Corporate life cycle has received considerable interest in the accounting, finance and corporate governance literature. We synthesize this literature to inform readers about the valuable insights gained from these studies, and to outline knowledge gaps and future research directions. Although few in numbers, our review of the determinants of corporate life cycle suggests that managerial efficiencies, flexibility, and the resource-base of the firm drive transition through the corporate life cycle. Bulk of the reviewed papers examine the implications of firm life cycle studies which we categorize into three groups: (i) financial reporting and management accounting implications, (ii) financial policy implications, and (iii) corporate governance implications. Our review suggests that the corporate life cycle has considerable effects on firms' financial reporting and corporate disclosures; corporate investment, financing and dividends decisions; and corporate governance and socially responsible behavior. Despite a growing body of literature on corporate life cycle, we identify critical short-comings of past studies, and suggestions for future studies.

Corporate governance and corporate reporting are closely linked to each other, and their respective evolutionary patterns are mutually influencing. Along with the recent expansion of company disclosure, a growing attention is being paid to corporate governance determinants and mechanisms underpinning the decision to voluntarily adopt non-financial disclosure formats, such as integrated reporting. At institutional level, several national corporate governance codes have been changed towards the recognition and inclusion of this innovative, non-financial language. In academic research, the influence of corporate governance variables vis-à-vis the choice to embrace such reporting practices has been subject to a long scrutiny. However, only a little inquiry has so far analysed the influence of corporate governance factors on integrated reporting adoption, quality, and credibility. Accordingly, the aim of the book is to investigate if, and to what extent, corporate board composition and characteristics can affect, at the same time, the decision to voluntarily adopt integrated reporting by companies as well as their financial performance. The study carries out an empirical analysis of the professional features of board members at the time of their decision to implement integrated reporting as a new form of company accountability. The work provides innovative insights into the articulated relationships between the quantitative and qualitative composition of corporate boards and the latter’s choice to uptake this advanced form of reporting to represent the wider value creation processes of their organisations.

"Corporate Governance in Transition Economies" will appeal to a wide segment of the academic market including accounting and finance professors and students because the main theme of the book deals with accounting and financial system reform. Economists in the subfields of transition economics and development economics for it addresses current issues in their field. It will also appeal to scholars in the field of Russian and East European Studies because the book discusses topics involving Russia, Ukraine and other East European countries. Policy analysts who deal with accounting, finance, transition economics or Russia or Eastern Europe will also find this book to be a valuable reference and source of current information.

This unique collection of new, previously unpublished chapters examines corporate governance and the various life cycle stages of firms and organizations. The role of the corporate governance life cycle in different industrial and institutional contexts is identified and reviewed, and crucial governance issues relating to the transition between stages are considered. This book will extend our understanding of governance issues beyond the narrow confines of economics and finance perspectives to embrace both learning and knowledge dimensions as well as contextual issues.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the implications of tax avoidance for a firm’s capital structure, highlighting the key role played by free cash flow and agency conflicts. First, the book provides an outline of the theories and empirical evidence concerning the role of taxes in the Theory of Capital Structure. It reviews the studies investigating the relationship between agency conflicts and capital structure. The book explores the role of free cash flow and agency conflicts in the relationship between tax avoidance and capital structure. In the final section, the results of an empirical investigation conducted on a sample of U.S. public firms are also presented. The empirical research examines whether and how tax avoidance is associated with debt covenant violation across the stages of the corporate life cycle. Specifically, the research uses the concept of the corporate life cycle stage to analyse whether and how the association between tax avoidance and debt covenant violation varies in different agency settings. Consistent with the hypotheses drawn on the Agency Theory, the findings of the empirical research suggest life cycle stages moderate the association between tax avoidance and debt covenant violation. Overall, this book sheds light on the potential implications of tax avoidance activities for a firm’s capital structure. The book will be of interest to both experienced and early-stage scholars interested in the topic. Moreover, the book will also be of interest to policymakers, investors, analysts, lenders, and other market participants.

The growing internationalization of markets, the relaxation of constraints on capital flows between countries, and the creation of different economic unions -- the European Union in particular -- initiated the flow of capital, goods, and services across national borders, growth and diffusion of shareholding, and increased merger activity among the world’s largest stock exchanges. These changes have stimulated an interest in understanding developments in accounting and corporate governance in a newly qualitative way. Law, Corporate Governance, and Accounting sets out a framework for the analysis of institutional environments as the interconnected key tools of modern public corporations. Along with examining latest developments in the integrated formal structures for the formulation of international accounting principles, analyzing new accounting regulations and the extrapolating on the lessons that can be learned from the harmonization of accounting principles in Europe, this monograph provides the analyses of the convergence in both auditing and corporate governance as well as US perspective on IFRS adoption.