acquisition and cognitive processes ( Che et al., 2020 , Tian et al., 2021 ). Furthermore, the diversity in the audit-firm serving experiences of signing auditor pairs may influence their knowledge integration, which has implications for their audit judgments ( Carpenter, 2007 , Bonner et al., 2022 ).

Conclusions

In this study, we provide novel empirical evidence on the factors influencing KAM disclosure. We find that signing auditors with more heterogeneous audit-firm serving experiences exhibit more adequate KAM disclosure. Mechanism analysis reveals that the quality of knowledge accumulated from heterogeneous serving experiences and the knowledge integration environment at both the team and firm levels significantly influence the impact of serving experience heterogeneity. Specifically, the increase in KAM disclosure adequacy is more salient when auditors accumulate higher-quality knowledge through heterogeneous serving experiences, when audit teams exhibit educational gaps between members, when review partners have heterogeneous experiences and when audit firms are smaller. Economic consequence tests indicate that signing auditors with greater serving experience heterogeneity can enhance audit quality through more audit input, significantly reduce the probability of restatements and financial misconducts and ultimately enhance the informativeness of accounting information. In other words, such audit teams can improve accounting information quality by thoroughly identifying and addressing potential risks in financial reporting.

We extend the literature on KAM disclosure through a novel investigation of how audit team composition affects the adequacy of such disclosure. Our findings offer valuable implications for practice. In the realm of integrated audit firm management, human resource management is pivotal for audit firms’ internal governance. Managers need to consider the proper allocation of human resources from the perspective of auditor team composition. By leveraging differentiated serving experiences within audit teams, they can adjust member configurations, enhance communication and cooperation among team members, better harness their teams’ collective intelligence and improve internal governance mechanisms and quality management systems. Regulatory bodies are encouraged to encourage audit teams to embrace diverse decision-making frameworks. This shift will aid audit firms in transitioning from a growth-centric to a strength-based approach and promote the healthy development of capital markets.

Abstract

This research contributes to understanding the spillover effect of customer digital transformation along the supply chain. We take a supply chain relationship perspective to explore the influence of customers’ digital transformation on suppliers’ audit fees and find a significant reduction in such fees when customers undergo digital transformation. An economic mechanism analysis reveals that this transformation reduces audit fees by lowering the risks and costs encountered by auditors. This is achieved by mitigating suppliers’ business risks and improving earnings quality. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of customers’ digital transformation on suppliers’ audit fees is more pronounced when the supply chain is geographically distant, suppliers with more specific investments and with high levels of market competition.

Introduction

Digital transformation involves shifting from a traditional “industrialized” management model to a digital management model ( Verhoef et al., 2021 ). This transition goes beyond simply applying digital technologies to technical aspects of a business and involves a complete restructuring of business models and operational management. Research on the economic consequences of digital transformation emphasizes its potential influence on the quality of corporate disclosures and business risks. For example, digital technologies can improve operational management, promote networked and flattened organizational structures ( Nambisan et al., 2019 ), increase corporate disclosure transparency and the quality of accounting information and enhance communication, production and operational efficiency ( Wu et al., 2021 , Chen et al., 2022a ). By digitally collecting and analyzing data, firms can effectively visualize information, enhance interdepartmental coordination, refine risk control processes, mitigate operational risks and reduce management fraud and decision-making errors that lead to losses, thereby enhancing their market reputation ( Manita et al., 2020 , Zhou and Li, 2023 ). Most studies focus on the direct effects of digital transformation on firms’ risk responses and information transfer capabilities, while its broader effects on the supply chain have not been sufficiently investigated ( Guo et al., 2023 ).

The production operations of suppliers and their financial decisions are influenced and informed by their customers, who therefore play a vital role in the supply chain ( Ak and Patatoukas, 2016 ). Investing in supply chain relationships promotes the economic interdependence of suppliers and customers. The value of such investment depends on customers’ growth prospects, and ensuring the stability of their businesses can lead to higher expected returns from supply chain collaboration. Conversely, if customers face business challenges or go bankrupt, they can jeopardize the value of the assets allocated by suppliers ( Raman and Shahrur, 2008 ). This increases suppliers’ cash flow and operational risk ( Itzkowitz, 2013 ). Thus, suppliers are highly sensitive to the operations and activities of their customers. The risks and information associated with customers can generate a spillover effect in the supply chain, which can then trigger cascading changes in suppliers’ operational risks and influence their investments and financial decisions ( Hertzel et al., 2008 , Jacobson and von Schedvin, 2015 , Chiu et al., 2019 ). By gaining access to more transparent customer information, suppliers can better forecast customer demand, reduce transaction costs, alleviate shortages and losses and enhance production efficiency and inventory management ( Yang et al., 2020 ). Digital transformation can have positive effects on business risks and disclosure quality, in addition to the supply chain, but does the digital transformation of customer businesses also lead to additional spillover effects on suppliers?

Conclusion and discussion

Amid increased economic uncertainty, businesses are increasingly turning to digital transformation to enhance their resilience and optimize their resource allocation. The supply chain is a critical component of business operations that integrates logistics, information flow and capital flow. Microenterprises aiming to gain a competitive advantage can enhance their collaborations within supply chains. We investigated the spillover effect of customer digital transformation on suppliers through assessing its impact on audit fees. This extends research on the economic consequences of digital transformation beyond the boundaries of supply chain relationships. Our empirical findings indicate that customers’ digital transformation can reduce suppliers’ audit fees. Our heterogeneity analysis shows that this effect is more evident when there is a greater geographic distance between suppliers and customers, higher levels of dedicated investment and increased competitiveness in the supplier market. Through the economic mechanism of mitigating supply chain risk and facilitating collaboration and information transfer in supply chains, customers’ digital transformation reduces suppliers’ audit risks and costs, thus leading to lower audit fees.

Based on previous research findings, we offer the following conclusions. First, the implementation of digital transformation by suppliers’ customers can potentially cause a spillover effect across the supply chain, thereby affecting the economic interests and decisions of suppliers. Consequently, when faced with fierce market competition, firms should fully realize the beneficial effects of digital transformation on information transfer efficiency and collaboration within the supply chain. Such transformation should therefore be actively promoted, because through it firms can facilitate a seamless connection of resources, information and knowledge within the supply chain, thus fostering sustainable economic growth through enhanced coordination and cooperation.

Abstract

This paper delves into the integration of Intelligent Process Automation within the domain of business continuity auditing, with a focus on the Portuguese banking sector. In an era marked by rapid technological advancement, organizations are increasingly leveraging automation to reinforce operational efficiency and realize substantial cost savings. Concurrently, auditors play a pivotal role in ensuring seamless transitions amid technological transformations to safeguard business continuity. This research endeavors to bridge the realms of business continuity and intelligent automation, culminating in a comprehensive application that streamlines the audit process. The implemented solution encompasses the automation of critical audit activities, including communication, information requests, and final report submissions, liberating auditors from the chains of repetitive tasks. The incorporation of business intelligence augments this automation framework, enabling a meticulous analysis of key performance indicators within the audit department. This ensures a continuous evaluation of the efficacy of the Annual Audit Plan. Empirical validation of this initiative was achieved through surveys conducted with audit teams from four prominent Portuguese banks. The results unequivocally affirm the potential benefits of this implementation, extending invaluable support to management in the decision-making process, while concurrently alleviating auditors of routine tasks inherent to the audit process. This study not only underscores the transformative potential of intelligent process automation in the audit domain but also offers a replicable framework for organizations seeking to fortify their business continuity efforts through technological integration. The findings hold implications for businesses navigating the dynamic intersection of technology and audit practices, providing a blueprint for harnessing automation for enhanced operational resilience.

Introduction

Technological advancements have greatly increased information accessibility and are continuously reshaping information systems to meet future demands This dynamic environment compels organizations to adopt open innovation strategies to streamline operations, enhance efficiencies, and fortify fraud prevention measures. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards remote work, emphasizing the importance of process automation. In auditing, technology has become essential in ensuring compliance, assessing risks, and improving operational efficiencies, promoting transparency and accountability. The shift from manual to automated and continuous auditing is driven by emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain, significantly affecting the banking sector. Despite these advances, the transition to fully digital auditing practices remains gradual, with many institutions still reliant on traditional methods.

The auditing process has evolved from traditional manual audits of paper documentation to computer-based auditing, progressing towards a paperless, electronic, real-time continuous auditing environment ( Rezaee et al., 2002 ). The banking sector has faced numerous challenges in recent years, responding to incentives and imperatives related to technological advances, market volatility, and increasing regulatory and public scrutiny. Since the 2007 financial crisis, known as the subprime crisis, the audit function in banking institutions has become significantly more crucial. Its primary mission is to mitigate the risk of potential or actual losses, thereby enhancing the institution’s risk profile ( Zinca, 2016 ). Internal Audit (IA) departments are under increasing pressure to leverage technology for automating the identification of exceptions and/or anomalies and for control testing ( The Institute of Internal Auditors, 2019 ).

Conclusions

This study aimed to integrate automation within the audit process, thereby streamlining manual and repetitive tasks to enhance the efficacy of business continuity management. This goal was pursued through the identification of optimal automation solutions and the mitigation of associated risks.

A multi-stage methodological approach was utilized, beginning with an extensive literature review to identify the risks, benefits, and challenges linked with the automation of audit processes. This was followed by the application of the DSRM to precisely define the core problem and develop an appropriate solution. Subsequent phases involved the detailed design and development of the proposed solution, culminating in a survey conducted among bank auditors to evaluate how well the solution met their needs.

The findings from this study highlight the pivotal role of IPA in the audit process. Significant advantages were observed, including the implementation of an alert system that notifies auditors of upcoming audits and the use of KPIs to provide a detailed overview of the progress within the audit plan. These tools help identify areas that require refinement in audit management.

Abstract

Using a unique dataset comprising 6313 firm-year observations for Chinese listed firms between 2008 and 2017, we investigate the impact of CEO social capital on cost of debt. Our results show that CEO social capital is negatively related to cost of debt, and the impact of CEO social capital in environments with a low degree of marketization or social trust is more pronounced than in environments with a high degree of marketization or social trust. Moreover, our results reveal that two potential mechanisms, discretionary accruals and information disclosure quality, mediate the impact of CEO social capital on cost of debt.

Introduction

Research into social capital in the area of social economics emerged late last century (e.g., Coleman, 1988 ; Putnam, 1993 , Putnam, 1995 ; Knack and Keefer, 1997 ; Uzzi, 1997 ; Portes, 1998 ; Woolcock, 1998 ; Dasgupta, 2005 ; Fafchamps, 2006 ). Prior studies have acknowledged the significance of the personal social capital embedded in social networks for corporate commercial activities, including corporate financing ( Engelberg et al., 2012 ; Ferris et al., 2017 ; Huang and Shang, 2019 ; Jin et al., 2019 ), corporate investment ( Faleye et al., 2014 ; Fracassi, 2017 ), mergers and acquisitions ( Fracassi and Tate, 2012 ; El-Khatib et al., 2015 ), executive employment and compensation policies ( Hwang and Kim, 2009 ; Fracassi and Tate, 2012 ; Nguyen, 2012 ; Engelberg et al., 2013 ; Ferris et al., 2020 ), risk-taking and accounting practices ( Ferris et al., 2017 , Ferris et al., 2019 ; Panta, 2020 ), and litigation risk ( Zhang et al., 2023 ). Personal social capital embedded in social networks, especially the social capital of corporate executives, has a significant influence on corporate financing. Social capital enhances the trust between borrowers and lenders and increases risk-taking behavior as social capital is seen as an informal insurance. As invisible social credit and a conduit for the exchange of information, CEO social capital benefits corporate financing activities.

We are motivated to investigate the connect between CEO social capital and cost of debt due to the complex institutional background of network and the importance of debt financing in the context of China. Despite China’s remarkable economic growth in recent decades, its financial and legal environments remain underdeveloped. Allen et al. (2005) suggest that in order to sustain this growth, China requires alternative governance mechanisms and informal institutional arrangements. In the Chinese context, China is characterized as a relationship-based society, where social capital embedded in social networks, known as “Guan Xi,” holds significant prevalence and complexity. These networks provide Chinese additional social resources such as information and status ( Song et al., 2012 ; Bian, 2019 ). For example, the CEOs and chairmen of Chinese non-state-owned firms use bank loans to raise funds through their political contacts ( Yu and Pan, 2008 ). Loan approvals and covenants for Chinese corporates are influenced by CEO social capital ( Shen et al., 2009 ; Xu and Li, 2016 ). CEO social capital is negatively associated with firm leverage and short-term debt ratio, and social capital lowers the need for corporate bank borrowing ( Huang and Shang, 2019 ), and the social capital benefits improving the quality of corporate loans ( Jin et al., 2019 ). These studies only reveal the impact of managerial social capital on corporate financing, while the research into the impact of CEO social capital on the cost of debt is relatively scarce, particularly in emerging markets such as China.

Conclusion

This study investigates the relationship between CEO’s social capital and cost of debt. We posit that CEO’s social capital offers incentives for CEOs to provide enhanced information transparency and quality, which lowers the monitoring costs for the borrowers, inducing reduced cost of debt. Additionally, CEO’s social capital creates a sense of trust between the lenders and the borrowers due to the informal tie that social capital creates among the networks. Using a unique dataset consisting with 6313 firm-year observations from the firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange markets from 2008 to 2017, our results suggest that CEO’s social capital reduces cost of debt in the context of China, and such effect is more pronounced when there is a lack of information verification from the regulators (i.e., marketization) and societal norm (i.e., social trust). Moreover, we find that CEO’s social capital reduces cost of debt through the path of reduced discretionary accruals and information disclosure quality. Our results hold after a battery of robustness checks, including the three individual proxies (betweenness centrality, closeness centrality and degree centrality) for CEO social capital, the two alternative proxies for cost of debt, sample without political capital, excess social capital, the consideration of family business characteristics, the interactive effect of state-owned enterprises and endogeneity concerns.