PurposeThis paper examines the effect of political connections (PCs) on firms' profitability and market value in the Egyptian market after the uprising of 2013.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study is conducted based on 284 firm-year observations for non-financial listed firms on the EGX100 during the period of 2014–2017. To test the study’s hypothesis, two independent sample t-test, Pearson correlation analysis and ordinary least square (OLS) regressions are conducted.FindingsThe results suggest that PCs are common across all industries in Egypt, the PCs through top officers do not improve firm's profitability; however, it has a positive effect on firms' market value. Further, PCs through business owners improve neither profitability nor the market value. Finally, the results suggest that PCs through government ownership have a positive effect on both firms' profitability and market value.Practical implicationsThe study’s finding encourages policymakers and regulators in emerging markets, e.g. Egypt, to develop stricter laws, policies and regulatory initiatives to restrain the potential conflict of interest in the politically connected firms.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is one of the first to examine the relationship between PCs and both firms’ profitability and market value in Egypt.

This research investigates the effect of audit client size and its financial performance on audit opinion in the Egyptian audit market. A few studies have investigated the association between these factors in the audit context, especially in African developing countries. Data are manually collected from the annual financial reports of firms registered in the Egyptian Stock Market, focusing on a sample of EGX 70 from 2012 to 2016, and binary logistic regression is used in data analysis. We found that the company size is insignificantly, positively, related to a qualified, rather than an unqualified, type of audit opinion. In contrast, the client's financial performance has a significant but negative relationship with the qualified type of audit opinion. This study provides insights for managers and investors in developing countries to understand and perceive audit opinions in these contexts.   Received: 31 October 2020 / Accepted: 12 December 2020 / Published: 17 January 2021

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