JABM JOURNAL of ACCOUNTING - BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT
Vol 17 No 1 (2010): April

Corporate Disclosure and Firm Characteristics: A Puzzling Relationship

Foued Khlifi (Faculté des Sciences Économiques et de Gestion Université de Sfax pour le Sud)
Abdelfettah Bouri (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
05 Apr 2010

Abstract

The findings of prior studies on the determinants of corporate disclosure, in annual reports or websites, do not seem to be unequivocal. The aim of this paper is to show, theoretically, that mixed results are due to some methodological problems. After discussing of different theoretical explanations of corporate disclosure, we conclude that there is not a definite theory conceived to explain the reasons that stimulate voluntary disclosure. Consequently, we can affirm that the larger number of theories used by researchers in accounting and finance to explain this practice account for the mixed results shown by prior empirical studies. In the current paper, however, we defend the assumption according to which the mixed results of the previous studies on the determinants of corporate disclosure are due to some methodological problems. Thus, the previous studies assume that the relationship between the disclosure level and its determinants is known. Nevertheless, the results of the empirical studies on the determinants of corporate disclosure confirm that it is a naive assumption. As a result, we suggest refusing the conventional methods of statistical analysis.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

Publisher

Subject

Decision Sciences, Operations Research & Management Economics, Econometrics & Finance Other

Description

Journal of Accounting, Business and Management (JABM) provides a scientific discourse about accounting, business, and management both practically and conceptually. The published articles at this journal cover various topics from the result of particular conceptual analysis and critical evaluation to ...