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This paper examines the determinants of internal audit effectiveness in decentralized local government administrative systems of Ghana. Ghana's local government system is structured into metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs). For the purpose of the study, we focused on the Ashanti region of Ghana which has the highest number of MMDAs. The motivation for the study is derived from the increased interest in the internal audits of local government units. Using a descriptive survey, the data gathered, through the use of questionnaire, revealed that majority of the internal audit staff of MMDAs in the Ashanti Region of Ghana possess the requisite professional proficiency. Contrary to the perception that audit quality in the public sector is usually compromised, the study revealed that there exists high quality of audit work due to compliance with the international standards on auditing and local audit legislations. Professional proficiency, organizational independence, and career advancement were found to have statistically significant positive relationship with internal audit effectiveness, whiles top management support was found to have no effect on internal audit effectiveness.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical evidence concerning the influence of Corporate governance and voluntary disclosures in annual reports: a post-International Financial Reporting Standards adoption evidence from an emerging capital market. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from the annual reports of all 22 listed non-financial firms over a five-year period. Using content analysis, the audited annual reports of the firms were scored on the extent of overall and four specific types of voluntary disclosures made. The panel data obtained were analyzed using a generalized ordinary least squares regression model. Findings The findings of the study show that voluntary disclosures among the firms are low even after the adoption of IFRS. Corporate governance attributes of board size and board leadership structure are significant determinants of the extent of voluntary disclosures made by the firms. However, board independence and auditor type exhibit only a significant positive effect on voluntary financial and forward-looking information disclosures. Research limitations/implications Firms’ voluntary information disclosure and governance variables were restricted to those in annual reports, which may partially reflect the reality of firms’ disclosure and governance practices. Practical implications The present study offers useful insights to regulators of the capital market to strengthen monitoring of firms to ensure strict adherence to corporate governance best practice guidelines as a means of improving information environment. Originality/value This study is one of the very few ones in Africa, especially in the context of Ghana Stock Exchange, to use post-IFRS data and examine a disaggregated voluntary disclosure by firms.

The objective of this paper is to examine the factors that determine whether a tax payer would evade tax. It also seeks to explore the mediating role of tax education in the relationship between traditional, institutional, socio-cultural factors and tax evasion. A cross-sectional survey was used for the study. Using structural equation modelling with bootstrapping analysis, data from a sample of 1,052 tax payers, drawn from different parts of the country, was analysed and the result showed that, traditional factors and institutional factors positively influenced tax evasion; though the strength of the relationship is weak. This relationship was also found to be mediated by tax education as it relate negatively with traditional and institutional factors as well as tax evasion. It was also found that, sociocultural factors such as gender, income level, education and age do not have significant influence on tax evasion. The study concluded that, tax education plays a significant role in reducing the effect of traditional and institutional factors on tax evasion. The study recommended that educating respondents on the need to pay taxes moderate the extent to which increases in tax rates, penalty for tax noncompliance, and audit probability contributes to tax evasion. It was again recommended that, high cost of compliance and high corruption level of tax officials would lead to increase in tax evasion, but intensive tax education mediating the effect of these factors on tax evasion.