Corporate Mandatory and Voluntary Disclosure Practices in Bangladesh: Evidence from listed companies of Dhaka Stock Exchange

This paper investigates the extent and level of mandatory and voluntary disclosure practice of companies in Bangladesh. The paper has been conducted on the sample of 54 listed companies in Bangladesh for a data period of 2010 to 2013. This paper also reports the results of the association between company specific characteristics and mandatory as well as voluntary disclosure of the sample companies. Findings indicate on an average 71% of the companies analyzed disclose above-average number of additional information. The explanatory analyses has shown that firm size in terms of total asset and status of the company significantly and positively affect the level and extent of voluntary disclosure in the annual report of Bangladeshi companies. In case of mandatory disclosure level results point out that companies in general have not reacted adequately to the mandatory disclosure requirements of the regulatory bodies. The study reveals that disclosure compliance is poor among listed companies. They disclosed an average of 50.62% of the items selected during the study period of 2010 to 2013. The minimum score found in the study is 20.89% and the maximum is 77.08%. Using panel data regression analysis this study has found that company age and the status of the company (industry type) have appeared to be significant factors for mandatory disclosure. On the other hand company size in terms of total asset and sales, and company profitability was also found to have no effect on mandatory disclosure. Keywords: Mandatory disclosure, Voluntary disclosure, Disclosure index, Bangladeshi companies, Corporate Governance

The Determinants of Stock Market Development: A Study on Dhaka Stock Exchange Limited (DSE)

The study investigates the determinants of stock market development in Bangladesh. Both primary and secondary sources of data have used to investigate the relationship between Stock Market Size, Liquidity, Volatility, Asset Pricing, Regulatory and Institutional Indicators and stock market development. The reliability of the variables was analyzed by Cronbach’s alpha. The correlation between the independent variables and dependent variables was measured with the Pearson’s Correlation and Spearman’s Correlation test. All the hypotheses formulated in this study under the conceptual framework have been accepted through conducting Spearman’s and Pearson’s Correlation Analysis as all the independent variables has significant positive correlation with the stock market development. The regression result indicates that all the dimensions of financial determinants combined significantly influence the stock market development. However, the stock market size and liquidity has significant positive relationship with the stock market development. In order to promote stock market development in Bangladesh, it is important to improve stock market liquidity by reducing demand supply gap of prospective share, to develop financial intermediaries and crating awareness among investors. Keywords: Determinants, Stock Market development, Dhaka Stock Exchange limited JEL Classification: C21, C830, G