Abstract
An empirical study was conducted to investigate the corporate board variables that are related to the practice of voluntary disclosure in listed companies in the Middle East, with a particular focus on the United Arab Emirates (UAE), given its unique corporate governance environment. A multiple regression analysis was conducted on the whole population of listed companies in the UAE. The empirical results suggest a model of factors that could be of greatest relevance to the determination of the dynamic forces that lie behind the voluntary implementation of best practice in disclosure in emerging markets that have economic characteristics similar to those of the UAE. The empirical results suggest in particular that the main factors that increase the effectiveness of a corporate board in voluntarily promoting good practice in disclosure are its size, its composition and the selection of experienced directors.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agrawal, A. and Knoeber, C. (1996) Firm performance and mechanisms to control agency problems between managers and shareholders. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 31: 377–397.
Black, B., Jang, H. and Kim, W. (2006) Predicting firms’ corporate governance choices: Evidence from Korea. Journal of Corporate Finance 12: 660–691.
Botosan, C.A. (1997) Disclosure level and the cost of equity capital. Accounting Review 72 (3): 323–349.
Brown, W. and Maloney, M. (1999) Should the CEO also be chair of the board? An empirical examination of family-controlled firms. Family Business Review 20 (2): 111–126.
Carter, C. and Lorsch, J. (2003) Back to the Drawing Board: Designing Corporate Boards for a Complex World. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Chakrabarti, R., Meggison, W. and Yadav, P. (2008) Corporate governance in India. Journal of Applied Corporate Governance 20: 59–72.
Coombes, P. and Watson, M. (2001) Corporate reform in the developing world. The McKinsey Quarterly, Number 4: Emerging Markets, pp. 89–92.
Core, J. (2001) A review of the empirical disclosure literature: Discussion. Journal of Accounting & Economics 31: 441–456.
Dharwadkar, R., George, G. and Brandes, P. (2000) Privatization in emerging economies: An agency theory perspective. Academy of Management Review 25: 650–669.
Fama, E. and Jensen, M. (1983) Separation of ownership and control. Journal of Law and Economics 26: 301–325.
Ferris, S., Jagannathan, M. and Pritchard, A. (2003) Too busy to mind business? Monitoring by directors with multiple board appointments. Journal of Finance 58: 1087–1111.
Haleblian, J. and Finkelstein, S. (1993) Top management team size, CEO dominance, and firm performance: The moderating roles of environmental turbulence and discretion. Academy of Management Journal 36 (4): 844–863.
Harris, I. and Shimizu, K. (2004) Too bust to serve? An examination of the influence of overboarded directors. Journal of Management Studies 41: 775–798.
Healy, P. and Palepu, K. (2001) A review of the empirical disclosure literature. Journal of Accounting & Economics 31: 405–440.
Hermalin, B. and Weisbach, M. (2003) Boards of directors as an endogenously determined institution: A survey of the economic literature, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Economic Policy Review 9: 7–26.
International Finance Corporation. (2008) A Corporate Governance Survey of Listed Companies and Banks across the Middle East and North Africa, www.ifc.org/corporategovernance/mena and www.hawkamah.org.
Jensen, M. and Meckling, W. (1976) Theory of the firm: Managerial behaviour, agency costs and ownership structure. The Journal of Financial Economic 3: 305–360.
Milwa, Y. and Ramseyer, J. (2000) Corporate governance in transitional economies: Lessons from the pre-war Japanese cotton textile industry. Journal of Legal Studies 29: 171–204.
Nadler, D., Behan, B. and Nadler, M. (2005) Building Better Boards: A Blueprint for Effective Governance. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publisher.
OECD. (1998) Corporate Governance and Corporate Performance. Paris, France: Organization for Paris, France: Economic Cooperation and Development.
Peirson, G., Brown, R., Easton, S. and Howard, P. (2000) Business Finance, 7th edn. Sydney, Australia: McGraw Hill.
Shleifer, A. and Vishny, R. (1997) A survey of corporate governance. Journal of Finance 52: 737–783.
Verrecchia, R. (1993) Discretionary disclosure. Journal of Accounting & Economics 5: 179–194.
Verrecchia, R. (2001) Essays on disclosure. Journal of Accounting & Economics 32: 97–180.
Wan, D. and Ong, C. (2005) Board structure, process and performance: Evidence from public listed companies in Singapore. Corporate Governance Journal 13 (2): 277–290.
Watts, R. and Zimmerman, J. (1986) Positive Accounting Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
World Fact Book. (2006) World Bank. Washington DC: World Fact Book.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Adawi, M., Rwegasira, K. Corporate boards and voluntary implementation of best disclosure practices in emerging markets: Evidence from the UAE listed companies in the Middle East. Int J Discl Gov 8, 272–293 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/jdg.2011.5
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jdg.2011.5