The determinants of web-based investor relations activities by companies operating in emerging economies : the case of Jordan

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The determinants of internet financial disclosure: The perspective of Malaysian listed companies

This paper investigates whether Internet Financial Disclosure (IFD) can be explained by the elements of the company’s characteristics and dominant personalities in board committees.Ten variables have been tested using data collected from 194 Malaysian listed companies’ websites, namely, internationality, leverage, foreign shareholders, information technology (IT) experts, firm’s age, number of shareholders, listing status, dominant personalities in the audit committee, chairman of audit and nomination committees, and dominant personalities in the audit and nomination committees.It is found that IT experts, firm’s age, number of shareholders and listing status are significantly affected by the level of IFD. However dominant personalities in the audit and nomination committees are negatively related to the level of IFD in Malaysia.The study provides some evidence to support the signalling theory and the cost and benefit hypothesis in relation to Internet disclosure

The Factors Influencing Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: In today’s world of increased awareness regarding the concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate governance (CG), many firms in the developed countries consider noncompliance with CSR and CG standards as an important source of risk to their reputations with stakeholders. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) index and corporate factors, namely, board size, board independence, board meetings, CEO duality, a firm’s size, leverage, profitability and age. This is the first known study in the case of Saudi Arabia to use the GRI 4th edition indicators to construct the CSRD index and evaluate Saudi listed firms. Results: The results show that profitability and size factor have positive and significant association with CSR disclosure in listed Saudi firms. While CG characteristics have no impact on CSR disclosure except board independence which has a negative impact. Conclusion: The average of CSRD index among Saudi firms is too low, it is about 11% that means Saudi firms disclose 11% of the information that they have to provide for stockholders according to GRI guidelines. Furthermore, the study concludes that the most polluted sectors “Ene

Female directorship on boards and corporate sustainability policies: Their effect on sustainable development

We aim to explore whether board gender diversity, specifically women institutional directors, improves the sustainability development and stakeholder engagement of listed firms by affecting corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies. Moreover, within female institutional directors we can differentiate between banks and insurance companies (pressure-sensitive female institutional directors) and mutual funds, investment funds, pension funds and venture capital firms (pressure-resistant female institutional directors). Thus, the effect of these categories of directors on CSR policies is also analysed. Our findings suggest that female institutional, as a whole, have a positive effect on CSR policies, the same behaviour that show pressure-resistant female institutional, while pressure-sensitive institutional do not impact on CSR policies. This research provides a new framework for the role played by certain types of female directors (female institutional directors, female pressure-sensitive directors and female pressure-resistant directors) in CSR policies and, thus, may help policymakers to promote CSR policies, and to take action to promote responsible behaviour among listed firms

Corporate information transparency on the Internet by listed companies in Spain (IBEX35) and Mexico (IPYC)

Financial and non-financial disclosure play a central role in the functioning of capital markets. In this context, the Internet has been adopted as an effective mechanism for large companies to disseminate corporate information. The institutional theory approach has been applied to identify both formal (fundamentally legal and economic) and informal factors that significantly influence listed companies’ level of corporate transparency on the Internet. Our work aims to build on existing study by focusing on two main objectives. Firstly, to make a comparative study of the corporate transparency of listed companies from Mexico and Spain by creating an index of corporate transparency on the Internet (e-CTI). And secondly, to identify the factors that affect this index using multiple regression analysis. Our study population is comprised of 70 companies, of which 35 belong to the Mexican Price and Quotations Index (IPyC) and 35 to the Spanish IBEX 35 index. The descriptive analysis reveals significant differences in the level of information disclosure between the two countries. The companies listed in Mexico obtain an e-CTI of 59%, while the Spanish ones register 80%, i.e. more importance is assigned to the disclosure of corporate governance data in Spain than in Mexico. Furthermore, this analysis shows that the factors most telling with regards to corporate transparency are the strength and application of law, GDP per capita, inflation and firm-level variables such as ownership concentration and Chairman of the Board-Chief Executive Officer (COB-CEO) duality. However, other variables such as board size and composition, profitability, leverage and firm size are not significant for the purposes of this analysis. Our work is of great relevance today, since most studies have focused on developed countries, mainly in the U.S. and Europe, with few comparisons being made between developed and developing countries, such as Spain and Mexico

Mandatory accounting disclosure by small private companies

This article analyzes how mandatory accounting disclosure is grounded on different rationales for private and public companies. It also explores technological changes, such as computerised databases and the Internet, which have recently made disclosure of company accounts by small companies potentially less costly and more valuable, thanks to electronic filing and universal online access to credit information systems. These recent developments favour policies that would expand the scope of mandatory publication for small companies in countries where it is voluntary. They also encourage policies to reduce the costs and enhance the value of disclosure through administrative reforms of filing, archive and retrieval systems. Survey and registry evidence on how the information in the accounts is valued and used by companies is consistent with these claims about the evolution of the tradeoff of costs and benefits that should guide policy in this area.Financial disclosure, company accounts, credit registries, business simplification

Transparencia corporativa en el Sector Minero en el Perú

La presente investigación buscó aplicar un modelo que permita medir la transparencia corporativa a través de la información divulgada por las empresas del sector minero peruano listadas en la Bolsa de Valores de Lima (BVL), a través de internet. En este sentido, como resultado de la revisión de la literatura, se aplicó el modelo propuesto por Gandía (2008) en su publicación Determinants of internet-based corporate governance disclosure by Spanish listed companies, que consistió en determinar el nivel de transparencia corporativa de los índices propuestos: Índice de Informe Anual Corporativo (IIAC), Índice de la Superintendencia de Mercado de valores (ISMV) e Índice de la Página Web Corporativa (IPWC), así como la aplicación de tres modelos de regresión lineal múltiple con el fin de determinar la relación de linealidad entre cada uno de los índices de transparencia corporativa con las variables independientes propuestas, tales como el tamaño de la empresa, rentabilidad, tiempo de listada BVL, tamaño del directorio, acciones negociables y visibilidad en los medios. Como resultado del análisis descriptivo para medir el nivel de transparencia corporativa, se obtuvo como resultado un nivel bajo en los tres índices propuestos, siendo el ISMV el que alcanzó el mayor puntaje. Asimismo, en el análisis de los modelos de regresión, se comprobó que el índice ISMV, con las variables tamaño de la empresa y tiempo de listada en la BVL, fue el único modelo significativo para explicar la relación de linealidad entre dicho índice y las variables.The present investigation sought to apply a model that allows measuring corporate transparency through the information disclosed by Peruvian mining companies listed on the Lima Stock Exchange (BVL), through the Internet. In this respect, as a result of the review of the worldwide literature, the model proposed by Gandía (2008) was applied in its publication Determinants of internet-based corporate governance disclosure by English listed companies, which consisted in determining the level of corporate transparency of the proposed indexes: Corporate Annual Report Index (IIAC), Stock Market Superintendence Index (ISMV) and the the Corporate Website Index (IPWC), as well as, the application of three multiple linear regression models, in order to determine the relationship of linearity between each of the corporate transparency index with the independent variables: company size, profitability, time of listing in the Lima Stock Exchange, directory size, negotiable shares and web visibility. As a result of the descriptive analysis to measure the level of corporate transparency, a low level was obtained in the three proposed indexes, being the ISMV index, the one that obtained the highest score. As well, in the regression models analysis, it was obtained that the ISMV index and the variables size of the company and time of listing in the BVL was the only significant model that explain the linearity relationship between such index and the mentioned variables.Tesi

Determinants and characteristics of voluntary Internet disclosures in GCC countries

The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants and characteristics of voluntary Internet disclosures by listed companies in three Gulf Cooperation Council countries. This paper uses archival data from 192 listed companies in Qatar Stock Exchange, Muscat Securities Market, and Bahrain Bourse. Binary Logistic Regression analysis is used to examine the determinants of Internet financial reporting. Kruskal-Wallis test is used to examine the differences in disclosure characteristics among the three countries. The results reveal that firm size is the major influencing factor that impacts Internet financial reporting in the GCC. A number of disclosure characteristics differ significantly between the three countries. The paper provides insights into corporate Internet disclosure in the GCC that will benefit all stakeholders with an interest in corporate reporting in this important region of the world. The results are consistent with previous literature that corporate size is a major determinant of Internet financial reporting

Universities’ websites : disclosure practices and the revelation of financial information

Despite the social importance of universities and their significance as receivers of public funds, hardly any research exists about their disclosure of financial information. The scarce research that has been done has focused on countries such as the United States, New Zealand, Austria, the United Kingdom and Norway. In addition, the Internet is used widely on behalf of public bodies as a way to improve their relations with citizens, through greater disclosure of information and the possibility of doing administrative business and paperwork online. Considering both topics, this work has a twofold objective: (1) to analyse the disclosure of information revealed online by Spanish universities, focusing on several issues, such as financial information, corporate governance, social responsibility and strategy, teaching and research activities, etc.; and (2) to observe the factors that explain the disclosure of financial information through Spanish universities’ websites, focusing mainly on size, leverage, university profitability, governance, type of university, research orientation, age of the university and its internationality etc. This study takes into account the whole population of Spanish universities (70 universities: 48 public and 22 private). The findings obtained emphasize that university websites mainly disclose information on teaching and research activities and on governing bodies; to a lesser extent, they reveal information on their social responsibility and strategic aspects; and finally, the volume of financial information disclosed remains quite small, mainly including their budgets. Furthermore, the universities with lower levels of leverage disclose more information online, whereas those with higher volumes of debt are more reluctant to reveal their internal situation on the Internet.A pesar de la importancia social de las universidades, y su significado como recibidores de fondos públicos, difícilmente alguna investigación existe sobre sus divulgaciones de información financiera. La escasa investigación realizada se ha centrado en países como EEUU, Nueva Zelanda, Austria, el Reino Unido, y Noruega. Además, Internet se usa ampliamente por las figuras públicas como manera de mejorar sus relaciones con los ciudadanos, mediante una mayor divulgación de información, y la posibilidad de hacer negocios administrativos y papeleo en formato online. Teniendo en cuenta ambos temas, este estudio tiene un doble objetivo. Primeramente, analizar la divulgación de información revelada online por universidades españolas, centrándonos en algunos problemas, como la información financiera, la dirección corporativa, la responsabilidad y estrategia social, actividades de enseñanza e investigación, etc. Y en segundo lugar, observar los factores que explican dicha divulgación a través de las páginas webs de las universidades españolas, enfocándonos principalmente en el tamaño, la influencia, la rentabilidad de la universidad, la dirección, el tipo de universidad, la orientación de la investigación, la antigüedad de dicha universidad y su internacionalidad, etc. Este estudio tiene en cuenta la población de las universidades españolas al completo (70 universidades: 48 públicas y 22 privadas). Los hallazgos obtenidos subrayan que las páginas web universitarias revelan información principalmente de actividades de enseñanza e investigación, y de figuras de dirección; a un menor alcance, desvelan información de sus responsabilidades sociales y aspectos estratégicos; y finalmente, el volumen de información financiera desvelada permanece pequeño, mayormente incluyendo sus presupuestos