Investors partake in the risk of a company, in expectation of a return on investment which is in accordance with the company’s risk profile. Due to recent corporate failures, which are partly attributable to insufficient risk management, a call by investors for enhanced risk-related disclosure resulted in the publication of various international standards and guidelines on best practices for risk disclosure. This study compiled a disclosure index from these standards and guidelines in order to serve as a disclosure-enhancing tool for the management of South African companies. This index was subsequently used to investigate current practices exhibited by top listed companies in South Africa. Disclosure practices by these companies indicate that there is scope for improvement in risk- and risk-management-related disclosure by these companies.

Risk disclosure practices have received increasing attention in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis. This study investigated possible determinants relating to the composition of the board committee responsible for risk management, the frequency of board risk committee meetings and whether the company employs a chief risk officer, which could manifest in an enhanced level of risk-related disclosure. Based on the possible determinants identified in the literature, nine hypotheses were developed in order to investigate which of these determinants relate to an enhanced level of risk disclosure by the selected companies. The first required integrated reports of non-financial companies in the Top 40 index of the JSE Securities Exchange were investigated in this study. Regarding one area of investigation, namely the level of risk management disclosure, it was found that the disclosure of companies whose risk committee met more frequently and the disclosure of companies that employed a chief risk officer, were of a relatively higher standard. With regard to the other area of investigation, namely the level of risk identification and mitigation disclosure, no clearly significant determinant of enhanced disclosure was identified.

Purpose The emerging business partner role of management accountants (MAs) results in an increased requirement of MAs to make business decisions. Frame dependence cognitive biases regularly influence decisions made in conditions of uncertainty, as is the case in business decision-making. Consequently, this study aims to examine susceptibility of MAs to frame dependence bias. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted among an international sample of practising MAs. The proportion of MAs influenced by framing bias was analysed and compared to findings in other populations. Logistic regression was then used to determine whether MAs who exhibit a higher preference for evidence-based (as opposed to intuitive) decision-making are more susceptible to framing bias. Findings Despite a comparatively high preference for evidence-based decision-making, the prevalence of framing bias among MAs is comparable to that of other populations. A higher preference for evidence-based decision-making was found to only be associated with higher susceptibility to endowment effect bias. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to comprehensively examine framing bias for MAs as a group of decision-makers. Additionally, this study’s sample consists of practising MAs, and not only students.

Background: It is accepted that the gold price impacts on the value of gold mining companies. Previous studies have shown that, in financial crises, gold is considered a ‘safe haven’ investment in developed markets. Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate whether an investment in gold mining stocks do provide gold price-linked safe haven benefits to investors in an emerging economy. An understanding of the possible safe haven benefits of their companies’ stocks and the variables that influence these benefits would be valuable to managers of gold companies when endeavouring to maximise shareholders’ wealth through hedging and investment decisions. Methods: Regression analysis is applied to investigate the relationship between gold mining returns, the gold price and the rand–dollar exchange rate within a multifactor model motivated by the arbitrage pricing theory. Results: The results indicate that there is a strong, yet changing, relationship between the gold price, the rand–dollar exchange rate and gold mining returns. Conclusion: This study extends the understanding of the changing South African gold mining industry in a world that is still recovering from the global financial crisis.

PurposeOverconfidence bias is considered to be a very influential decision-making bias in the business environment. This paper aims to identify the susceptibility of management accountants to overconfidence-related overplacement bias and to determine its pervasiveness among these professionals.Design/methodology/approachTwo international samples of management accountants were surveyed using overplacement bias elicitation questions. The hypothesis that bias susceptibility varies between management accountants in different hierarchical employment positions was tested employing binary logistic regression.FindingsManagement accountants are found to be susceptible to overplacement bias, yet its pervasiveness among the samples is similar to other sample populations in comparable studies. Management accountants in the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) were found to be more susceptible to overplacement bias than their colleagues in other management accountant and business management positions.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of convenience sampling represents a limitation of the research.Practical implicationsThe findings confirm that there is a need for syllabi and continual professional development projects to educate management accountants on this bias. CFOs are especially at risk of being overconfident, which may not be in the best interest of the business.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to assess overplacement bias in management accountants as a group of decision-makers, especially within the context of their increasing involvement in business decision-making.