Disclosure of corporate financial information in Malaysia

Abstract

This study examines empirically the relationship between a number of corporate attributes and levels of disclosure of information in annual reports of Malaysian public listed companies. The perceived importance of selected information items to two user groups; accountants and fmancial analysts is also examined using a structured questionnaire. Three unweighted disclosure indices (overall disclosure index, mandatory disclosure index and voluntary disclosure index) were applied to 54 corporate annual reports for three different years: 1974, 1984 and 1994. The results indicate that the level of disclosure has improved over the twenty-year period. The overall and mandatory disclosure scores show a substantial increase in 1984 and a moderate increase in 1994. However, only a marginal increase in disclosure level for voluntary disclosure items is noted for the same period. The association between the extent of disclosure and fifteen corporate attributes was examined using several multiple regression models. The results indicate that: (a) the variable total assets shows significant relationship with the three disclosure indices; (b) the variables liquidity ratio, scope of business operations, leverage, and type of management are significantly associated with some of the disclosure indices; (c) the variables number of shareholders, corporate image and fmancial year end show weak relationships with some of the disclosure indices; and (d) the other variables namely, total sales, market capitalisation, proportion of shares owned by outsiders, profit margin, parent company size and type of external auditor show no significant relationship with disclosure scores. Except for total assets, all variables in (b) and (c) above produce inconsistent results when employed under different regression models. The two user groups also demonstrate significant differences in perceptions on 31 (55%) out of 56 items of information. Overall, the financial analysts' group perceive a substantial number of items of information as more important than the accountants' group