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Article
Publication date: 31 July 2023

Dinesh Ramdhony, Saileshsingh Gunessee, Oren Mooneeapen and Pran Boolaky

This study examines the bi-directional relationship between corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) and ownership structure through a dynamic empirical framework in an…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the bi-directional relationship between corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) and ownership structure through a dynamic empirical framework in an emerging economy context.

Design/methodology/approach

Data over 10 years are used to investigate the response of disclosure to ownership structure variables and vice versa. Dynamic bi-directional relationships are hypothesised and empirically investigated using a panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model. The ownership structure variables used are government ownership, block ownership and director ownership, while CSRD is constructed as a score through content analysis.

Findings

A bi-directional negative relationship between CSRD and government ownership is found, revealing a preference for the state to invest in companies with opaque disclosure. CSRD is found to respond negatively to block ownership, albeit weakly. Results also show that directors prefer to own shares in the company they manage when there are low levels of CSRD.

Research limitations/implications

The current empirical set-up of using a small emerging economy may not carry to the context of larger emerging economies where the institutional context may differ. Thus, future research could use this dynamic empirical approach to re-examine the questions raised in this paper using data from other emerging economies. The use of a longer time series makes it feasible to explore further analysis what was not possible in this study, such as an impulse response analysis examining the reaction of the variables of interest, CSRD and ownership variables for a specific time horizon to particular changes or shocks associated with one of the endogenous variables in the PVAR.

Practical implications

A major implication is that expecting disclosure practices to improve due to government and director initiatives would be less likely in emerging economies. State and director shareholders prefer to invest in opaque companies because they may purposely choose to keep the minimum disclosure levels. The paper calls for a transparent process and ethical guidelines to guide government investment in firms.

Originality/value

The study investigates the bi-directional relationship between ownership structure and CSRD in contrast to the existing literature's presupposed one-way relationship between these variables by demonstrating that bi-directionality does matter. This paper also contributes to the CSRD literature in the emerging economy context. The bi-directional negative relationship between CSRD and government ownership calls for a transparent selection process of board members as representatives of the state in those companies where the government has an ownership stake. It also calls for a transparent process and ethical guidelines to guide government investment in firms.

Details

Journal of Applied Accounting Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0967-5426

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 September 2015

Godfred A. Bokpin, Zangina Isshaq and Eunice Stella Nyarko

The study aims to seeks to ascertain the impact of corporate disclosure on foreign equity ownership. Corporate disclosures are important to for stock markets because it is an…

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to seeks to ascertain the impact of corporate disclosure on foreign equity ownership. Corporate disclosures are important to for stock markets because it is an activity that mitigates information differences between company insiders and outsiders.

Design/methodology/approach

Corporate disclosures assume an even greater important when company outsiders are not domiciled in the same country as the company and the company insiders. In this study, the relation between foreign share ownership and corporate disclosures using data on Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria is examined.

Findings

The consistent results in this study are that foreign share ownership is positively related to firm size. A negative relation, however, between foreign share ownership and corporate disclosure is found, but this turns out to be related to disclosures about ownership, while disclosures on financial reporting and board management have a positive and insignificant statistical relation taking into account unobserved country, time and firm effects. Further analysis shows that corporate disclosures are very persistent and negatively related to lag foreign share ownership. No consistent statistical relation is found between disclosure and market-to-book values as a proxy for investment opportunities. It is recommended to African-listed firms to pursue adoption of high-quality financial reporting standards and to increase their reporting on board management. The study also recommends that the African Government weighs the benefits of detailed ownership disclosures.

Originality/value

The study utilises frontier market data to complement existing literature on how corporate disclosure and transparency influences foreign investors decision to invest in Africa.

Details

International Journal of Law and Management, vol. 57 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-243X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 July 2018

Nurleni Nurleni, Agus Bandang, Darmawati and Amiruddin

This study aims to analyze the effect of ownership structure that consists of managerial ownership and institutional ownership of the extensive of corporate social responsibility…

1708

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the effect of ownership structure that consists of managerial ownership and institutional ownership of the extensive of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure.

Design/methodology/approach

The population in this study is manufacturing companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI), as the manufacturing companies are considered to have great potential on environmental damage (Mathews, 2000). The selected sample were the companies which meet certain criteria (purposive sampling) which published the complete annual financial statements from 2011 to 2015. This study used an analysis method using partial least square (WarpPLS) to assess the effect of the structure of ownership consists of managerial ownership and institutional ownership on the extent of the CSR disclosure.

Findings

The results showed that there is a direct effect of a negative and significant correlation between managerial ownership on CSR disclosure, and there is a direct effect of a positive and significant correlation between institutional ownership on CSR disclosure.

Originality/value

Originality of this paper shows PLS (WarpPLS) that applied to determine the effect between variables managerial and institutional ownership on CSR disclosure. This research is collected data financial statements and annual reports of manufacturing companies obtained from the Indonesia Capital Market Reference Center (PRPM), which is located in the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), which there has not been research by the methods and the same location.

Details

International Journal of Law and Management, vol. 60 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-243X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 June 2009

Roshima Said, Yuserrie Hj Zainuddin and Hasnah Haron

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between corporate governance characteristics, namely the board size, board independence, duality, audit committee, ten…

15366

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between corporate governance characteristics, namely the board size, board independence, duality, audit committee, ten largest shareholders, managerial ownership, foreign ownership and government ownership and the extent of corporate social responsibility disclosure.

Design/methodology/approach

The content analysis was used to extract the CSR disclosure items from annual report and companies' web sites. Then, a CSR disclosure index was constructed after combining CSR disclosure items disclosed both in annual reports and in companies' web sites. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the corporate social disclosures index and the independent variables, namely the board size, board independence, duality, audit committee, ten largest shareholders, managerial ownership, foreign ownership and government ownership after statistically controlling the effects of a firm's size and the profitability of the companies.

Findings

Results based on the full regression models indicated that only two variables were associated with the extent of disclosures, namely government ownership and audit committee. Government ownership and audit committee are positively and significantly correlated with the level of corporate social responsibility disclosure. The most significant variable that influences the level of CSR disclosure is government ownership.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are limited to the context of the study and it was limited to Malaysian public listed companies, January to December 2006. The sources of data in this study were companies' annual reports and web sites only.

Practical implications

The study is useful to organizations and statutory bodies to take into consideration in identifying the corporate governance characteristics that will enhance CSR disclosure, since it had been shown in previous studies that corporate social responsibility reporting in Malaysia is generally low. The government can determine how important it is that a company should be willing to allocate their costs towards corporate social responsibility activities. Thus, this study will emphasize the level of activities through corporate social responsibility reporting in Malaysian public listed companies and help the government to ascertain the level of corporate social responsibility activities through corporate social responsibility reporting among Malaysian public listed companies.

Originality/value

The study reveals the extent of the disclosure of corporate social responsibility to companies web sites and constructed the CSR index based on two sources of data, namely companies' web sites and annual reports.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 August 2021

Hamzeh Al Amosh and Saleh F.A. Khatib

The current study dealt with the ownership structure effect as a potential determinant of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance disclosure in the Jordanian…

8984

Abstract

Purpose

The current study dealt with the ownership structure effect as a potential determinant of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance disclosure in the Jordanian context.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the content analysis technique, data were collected and analyzed from a final sample of 51 annual reports of Jordanian industrial companies listed for 2012–2019.

Findings

The results show that foreign ownership and state ownership play a critical role in disclosing the ESG performance. Also, the board's independence plays an influential role in improving disclosure quality, enhancing family ownership in disclosure. It also limits the negative role of block holder ownership and managerial ownership on the ESG disclosure.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that deals with the role of ownership structure on the ESG disclosure level separately and collectively through the moderating role of board independence.

Details

Journal of Business and Socio-economic Development, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2635-1374

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 November 2009

Haiyan Jiang and Ahsan Habib

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of different categories of ownership concentration on corporate voluntary disclosure practices in New Zealand.

2675

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of different categories of ownership concentration on corporate voluntary disclosure practices in New Zealand.

Design/methodology/approach

The study applies panel data regression analysis to a sample of New Zealand listed companies from 2001 to 2005. Two‐stage least squares analysis (2SLS) is conducted. Ownership concentration is categorised into four mutually exclusive ownership structures.

Findings

The paper finds that firm‐year observations characterised by financial institution‐controlled ownership structure tends to make significantly fewer (more) disclosures at high (low) concentration levels supporting expropriation. In contrast, firm‐year observations in the high (low) concentration group with government‐ and management‐controlled ownership structures exhibit considerably higher (lower) voluntary disclosure scores, suggesting a positive monitoring effect at high ownership concentration level.

Research limitations/implications

The results provide evidence for the proposition that the efficiency of large block holders' monitoring varies with the level of ownership concentration.

Practical implications

To promote transparency in capital markets, regulators can encourage or discourage certain types of large shareholding, while monitoring the level of ownership concentration by means of regulation. Investors, especially less sophisticated retail investors, will benefit from the findings that different ownership groups affect disclosure policies differently.

Originality/value

The findings strengthen the importance of differentiating ownership structures into various classes to infer the real impact of differential controlling properties on managerial disclosure decisions. Furthermore, the results reveal that the relationship between ownership concentration and voluntary disclosure practices has a non‐linear pattern.

Details

Accounting Research Journal, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1030-9616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 November 2017

Mahdi Salehi, Hossein Tarighi and Malihe Rezanezhad

This study aims to examine the effect of the structure of board of directors and company ownership on social responsibility disclosure of listed companies on the Tehran Stock…

2283

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the effect of the structure of board of directors and company ownership on social responsibility disclosure of listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange.

Design/methodology/approach

The variables of the study included independent board of directors, institutional ownership, managerial ownership, family ownership and family-managerial ownership. The study population consisted of 125 listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2009-2014. Content analysis used to measure social responsibility disclosure level and test hypothesis was performed using multiple regression analysis.

Findings

The results demonstrated that there was no significant relationship between any of the independent variables and the level of social responsibility disclosure. This study empirically shows managers, investors and other stakeholders that if business owners are made of different groups, namely, institutional ownership, managerial and family ownership, it will not affect the social responsibility disclosure in annual reports.

Originality/value

The outcomes of the current study may bridge the gap between social responsibility disclosure and ownership structure in a developing country like Iran.

Article
Publication date: 11 May 2015

Hichem Khlif, Khaled Samaha and Islam Azzam

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of voluntary disclosure, ownership structure attributes and timely disclosure on cost of equity capital in the emerging Egyptian…

2182

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of voluntary disclosure, ownership structure attributes and timely disclosure on cost of equity capital in the emerging Egyptian capital market.

Design/methodology/approach

A content analysis of annual reports is used to measure the extent of voluntary disclosure. Earnings announcement lag (EAL) is used to measure the quality of voluntary disclosure (i.e. timely disclosure). Finally, the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) framework is used to estimate cost of equity capital.

Findings

The authors find a negative relationship between the level of voluntary disclosure and cost of equity capital. More specifically, the authors document that this association is strongly significant under high ownership dispersion, low government ownership and shorter EAL. Finally, EAL is positively associated with cost of equity capital.

Research limitations/implications

The authors use the CAPM framework as a proxy for the cost of equity since forecasted earnings per share are not communicated by financial analysts in the Egyptian Stock Exchange.

Practical implications

The findings demonstrate for managers that the increased levels of voluntary and timely disclosure reduce the cost of external finance and improve the marketability of firms’ equities, which may directly impact growth opportunities especially when information is communicated to investors in a timely fashion. For regulators, it provides evidence that high government ownership reduces the value relevance of voluntary disclosure among investors, while free float as a proxy for high ownership dispersion improves it.

Originality/value

The findings show that corporate disclosure policy depends more on the managers’ incentives to provide informative annual reports than on standards and regulations. The study also represents a first attempt that demonstrates how ownership structure and timely disclosure influence the relationship between disclosure and cost of equity capital.

Details

Journal of Applied Accounting Research, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0967-5426

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 May 2010

M. Akhtaruddin and Hasnah Haron

The aim of this paper is to examine the linkages between board ownership, audit committees' effectiveness in terms of the proportion of independent non‐executive directors (INED…

3293

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to examine the linkages between board ownership, audit committees' effectiveness in terms of the proportion of independent non‐executive directors (INED) and expert members on the audit committee and corporate voluntary disclosures.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a sample of 124 public listed companies in Malaysia for studying differences in corporate governance characteristics which affect the financial disclosure.

Findings

The empirical results indicate that that board ownership is associated with lower levels of voluntary disclosures. The result is consistent with the notion that board ownership increases agency costs resulting from information asymmetry between firm management and outsider investors. The negative relationship between board ownership and corporate voluntary disclosure is, however, weaker for firms with higher proportion of INED on the audit committee indicating that INED moderate board ownership/corporate voluntary disclosure relationship. Overall, the findings lend support for firms with a higher level of board ownership to include more independent directors on the audit committee to increase disclosure levels and reduce information asymmetry between firm management and investors.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates the usefulness of corporate governance factors mainly board ownership and effective audit committee on financial reporting practices. It is expected that this research will have important policy implication to reduce information asymmetry and improves corporate governance.

Details

Asian Review of Accounting, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1321-7348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 July 2011

Kelly Anh Vu, Greg Tower and Glennda Scully

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of independent directors and ownership structure on voluntary disclosures of Vietnamese listed firms.

1070

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of independent directors and ownership structure on voluntary disclosures of Vietnamese listed firms.

Design/methodology/approach

Year‐ending 2008 annual report disclosures of 45 Vietnamese listed firms are analyzed. Voluntary disclosure is measured using a Vietnamese Disclosure Index adapted from prior literature. Descriptive and inferential statistics (T‐test, analysis of variance, multiple regressions (ordinary least squares)) are employed to generate empirical insights.

Findings

The results indicate that the level of voluntary disclosure among Vietnamese listed firms is relatively low (24.23 per cent). There are higher levels of disclosure relating to director and senior management details but far lower in regards to social issues. State ownership and managerial ownership are negatively and positively related to the extent of voluntary disclosure respectively. Moreover, bigger firms are found to be positively associated with voluntary disclosure.

Research limitations/implications

The results of this study are limited to one year – 2008 – and thus, could be biased as disclosures can change over time.

Practical implications

Vietnamese regulators should focus on strengthening the regulations governing the level of corporate communication in firms with high state ownership as well as encouraging more disclosure of non‐financial information to strengthen its market information transparency.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first examining the level of corporate voluntary disclosure practices among Vietnamese listed firms. Evidence from this study extends the existing voluntary disclosure literature on emerging economies whilst providing valuable insights to Vietnamese policy makers in the process of developing and improving its financial reporting regulatory framework.

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