Business Administration and Business Economics
Abstract
Greater proportion of Public Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) income is derived from
government; therefore, public accountability is of immense importance. Conversely, prior literature is
inconclusive on the efficiency and effectiveness of PHEIs public accountability systems. This paper
examines the extent of and relationship between governance and financial disclosures by the South
African PHEIs in terms of 2007, 2014 Department of Higher Education, and Training (DHET)
Regulations for Reporting by PHEIs. Secondary data were collected for the period 2012 to 2016
employing exploratory research method using multiple case study in two phases. Firstly, qualitative
data collection and analysis using content analysis of the DHET Regulations and 115 annual reports of
23 SA PHEIs. Phase two employed quantitative data analysis of the findings obtain from phase one.
The results indicate moderately satisfied and satisfied levels of governance and financial disclosure
respectively. It establishes a significant difference of and positive relationship between governance and
financial disclosures by SA PHEIs. It recommends a Governance and Financial Disclosure
Measurement Checklist, Rating Scale and Index to be used by Council, Management, and Stakeholders
to measure the governance and financial disclosure level and DHET to ensure that submitted annual
reports meet their requirements to ensure public accountability.
References
Barac, K.; Marx, B. & Moloi, T. (2011). Corporate Governance Practices at South African PHEIs: An
annual report disclosure analysis. Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences, 2(4), pp. 317-332.
Basnan, N.; Md Salleh, M.F.; Ahmad, A. Upawi, I. & Mohd Harun, A. (2016). Information Needs for
Accountability Reporting: Perspectives of stakeholders of Malaysian public universities. Acta
Universitatis Danubius OEconomica, 12(3), pp. 68-82.
CHE (2016). South African Higher Education Reviewed: Two decades of democracy. Pretoria: Council
on Higher Education.
Cao, Y.; Myers, L.A. & Omer, T.C. (2012). Does Company Reputation Matter for Financial Reporting
Quality? Evidence from restatements. Contemporary Accounting Research, 29(3), pp. 956-990.
Coy, D. & Dixon, K. (2004). The Public Accountability Index: Crafting a parametric Disclosure
Measurement Index for annual reports. The British Accounting Review, 36(1), pp. 79-106.
Coy, D.; Fischer, M. & Gordon, T. (2001). Public Accountability: A new paradigm for college and
university annual reports. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, (12)1, pp. 1-31.
Creswell, J.W. & Plano Clark, V.L. (2011). Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. 2nd
ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
De Silva, C. & Armstrong, A. (2014). Evaluation of Corporate Governance Measures: An application
to the Australian higher education sector. Journal of Business Systems, Governance and Ethics, 7(1),
pp. 76–86.
Du Toit, A. (2014). Revisiting Co-operative Governance in Higher Education: A Discussion Document.
Pretoria: Higher Education South Africa.
Elbannan, M.A. (2009). Quality of Internal Control over Financial Reporting, Corporate Governance
and Credit Ratings. International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, 6(2), pp. 127-149.
Eyenubo, S.A.; Mohammed, M. & Ali, M. (2017). Audit Committee Effectiveness of Financial
Reporting Quality in Listed companies in Nigeria Stock Exchange. International Journal of Academic
Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(6), pp. 487-505.
Filatotchev, I.; Jackson, G. & Nakajima, C. (2013). Corporate Governance and National Institutions: A
review and emerging research agenda. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 30(4), pp. 965-986.
Hassan, O. & Marston, C. (2010). Disclosure Measurement in the Empirical Accounting Literature A
review article. Available at: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/What+users+want+in+government+
financial+reports.-a08792220. Accessed on 23 October 2017.
Honu, M.V. & Gajevszky, A. (2014). The Quality of Financial Reporting and Corporate Governance:
Evidence from Romanian’s Aeronautic Industry. Economic and Social Development: Book of
Proceedings, p. 517.
Hope, O.K.; Thomas, W. & Vyas, D. (2011). Financial credibility, ownership and financing constraints
in private firms. Journal of International Business Studies, 42(7), pp. 935-957.
Hosmer, D.W.; Lemeshow, S. & Sturdivant R.X. (2013). Applied Logistic Regression. 3rd Ed. New
Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Huisman, J. & Currie, J. (2004). Accountability in Higher Education: Bridge over troubled water?
Higher Education, 48(4), pp. 529-551.
Ismail, S. & Abu Bakar, N.B. (2011). Reporting Practices of Malaysian Public Universities: The extent
of accountability disclosure. African Journal of Business Management, 51(5), pp. 6366-6376.
Klai, N. & Omri, A. (2011). Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Quality: The case of
Tunisian firms. International Business Research, 4(1), pp. 158-166.
Krishnan, G.V. & Visvanathan, G. (2008). Does the SOX Definition of an Accounting Expert Matter?
The association between audit committee directors’ accounting expertise and accounting conservatism.
Contemporary Accounting Research, 25(3), pp. 827-858.
Madison, K.; Holt, D.T.; Kellermanns, F.W. & Ranft, A.L. (2016). Viewing Family Firm Behaviour
and Governance through the Lens of Agency and Stewardship Theories. Family Business Review.
29(1), pp. 65-93.
Madison, K.J. (2014). Agency Theory and Stewardship Theory Integrated, Expanded, and Bounded by
Context: An Empirical Investigation of Structure, Behaviour, and Performance within Family Firms.
Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Magalhães, A.; Veiga, A.; Amaral, A.; Sousa, S.; Ribeiro Mahadeo, J.D.; Oogarah-Hanuman, V. &
Soobaroyen, T. (2011). September. Changes in Social and Environmental Reporting Practices in an
Emerging Economy 2004–2007: Exploring the relevance of stakeholder and legitimacy theories.
Accounting Forum, 35(3), pp. 158-175.
Mamić, Sačer, I. & Oluić, A. (2013). Information Technology and Accounting Information Systems’
Quality in Croatian Middle and Large Companies. Journal of Information and Organisational Sciences,
37(2), pp. 117-126.
Moloi, T. (2016). Exploring Risks Identified, Managed and Disclosed by South Africa’s PHEIs.
Journal of Accounting and Management, 6(2), pp. 55-70.
Mthembu, T. (2009). University Governance and the Knowledge Economy: Reconditioning the engine
of development. Development Planning Division Working Paper Series, 3.
Munzhedzi, P.H. (2016). Fostering Public Accountability in South Africa: A reflection on challenges
and successes. TD: The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, 12(1), pp. 1-7.
Omar, B. & Simon, J. (2011). Corporate Aggregate Disclosure Practices in Jordan. Advances in
Accounting, 27(1), pp. 166-186.
Popova, T.T.; Georgakopoulos, G.; Sotiropoulos, I. & Vasileiou, K.Z. (2013). Mandatory Disclosure
and its Impact on the Company Value. International Business Research, 6(5), pp. 1-16.
PwC (2014). Perspectives in Higher Education. New York: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Available
at: http://www.pwc.com. Accessed on 11 March 2016.
RSA. (1996). The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Pretoria: Government Printers.
RSA. (1997). Higher Education Act, 1997 Act No. 101 of 1997 Pretoria: Government Printers.
RSA. (2003). Higher Education Act, 1997 Act No. 101 of 1997 Regulations for Reporting by Higher
Education Institutions. Pretoria: Government Printers.
RSA. (2007). Higher Education Act, 1997 Act No. 101 of 1997 Regulations for Reporting by Higher
Education Institutions. Pretoria: Government Printers.
RSA. (2014). Higher Education Act, 1997 Act No. 101 of 1997 Regulations for Reporting by Higher
Education Institutions. Pretoria: Government Printers.
Samson, O. & Tarila, B. (2014). Corporate Governance and Financial Performance of Banks: Evidence
from Nigeria. Acta Universitatis Danubius. OEconomica, 10(3), pp. 44-58.
Sánchez, I.M.G.; Domínguez, L.R. & Álvarez, I.G. (2011). Corporate Governance and Strategic
Information on the Internet: A study of Spanish listed companies. Accounting, Auditing and
Accountability Journal, 24(4), pp. 471-501.
Sebola, M.P. (2017). Governance of South Africa’s Higher Learning Institutions – Complexities of
internal stakeholder engagement in universities. African Journal of Public Affairs, 9(5), pp. 179-189.
Tang, Q.; Chen, H. & Lin, Z. (2016). How to Measure Country-Level Financial Reporting Quality?
Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, 14(2), pp. 230-265.
Teddlie, C. & Tashakkori, A. (2009). Foundations of Mixed Methods Research: Integrating
quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioral sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage Publications.
Tooley, S. & Hooks, J. (2010). Public Accountability: The perceived usefulness of school annual
reports. Australasian Accounting Business and Finance Journal, 4(2), pp. 39-59.
Zare, R.; Kiafar, H.; Rasouli, F.; Sadeghi, L. & Behbahani, S. (2013). Examining Financial Leverage,
Profitability and Firm Life Influencing Nonfinancial Information Disclosure Quality. Acta Universitatis
Danubius. OEconomica, 9(6), pp. 163-175.
annual report disclosure analysis. Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences, 2(4), pp. 317-332.
Basnan, N.; Md Salleh, M.F.; Ahmad, A. Upawi, I. & Mohd Harun, A. (2016). Information Needs for
Accountability Reporting: Perspectives of stakeholders of Malaysian public universities. Acta
Universitatis Danubius OEconomica, 12(3), pp. 68-82.
CHE (2016). South African Higher Education Reviewed: Two decades of democracy. Pretoria: Council
on Higher Education.
Cao, Y.; Myers, L.A. & Omer, T.C. (2012). Does Company Reputation Matter for Financial Reporting
Quality? Evidence from restatements. Contemporary Accounting Research, 29(3), pp. 956-990.
Coy, D. & Dixon, K. (2004). The Public Accountability Index: Crafting a parametric Disclosure
Measurement Index for annual reports. The British Accounting Review, 36(1), pp. 79-106.
Coy, D.; Fischer, M. & Gordon, T. (2001). Public Accountability: A new paradigm for college and
university annual reports. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, (12)1, pp. 1-31.
Creswell, J.W. & Plano Clark, V.L. (2011). Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. 2nd
ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
De Silva, C. & Armstrong, A. (2014). Evaluation of Corporate Governance Measures: An application
to the Australian higher education sector. Journal of Business Systems, Governance and Ethics, 7(1),
pp. 76–86.
Du Toit, A. (2014). Revisiting Co-operative Governance in Higher Education: A Discussion Document.
Pretoria: Higher Education South Africa.
Elbannan, M.A. (2009). Quality of Internal Control over Financial Reporting, Corporate Governance
and Credit Ratings. International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, 6(2), pp. 127-149.
Eyenubo, S.A.; Mohammed, M. & Ali, M. (2017). Audit Committee Effectiveness of Financial
Reporting Quality in Listed companies in Nigeria Stock Exchange. International Journal of Academic
Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(6), pp. 487-505.
Filatotchev, I.; Jackson, G. & Nakajima, C. (2013). Corporate Governance and National Institutions: A
review and emerging research agenda. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 30(4), pp. 965-986.
Hassan, O. & Marston, C. (2010). Disclosure Measurement in the Empirical Accounting Literature A
review article. Available at: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/What+users+want+in+government+
financial+reports.-a08792220. Accessed on 23 October 2017.
Honu, M.V. & Gajevszky, A. (2014). The Quality of Financial Reporting and Corporate Governance:
Evidence from Romanian’s Aeronautic Industry. Economic and Social Development: Book of
Proceedings, p. 517.
Hope, O.K.; Thomas, W. & Vyas, D. (2011). Financial credibility, ownership and financing constraints
in private firms. Journal of International Business Studies, 42(7), pp. 935-957.
Hosmer, D.W.; Lemeshow, S. & Sturdivant R.X. (2013). Applied Logistic Regression. 3rd Ed. New
Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Huisman, J. & Currie, J. (2004). Accountability in Higher Education: Bridge over troubled water?
Higher Education, 48(4), pp. 529-551.
Ismail, S. & Abu Bakar, N.B. (2011). Reporting Practices of Malaysian Public Universities: The extent
of accountability disclosure. African Journal of Business Management, 51(5), pp. 6366-6376.
Klai, N. & Omri, A. (2011). Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Quality: The case of
Tunisian firms. International Business Research, 4(1), pp. 158-166.
Krishnan, G.V. & Visvanathan, G. (2008). Does the SOX Definition of an Accounting Expert Matter?
The association between audit committee directors’ accounting expertise and accounting conservatism.
Contemporary Accounting Research, 25(3), pp. 827-858.
Madison, K.; Holt, D.T.; Kellermanns, F.W. & Ranft, A.L. (2016). Viewing Family Firm Behaviour
and Governance through the Lens of Agency and Stewardship Theories. Family Business Review.
29(1), pp. 65-93.
Madison, K.J. (2014). Agency Theory and Stewardship Theory Integrated, Expanded, and Bounded by
Context: An Empirical Investigation of Structure, Behaviour, and Performance within Family Firms.
Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Magalhães, A.; Veiga, A.; Amaral, A.; Sousa, S.; Ribeiro Mahadeo, J.D.; Oogarah-Hanuman, V. &
Soobaroyen, T. (2011). September. Changes in Social and Environmental Reporting Practices in an
Emerging Economy 2004–2007: Exploring the relevance of stakeholder and legitimacy theories.
Accounting Forum, 35(3), pp. 158-175.
Mamić, Sačer, I. & Oluić, A. (2013). Information Technology and Accounting Information Systems’
Quality in Croatian Middle and Large Companies. Journal of Information and Organisational Sciences,
37(2), pp. 117-126.
Moloi, T. (2016). Exploring Risks Identified, Managed and Disclosed by South Africa’s PHEIs.
Journal of Accounting and Management, 6(2), pp. 55-70.
Mthembu, T. (2009). University Governance and the Knowledge Economy: Reconditioning the engine
of development. Development Planning Division Working Paper Series, 3.
Munzhedzi, P.H. (2016). Fostering Public Accountability in South Africa: A reflection on challenges
and successes. TD: The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, 12(1), pp. 1-7.
Omar, B. & Simon, J. (2011). Corporate Aggregate Disclosure Practices in Jordan. Advances in
Accounting, 27(1), pp. 166-186.
Popova, T.T.; Georgakopoulos, G.; Sotiropoulos, I. & Vasileiou, K.Z. (2013). Mandatory Disclosure
and its Impact on the Company Value. International Business Research, 6(5), pp. 1-16.
PwC (2014). Perspectives in Higher Education. New York: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Available
at: http://www.pwc.com. Accessed on 11 March 2016.
RSA. (1996). The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Pretoria: Government Printers.
RSA. (1997). Higher Education Act, 1997 Act No. 101 of 1997 Pretoria: Government Printers.
RSA. (2003). Higher Education Act, 1997 Act No. 101 of 1997 Regulations for Reporting by Higher
Education Institutions. Pretoria: Government Printers.
RSA. (2007). Higher Education Act, 1997 Act No. 101 of 1997 Regulations for Reporting by Higher
Education Institutions. Pretoria: Government Printers.
RSA. (2014). Higher Education Act, 1997 Act No. 101 of 1997 Regulations for Reporting by Higher
Education Institutions. Pretoria: Government Printers.
Samson, O. & Tarila, B. (2014). Corporate Governance and Financial Performance of Banks: Evidence
from Nigeria. Acta Universitatis Danubius. OEconomica, 10(3), pp. 44-58.
Sánchez, I.M.G.; Domínguez, L.R. & Álvarez, I.G. (2011). Corporate Governance and Strategic
Information on the Internet: A study of Spanish listed companies. Accounting, Auditing and
Accountability Journal, 24(4), pp. 471-501.
Sebola, M.P. (2017). Governance of South Africa’s Higher Learning Institutions – Complexities of
internal stakeholder engagement in universities. African Journal of Public Affairs, 9(5), pp. 179-189.
Tang, Q.; Chen, H. & Lin, Z. (2016). How to Measure Country-Level Financial Reporting Quality?
Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, 14(2), pp. 230-265.
Teddlie, C. & Tashakkori, A. (2009). Foundations of Mixed Methods Research: Integrating
quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioral sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage Publications.
Tooley, S. & Hooks, J. (2010). Public Accountability: The perceived usefulness of school annual
reports. Australasian Accounting Business and Finance Journal, 4(2), pp. 39-59.
Zare, R.; Kiafar, H.; Rasouli, F.; Sadeghi, L. & Behbahani, S. (2013). Examining Financial Leverage,
Profitability and Firm Life Influencing Nonfinancial Information Disclosure Quality. Acta Universitatis
Danubius. OEconomica, 9(6), pp. 163-175.
Published
2021-06-25
How to Cite
Collective Authors. (2021). Business Administration and Business Economics: Array. Acta Universitatis Danubius. Œconomica, 14(6). Retrieved from https://dj.univ-danubius.ro/index.php/AUDOE/article/view/1184
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