Title: Ownership structure and voluntary disclosure quality: empirical evidence from a frontier market

Authors: Dhouha Jradi; Fethi Belhaj; Manel Hadriche

Addresses: Faculty of Economics and Management of Nabeul, Carthage University, Tunisia; FCF, Manar University, Tunisia ' Faculty of Economics and Management of Nabeul, Carthage University, Tunisia; LARIMRAF, Manouba University, Tunisia ' Faculty of Economics and Management of Nabeul, Carthage University, Tunisia; FCF, Manar University, Tunisia

Abstract: This study examines the impact of ownership structure on voluntary disclosure quality of non-financial firms listed on the Tunisian stock market. The empirical analysis focused on 411 annual reports of non-financial companies listed on the Tunisian stock market during the 2010-2019 period. The results indicate a significant positive impact of institutional ownership on voluntary disclosure quality. Overall, foreign ownership and managerial ownership are found to have no effect. The empirical results show that institutional ownership has a significant positive impact on voluntary disclosure quality only in the health and technology sectors. Foreign ownership and managerial ownership have no significant effect in all considered sectors. The findings may encourage investors to allocate their funds to firms with a high percentage of institutional ownership. This study extends the existing literature by examining the relationship between ownership structure and voluntary disclosure quality in an emerging context and which has been poorly investigated, especially in the Tunisian context.

Keywords: voluntary disclosure quality; ownership structure; foreign ownership; managerial ownership; institutional ownership; agency theory; economic sectors; frontier market; Tunisian stock market.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEA.2023.135582

International Journal of Economics and Accounting, 2023 Vol.12 No.1, pp.61 - 76

Received: 27 Oct 2022
Accepted: 15 Aug 2023
Published online: 18 Dec 2023 *

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