International Business Research, Issue: Vol.19, No.5

Does Carrying a Mortgage Dampen Risk Tolerance? Evidence from Four European Countries

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 03:34:13 +0000

This paper investigates whether carrying a mortgage affects homeowners' subjective financial risk tolerance. While previous studies have explored the relationship between household debt and risk-taking, most compare homeowners with renters, we focus exclusively on homeowners and compare individuals with an outstanding mortgage to those who own their homes outright. Using original survey data collected in 2024–2025 from 4,296 respondents, among which 1,715 respondents that provided a valid answer, across Finland, Germany, Italy and Spain, we estimate the causal effect of mortgage holding on risk tolerance through Propensity Score Matching. The results indicate that, after balancing observable characteristics, homeowners with a mortgage report significantly lower financial risk tolerance than otherwise comparable outright owners, supporting the debt-burden hypothesis rather than the self-selection hypothesis. Overall, the evidence suggests that mortgage indebtedness is associated with a reduction in households' willingness to undertake additional financial risk, highlighting the importance of leverage in shaping financial decision-making.

Enhancing Professional Scepticism to Improve Fraud Detection in Auditing: A Systematic Literature Review

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 03:37:25 +0000

This systematic literature review examines how professional scepticism can be enhanced to improve fraud detection and audit quality. Using a structured search and screening process in Scopus, the review synthesises 40 peer-reviewed studies and organises the evidence into six themes: client and management psychology; interventions, decision aids, education, and measurement; fraud risk assessment and evidence evaluation; partner leadership, communication, team dynamics, and incentives; determinants and outcomes of professional scepticism; and auditor independence and non-audit services. The findings show that professional scepticism is a dynamic and context-dependent construct rather than a purely individual auditor trait. Its effectiveness is shaped by auditor experience, cognitive and personality characteristics, willingness to doubt, leadership, team interaction, accountability, incentives, culture, governance, and independence. Structured interventions and decision aids can strengthen sceptical judgement, but their effects do not always translate into audit action and may depend on auditor characteristics and organisational support. The literature is dominated by experimental and survey-based designs, which limits evidence about long-term effects and real-world audit behaviour. By integrating fragmented findings across individual, engagement, organisational, and contextual levels, the review provides a more coherent account of how professional scepticism develops and operates and identifies priorities for longitudinal, field-based, and theoretically grounded research.

Audit Committee Attributes and Listed Firms’ Performance Nexus: A Comparative Study in Ghana and Nigeria

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 03:47:38 +0000

Purpose

This comparative study examines the interconnection between audit committee attributes and listed firms’ performance among listed companies in Ghana and Nigeria.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Drawing on agency, stewardship, resource dependence, and institutional theories, the research investigates how audit committee independence, financial expertise, gender diversity, size, meeting frequency, and tenure relate to both accounting‑based (return on assets and return on equity) and market‑based (Tobin’s Q) performance measures. The study uses a mixed-panel approach combining secondary financial and corporate governance data from 20 listed firms on the Ghana Stock Exchange and 22 listed firms on the Nigerian Stock Exchange for the period 2010–2020, together with primary survey responses from 150 corporate governance practitioners and executives in the two countries. Panel econometric techniques, including fixed effects, random effects, and dynamic system GMM estimations, are employed to address unobserved heterogeneity and potential endogeneity. Control variables include firm size, leverage, industry, and ownership structure, while regulatory enforcement intensity is tested as a moderator.

Findings

Empirical results indicate that audit committee independence and financial expertise are positively associated with accounting‑based performance in both countries, though the magnitude of the effects is larger in Nigeria. Gender diversity on audit committees is positively related to market based performance in Ghana but shows an attenuated and statistically insignificant effect in Nigeria. Audit committee meeting frequency and optimal committee size exhibits nonlinear relationships with firm performance, suggesting diminishing monitoring returns beyond certain thresholds. Tenure and continuity have mixed effects: moderate tenure supports better performance, while excessively long tenure is associated with weaker monitoring outcomes. Ownership concentration and stronger regulatory enforcement amplify the positive effects of financial expertise and independence on performance.

Research limitations/implications

The study contributes to the corporate governance literature by providing cross-country evidence from two major West African capital markets and by highlighting how institutional differences moderate the audit committee–performance nexus. Policy implications include encouraging disclosure of audit committee expertise, promoting balanced gender representation, and tailoring regulatory interventions to local market conditions to strengthen audit committee effectiveness. The findings also offer practical guidance for boards and investors seeking to improve governance structures to enhance firm value.

Originality/Value

Audit committees are somewhat treated ceremonially in emerging economies which affects performance. The study concentrates on selected audit committee attributes: independence, financial expertise, gender diversity, size, meeting frequency, and tenure. While other governance features (e.g., board independence, CEO duality, ownership concentration) can influence performance, these variables are treated as control or moderating variables rather than primary explanatory factors. The research employs panel data econometric techniques (fixed effects, random effects, and dynamic panel models such as system GMM) to address unobserved heterogeneity and potential endogeneity; nonetheless, causal inference may be constrained by data limitations and measurement error inherent in secondary disclosures (Wooldridge, 2010).

Leveraging Retention Strategies to Mitigate Workforce Challenges in Childcare Organizations

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 13:20:24 +0000

Employee retention remains a critical challenge in people-centered industries, particularly within private childcare organizations, where high turnover disrupts service quality and organizational sustainability. Researchers conducted a qualitative study to explore how private childcare business owners adapted their leadership to improve employee retention. Grounded in job-embeddedness theory, the research was conducted using semi structured interviews with eight private childcare owners who had effectively increased employee retention. Thematic analysis revealed that adopting employee-centered rewards and support systems, and relational leadership and organizational culture were central to increasing employee retention. Current literature was reviewed to illustrate how the themes correlate to turnover drivers, such as burnout, job dissatisfaction, and lack of support. The findings suggest that organizations that align intrinsic and extrinsic motivators with relational leadership practices can significantly improve employee retention, engagement, and overall organizational performance. Practical implications for management include adopting holistic retention frameworks that emphasize both structural and cultural interventions.

The Nexus Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Financial Performance in Emerging Markets: A Moderated Mediation Model

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 13:30:25 +0000

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is widely presumed to pay. The evidence, however, remains uneven, and much of it is silent on how and when responsible conduct is converted into financial outcomes. This study examines two organisational mechanisms and one boundary condition in that conversion process. Drawing on stakeholder theory and the dynamic capability perspective, it models customer satisfaction (CS) and dynamic capability (DC) as sequential mediators of the association between CSR and firm financial performance (FFP), and managerial support (MS) as a moderator of the direct CSR–FFP path. The setting is the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), an emerging capital market in which CSR reporting is largely voluntary and institutional arrangements are still consolidating. Data were obtained from 126 senior and middle managers of listed firms through a self-administered questionnaire and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). CSR is positively and significantly associated with FFP (β = 0.361, p < 0.01). The sequential indirect path through CS and DC is positive and significant (β = 0.798, p < 0.01), and the direct path remains significant, indicating partial mediation. MS positively moderates the CSR–FFP association (β = 0.102, p < 0.05). The findings support a mechanism-and-boundary reading of the CSR–performance relationship: CSR appears to be associated with financial performance not as an automatic entitlement but through stakeholder responses and organisational capability, and the strength of the direct association varies with the level of managerial support. Because the design is cross-sectional and performance is measured perceptually, the results should be read as evidence of association rather than of causation, and as evidence about Ghanaian listed firms rather than about emerging markets in general.