IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/wjabxx/v17y2016i2p148-166.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Internal Control Weaknesses, Family Ownership and the Cost of Debt: Evidence from the Tunisian Stock Exchange

Author

Listed:
  • Achraf Guidara
  • Imen Achek
  • Saida Dammak

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of internal control weaknesses (ICW) and family ownership on the cost of debt in the Tunisian setting. We document that ICW and family ownership are positively associated with the cost of debt. When testing for the moderating effect of family ownership on the association between ICW and the cost of debt, we document that the positive effect of ICW on the cost of debt is more pronounced under high family ownership in the Tunisian setting. Furthermore, the positive and significant association between ICW and the cost of debt is more prevailing for firms audited by non-Big 4 auditors and industrial companies. These findings may have policy implications for Tunisian policymakers with respect to the establishment of internal control standards.

Suggested Citation

  • Achraf Guidara & Imen Achek & Saida Dammak, 2016. "Internal Control Weaknesses, Family Ownership and the Cost of Debt: Evidence from the Tunisian Stock Exchange," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 148-166, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:wjabxx:v:17:y:2016:i:2:p:148-166
    DOI: 10.1080/15228916.2016.1126884
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/15228916.2016.1126884
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/15228916.2016.1126884?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pittman, Jeffrey A. & Fortin, Steve, 2004. "Auditor choice and the cost of debt capital for newly public firms," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 113-136, February.
    2. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    3. Anderson, Ronald C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Reeb, David M., 2003. "Founding family ownership and the agency cost of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 263-285, May.
    4. Doyle, Jeffrey & Ge, Weili & McVay, Sarah, 2007. "Determinants of weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1-2), pages 193-223, September.
    5. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    6. Zhang, Yan & Zhou, Jian & Zhou, Nan, 2007. "Audit committee quality, auditor independence, and internal control weaknesses," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 300-327.
    7. Debreceny, Roger & Rahman, Asheq, 2005. "Firm-specific determinants of continuous corporate disclosures," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 249-278.
    8. Barua, Abhijit & Rama, Dasaratha V & Sharma, Vineeta, 2010. "Audit committee characteristics and investment in internal auditing," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 503-513, September.
    9. Schneider, Arnold & Church, Bryan K., 2008. "The effect of auditors' internal control opinions on loan decisions," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 1-18.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chalmers, Keryn & Hay, David & Khlif, Hichem, 2019. "Internal control in accounting research: A review," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 80-103.
    2. Samara, Georges, 2021. "Family businesses in the Arab Middle East: What do we know and where should we go?," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3).
    3. Lan Thi Mai Nguyen & Trang Khanh Tran & Cameron Truong, 2024. "Family ownership and speed of adjustment towards targeted capital structures: A study of ASEAN firms," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 64(1), pages 445-474, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Breuer, Wolfgang & Knetsch, Andreas, 2022. "Informal authority and economic outcomes of family firms: An issue of national power distance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. Chui, Andy C.W. & Kwok, Chuck C.Y. & (Stephen) Zhou, Gaoguang, 2016. "National culture and the cost of debt," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 1-19.
    3. Ines Maraghni & Mehdi Nekhili & Tawhid Chtioui, 2016. "Caractéristiques du comité d'audit et étendue du reporting sur le contrôle interne : cas des entreprises françaises," Post-Print hal-01901185, HAL.
    4. Wu, Zhenyu & Chua, Jess H. & Chrisman, James J., 2007. "Effects of family ownership and management on small business equity financing," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 875-895, November.
    5. Ginesti, Gianluca & Ossorio, Mario & Dawson, Alexandra, 2023. "Family businesses and debt maturity structure: Focusing on family involvement in governance to explain heterogeneity," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    6. Ester Chen & Ilanit Gavious & Nadav Steinberg, 2019. "Dividends from unrealized earnings and default risk," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 491-535, June.
    7. Apostolos Dasilas & Nicolas Papasyriopoulos, 2015. "Corporate governance, credit ratings and the capital structure of Greek SME and large listed firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 215-244, June.
    8. Dan Yang & Linyin Cheng & Guojun Wang & Yuetang Wang & Lu Zhang, 2020. "Investor protection and cost of debt: Evidence from dividend commitment in firm bylaws," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 294-308, September.
    9. Michel Magnan & Haiping Wang & Yaqi Shi(Sans nom), 2016. "Fair Value Accounting and the Cost of Debt," CIRANO Working Papers 2016s-32, CIRANO.
    10. Murad Harasheh & Roberta Provasi, 2023. "A need for assurance: Do internal control systems integrate environmental, social, and governance factors?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 384-401, January.
    11. Jin, Justin Yiqiang & Kanagaretnam, Kiridaran & Lobo, Gerald J., 2013. "Unintended consequences of the increased asset threshold for FDICIA internal controls: Evidence from U.S. private banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 4879-4892.
    12. Ettore Crocia & John A. Doukas & Halit Gonenc, 2010. "Family Control and Financing Decisions," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 1004, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    13. Oliver Henk, 2020. "Internal control through the lens of institutional work: a systematic literature review," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 239-273, September.
    14. César Camisón & José Antonio Clemente & Sergio Camisón-Haba, 2022. "Asset tangibility, information asymmetries and intangibles as determinants of family firms leverage," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(7), pages 2047-2082, October.
    15. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Guay, Wayne R. & Weber, Joseph P., 2010. "The role of information and financial reporting in corporate governance and debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 179-234, December.
    16. Guang‐Zheng Chen & Edmund C. Keung, 2018. "Corporate diversification, institutional investors and internal control quality," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(3), pages 751-786, September.
    17. Feito-Ruiz, Isabel & Menéndez-Requejo, Susana, 2022. "Debt maturity in family firms: Heterogeneity across countries," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    18. James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua & Pramodita Sharma, 2005. "Trends and Directions in the Development of a Strategic Management Theory of the Family Firm," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(5), pages 555-575, September.
    19. Yilin Huang & Taylor D. Nadauld, 2019. "A Direct Test of Agency Theories of Debt: Evidence from Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(4), pages 1792-1809, April.
    20. Liangbo Ma & Shiguang Ma & Gary Tian, 2017. "Corporate Opacity and Cost of Debt for Family Firms," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 27-59, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:wjabxx:v:17:y:2016:i:2:p:148-166. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/wjab20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.