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Egypt
April 2008.- Intellectual capital reporting in knowledge economy: evidence from Egypt
Purpose – Investors and financial statement users may have differing beliefs about the responsibility of an independent accounting firm performing an audit of a client's financial statements. This study aims to investigate the existence of an audit expectation gap between auditors and financial statement users in Egypt.
Design/methodology/approach – The research method adopted in this study is identical to that used by Schelluch, Best
Findings – The results found evidence of a wide audit expectation gap in Egypt in the areas of auditor responsibilities for fraud prevention, maintenance of accounting records, and auditor judgment in the selection of audit procedures. To a lesser extent, an expectation gap was found concerning the reliability of audit and audited financial statements, and the usefulness of audit.
Research limitations/implications – The different economic and cultural conditions in Egypt may restrict the generalisability of this study.
Practical implications – In order to reduce the expectation gap and improve decision-making by financial statement users, the results of this study support the adoption of the long-form audit report, augmentation of the auditing framework, strengthening of the auditor's integrity, and finally educating users on the nature and functions of audit.
Originality/value – This paper contributes to the understanding of the diverse nature of the expectations gap by examining the different economic and cultural setting of Egypt.
Purpose – The study aims to learn of the contributions of the skilled Egyptian diaspora to the development of Egypt; to understand how these contributions differ according to their characteristics; and to discover obstacles and incentives to these contributions in the areas of investment, entrepreneurship, and return migration.
Design/methodology/approach – A total of 384 skilled Egyptian diasporans were surveyed online using a snowball sampling technique. Data were analyzed through frequency analyses, crosstabulations, and chi-square statistics.
Findings – The skilled Egyptian diaspora did make some contributions to Egypt; especially in technology transfer, entrepreneurship, return migration, remittances, and charity. However, their potential is not fully utilized. Contributions of the diaspora differed according to their age, industry, and prior work in Egypt. Government bureaucracy, unfair competition, and lack of innovation acted as obstacles to diaspora engagement, while the attractiveness of the Egyptian market, availability of labor, and the Egyptian culture acted as incentives.
Research limitations/implications – The use of a non-probability sample poses challenges to the generalizability of the results. The use of questionnaires meant that more in-depth analysis was not possible to obtain.
Practical implications – Government reform, market stimulation, and better outreach programs are needed for further diaspora mobilization.
Originality/value – Not enough research has been conducted to gauge the effect of the diaspora in Egypt even though they represent an important development opportunity for the country.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the political and economic dilemma that Islamic finance (IF) poses on some Muslim Governments of either encouraging or restraining this global phenomenon; in spite of their awareness of the developmental role that IF plays. Egypt, in this concern represents a peculiar example where government's policies apparently determine the performance of Islamic financial institutions.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins with an overview of IF and the momentums that catalyzed the development of IF in general and in Egypt in specific. It then analyses the policies of the Egyptian Government towards Islamic financial institutions since its inception in 1963 until 2007, with a specific focus on Islamic banks and Islamic companies. This is followed by a discussion on the current practices of these institutions in the Egyptian economy. Finally, the paper presents a prospect vision of the future path of Egypt in the field of IF.
Findings – The paper finds that the shares of IF in the Egyptian economy are modest at local, regional and global levels. Such backward position could be justified in the light of the governmental policies and their manipulation over the legal, economic and religious institutions in a way that restrain the performance of Islamic financial institutions. However, the responsibility is not solely the government's; Islamic financial institutions share part of such retreat due to their practices that divert them from their mission.
Practical implications – The paper concludes that the nature of the Egyptian Government's attitudes towards IF stems from its tendency to maintain the stability of its economic system besides its suspicion to the nature of Islamic financial institutions and their links with Islamist groups. In addition, Islamic financial institutions suffer from administrative and legal problems that shape their practices and reveal their divergence from their Islamic and developmental role that they are supposed to play.
Originality/value – In the final analysis, the paper offers an insight into prospective development of IF in Egypt on both local and external levels.