Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between related party transactions (RPTs) and accounting quality for the firms listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. Design/methodology/approach: This paper compares accounting quality across two groups of firms. The first group contains firms that conduct material RPTs and the second group contains firms that do not conduct material RPTs. Accounting quality is measured using different proxies of earnings management. Four earnings management proxies are used, three metrics for earnings smoothing and one for managing earnings towards a target. Findings: The results of the current study do not suggest that firms with significant RPTs exhibit less accounting quality compared to non-RPTs firms. Research limitations/implications: The results support the argument that RPTs are conventional transactions that are mainly conducted for business purposes. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the literature by examining the effect of RPTs on accounting quality in Greece and whether firms that conduct RPTs exhibit less accounting quality or not.

Purpose: This paper aims to examine whether female representation on boards is significantly associated with audit fees paid by top Egyptian listed companies.Design/methodology/approach: The authors collect data on audit fees, board of directors' characteristics and financial data for the top 100 companies listed on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX100) for a period of six years. The authors employ an ordinary least squares regression model to capture the relationship between board diversity (i.e. the proportion of female board directors) and the natural logarithm of audit fees while controlling for firm and industry fixed effects as well as other known firm characteristics.Findings: The authors find that audit fees are significantly associated with the proportion of females serving on firms' boards of directors. The findings suggest a complementary relationship between females on boards, as a quality-enhancing board attribute; and audit fees, as a proxy for audit effort and audit quality.Research limitations/implications: Limitations of this study arise first from the relatively small sample size, and second from the fact that inferences may be specific to the Egyptian context and similar markets.Practical implications: The results have important implications for Egyptian policy makers and regulators in terms of board composition.Social implications: This study provides empirical evidence that further enforces the business case for women's empowerment and the impact of this on the effectiveness of corporate governance.Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first archival study to examine the association between female board representation and audit fees in Egypt.

The 2011 Egyptian revolution was associated with significant political and social upheaval, followed by societal changes and attempts by policymakers to reduce the marginalisation of women and promote their inclusion in the economy. Drawing on this background, the authors compare the effect of board gender diversity before and after the revolution. Results indicate that gender diversity in corporate boards is coupled with improvements in firm performance in the immediate post revolution phase. This evidence provides insights into the contextual factors related to diversity and performance relationship and supporting arguments for regulatory changes to further encourage women’s representation on boards.