Purpose This study aims to present a detailed investigation of Shariah audit research based on a systematic literature review. Design/methodology/approach A total of 53 studies were collected from the Scopus and Web of Science databases following a systematic methodology. These studies were analyzed and evaluated based on the theoretical perspective, geographical distribution, research settings and themes background. Findings The findings indicate an increase in the literature on Shariah auditing over time, especially in the Malaysian context, with a dearth of research in other contexts and institutions (Takaful). It has been also revealed that the existing literature is still unclear about the effectiveness and consequences of effective Shariah auditing, pointing the need for more work on these areas. The authors outline opportunities for future Shariah auditing research. Originality/value The synthesized findings are helpful for policymakers and managers to understand better how research in Shariah auditing is developing and how to translate research findings into practice. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research to comprehensively synthesize the literature on this topic and identify the potential opportunities for future research directions.

Prior studies have analyzed board diversity (mostly in developed nations) using financial firms to measure demographic or cognitive characteristics in relation to firm performance. However, the current study attempted to fill the literature gap by evaluating both demographic and cognitive mechanisms in developing economies using non-financial firms in Nigeria. This study examined how board diversity in terms of the gender and educational level of directors affects the performance of Nigerian stock exchange companies. The study utilized a sample of 67 listed companies from the Nigerian stock exchange over eight years, from 2012 to 2019. A quantitative method using a deductive approach was adopted in conducting fixed effect and generalized method of moments (GMM) estimations for robust findings. The findings support the existence of a significant positive influence of both education and gender diversity on the companies’ performance. These results are consistent with agency and resource dependence theoretical expectations. The outcomes add to the current debates on those types of regulatory setters calling for corporate board diversification. The findings would greatly benefit management in the directors’ selection process as they revealed the importance of both education and gender diversity for better performance and enhancing market value. Thus, they contribute to the literature on the state of board diversity in developing countries.

The purpose of this article is to extend the bundles of corporate governance theory and propose the role of corporate debt in determining the governance structure of a company. This research intended to answer some questions have been put forward by scholars to explain the inter-relationship between debt, corporate governance, and agency costs: (i) what exactly is the disciplinary role of debts? (ii) how is governance structure influenced by the debt level? and (iii) are extremely high debt ratios required? Previous works have looked at interrelations between debt, corporate governance, and agency costs in isolation result in inclusive findings. However, we argue that debt level is a key determinant of the effective governance structure that maintains agency costs at the optimal level. Based on the governance bundle theory, we contribute to the literature by introducing a new model (over-governance model) that suggests financial leverage as a critical contingency linking governance bundle and agency costs. Also, it provides a clear picture on the different type of agency costs. Our paper provides a theoretical framework to guide further studies and provide important implications for the board, corporate management, and regulators.

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The audit committee is a fundamental and prerequisite tool for fulfilling board’s monitoring role of ensuring transparency, financial and managerial efficiency. Therefore, it has been applied to address perceived governance failure. This paper aims to critically review the previous literature on the relationship between audit committee diversity as a major corporate governance mechanism and corporate voluntary disclosure reporting (CVDR) with a change in the regulatory regime as moderation variable. This review specifically evaluates theoretical and empirical literature related to audit committee diversity like independence, financial expertise, accounting expertise; and CVDR in order to highlight some important areas of gaps for future research in this field. It also, emphases the need for a more qualitative method for better understanding of the relationship. This paper proposes that examining the moderating influence of the change of the regulatory regime with regard to CVDR would provide more insight into the link between audit committee diversity and CVDR. The policy implication of the study is also discussed. Lastly, the paper stresses the importance of studies linking audit committee diversity and CVDR, which are quite scanty in the existing literature.