An evaluation of voluntary disclosure in the annual reports of commercial banks : empirical evidence from Libya

The purpose of this research project is to help develop the disclosure literature in relation to the banking sector, which is currently sparse due to the limited empirical research studies on the extent of banking disclosure and its relationship with corporate-specific attributes. Specifically, this study seeks to accomplish four main objectives. One of the main objectives is to measure the extent of voluntary disclosure provided in the annual reports of Libyan commercial banks, over the period 2006 to 2011. The second objective is to examine if there has been any significant improvement in the levels of voluntary information disclosure provided in the annual reports. Thirdly, the study investigates whether there is any significant association between seven commercial bank-specific attributes (i.e. age of bank, size of bank, bank liquidity position, profitability, government ownership, foreign ownership, and listing status) and the extent of voluntary disclosure. Finally, this study explores the views and perceptions of Libyan commercial banks’ annual report preparers related to the current mandatory financial reporting and voluntary disclosure practice issues. This study uses a self-constructed, un-weighted disclosure index, comprising of 63 information items, to measure the extent of voluntary disclosure in 54 annual reports of listed and unlisted commercial banks, over a six-year reporting period. The research data were analysed using content, descriptive and multiple regression analyses.Overall, the results show that the extent of voluntary disclosure in the Libyan commercial banks’ annual reports is low, with an average of 38%, however there was an improvement in the general level of voluntary disclosure and its categories over a six-year period. The multiple regression results indicate that commercial bank size and listing status are significant independent variables in explaining variation in annual voluntary disclosure, while other independent variables are found to be insignificantly associated with the extent of voluntary disclosure

Salford postgraduate annual research conference (SPARC) 2012 proceedings

These proceedings bring together a selection of papers from the 2012 Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference (SPARC). They reflect the breadth and diversity of research interests showcased at the conference, at which over 130 researchers from Salford, the North West and other UK universities presented their work. 21 papers are collated here from the humanities, arts, social sciences, health, engineering, environment and life sciences, built environment and business