Question

Voluntary Disclosure In Saudi Arabia

Answer 1

Our analysis shows that the average voluntary disclosure level in Saudi Arabia is 18.38%. This is the lowest rate of the countries studied; these range from 26.08% in Tunisia to 75.76% in Bahrain. This lowest rate is not commensurate with the size of the Saudi Arabian size.

Our study has three objectives. The first is to determine the voluntary disclosure level in Saudi Arabia. The second is to compare this level with that of some other Arab countries. The third is to identify the main drivers of voluntary disclosure in Saudi Arabia. We use a 54-item disclosure checklist and apply the regression and content analyses to examine a sample of 361 firm-year observations of firms listed on Saudi Stock Exchange during 2007-2011. We find the voluntary disclosure average is 18.38% and that the firm size, age, profitability, auditor specialisation, family ownership, and industry type positively affect voluntary disclosure. We find, however, a negative relation between firm leverage and voluntary disclosure. Our analysis also shows that board independence, Big4 and state ownership have no impact on voluntary disclosure. Our findings should be of interest to the regulating bodies, accounting standards' setters, auditors and managers.