Title: Corporate governance and voluntary disclosure in Malaysia

Authors: Nazli Anum Mohd Ghazali

Addresses: Department of Accounting, Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia, P.O. Box 10, 50728 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between corporate governance and voluntary disclosure. The expectation is that with the introduction of the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance in 2000, companies would be more aware of the need to have good governance and that good governance would lead to enhanced transparency. Regression analysis was performed on data collected from annual reports for years 2001 and 2006. Consistent with expectation, the extent of voluntary disclosure has increased from 2001 to 2006. The increase was statistically significant at the 5% level. However contrary to expectation, none of the corporate governance variables recommended in the Code was statistically significant.

Keywords: corporate governance; voluntary disclosure; Malaysia; transparency; annual reports; codes of practice; regression analysis; business governance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2010.035600

International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2010 Vol.5 No.4, pp.261 - 279

Published online: 01 Oct 2010 *

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