Document Type : Case Study

Authors

1 School of Finance, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, PR China.

2 School of Finance, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, PR China

Abstract

Emerging post-financial crisis research in Africa recently suggest a strong linkage between poor corporate governance and the non-transparency in the financial institutions involved, leading to loss of investor confidence and other ramifying effects. This has reignited the need to progressively re-examine or rethink the gaps in existing financial regulatory framework in accordance with acceptable corporate governance standards. Our study reviewed and tested the influence of four voluntary disclosure attributes namely; a percentage of family members on boards, extant of independent committee of audit, existence of more important personalities and the proportion of non-dependent directors of CG, as promulgated by the Bank of Ghana. An adjusted relative disclosure was used in this study. We noted the prevalence of a committee of auditors is positively and significantly connected to a degree of deliberate disclosure, whereas, a higher number of family members on the board attenuates effective voluntary disclosure. The outcomes give empirical proof to back Ghana’s financial regulatory authorities.

Keywords

Aboagye-Otchere, F., Bedi, I., & Ossei Kwakye, T. (2012). Corporate governance and disclosure practices of Ghanaian listed companies. Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, 2(2), 140-161.
Adomako, S., Danso, A., & Ofori Damoah, J. (2016). The moderating influence of financial literacy on the relationship between access to finance and firm growth in Ghana. Venture Capital, 18(1), 43-61.
Akhtaruddin, M., & Haron, H. (2010). Board ownership, audit committees' effectiveness and corporate voluntary disclosures. Asian Review of Accounting, 18(1), 68-82.
Alanezi, F. S., & Albuloushi, S. S. (2011). Does the existence of voluntary audit committees really affect IFRS-required disclosure? The Kuwaiti evidence. International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, 8(2), 148-173.
Alberici, A., & Querci, F. (2016). The quality of disclosures on environmental policy: The profile of financial intermediaries. Corporate social responsibility and environmental management, 23(5), 283-296.
Allen, W. T. (2017). Our schizophrenic conception of the business corporation Corporate Governance (pp. 79-99): Gower.
Alves, S. (2012). Ownership structure and earnings management: Evidence from Portugal. Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal, 6(1), 57-74.
Appuhami, R., & Tashakor, S. (2017). The impact of audit committee characteristics on CSR disclosure: An analysis of Australian firms. Australian Accounting Review, 27(4), 400-420.
Armstrong, C. S., Guay, W. R., & Weber, J. P. (2010). The role of information and financial reporting in corporate governance and debt contracting. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 50(2-3), 179-234.
Asongu, S. A., & De Moor, L. (2017). Financial globalisation dynamic thresholds for financial development: evidence from Africa. The European Journal of Development Research, 29(1), 192-212.
Barros, C. P., Boubaker, S., & Hamrouni, A. (2013). Corporate governance and voluntary disclosure in France. Journal of Applied Business Research, 29(2), 561-578.
Bédard, J., & Gendron, Y. (2010). Strengthening the financial reporting system: Can audit committees deliver? International journal of auditing, 14(2), 174-210.
Bennett, B., Bettis, J. C., Gopalan, R., & Milbourn, T. (2017). Compensation goals and firm performance. Journal of financial economics, 124(2), 307-330.
Boatright, J. R. (2010). Finance ethics: Critical issues in theory and practice (Vol. 11): John Wiley & Sons.
Bratton, W. W., & Wachter, M. L. (2011). The political economy of fraud on the market. U. Pa. L. Rev., 160, 69.
Calomiris, C. W., & Haber, S. H. (2014). Fragile by design: The political origins of banking crises and scarce credit (Vol. 50): Princeton University Press.
Campello, M. (2006). Debt financing: Does it boost or hurt firm performance in product markets? Journal of financial economics, 82(1), 135-172.
Capriglione, F., & Casalino, N. (2014). Improving corporate governance and managerial skills in banking organizations.
Caputo, F., Giudice, M. D., Evangelista, F., & Russo, G. (2016). Corporate disclosure and intellectual capital: the light side of information asymmetry. international Journal of Managerial and financial Accounting, 8(1), 75-96.
Claessens, S., & Yurtoglu, B. B. (2013). Corporate governance in emerging markets: A survey. Emerging markets review, 15, 1-33.
Clausen, S., & Flor, C. R. (2015). The impact of assets-in-place on corporate financing and investment decisions. Journal of banking & finance, 61, 64-80.
Comer, M. J. (2017). Investigating corporate fraud: Routledge.
Cooke, T. E. (1992). The impact of size, stock market listing and industry type on disclosure in the annual reports of Japanese listed corporations. Accounting and business research, 22(87), 229-237.
Council, F. R. (2012). The UK corporate governance code. London, September.
Cuadrado-Ballesteros, B., Rodríguez-Ariza, L., & García-Sánchez, I.-M. (2015). The role of independent directors at family firms in relation to corporate social responsibility disclosures. International Business Review, 24(5), 890-901.
Cuevas‐Rodríguez, G., Gomez‐Mejia, L. R., & Wiseman, R. M. (2012). Has agency theory run its course?: Making the theory more flexible to inform the management of reward systems. Corporate Governance: an international review, 20(6), 526-546.
Curran, D. (2016). ‘Articles of Practical Banking Written by Practical Bankers’ The Bankers’ Magazine Reportage of the Great Irish Famine. Irish Economic and Social History, 43(1), 21-49.
D'Souza, J. M., Ramesh, K., & Shen, M. (2010). The interdependence between institutional ownership and information dissemination by data aggregators. The Accounting Review, 85(1), 159-193.
Damodaran, A. (2010). Applied corporate finance: John Wiley & Sons.
De Massis, A., Kotlar, J., Mazzola, P., Minola, T., & Sciascia, S. (2018). Conflicting selves: Family owners' multiple goals and self-control agency problems in private firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and practice, 42(3), 362-389.
Devriese, J., Dewatripont, M., Heremans, D., & Nguyen, G. (2004). Corporate governance, regulation and supervision of banks. Financial Stability Review, 2(1), 95-120.
Dewenter, K. L., & Malatesta, P. H. (2001). State-owned and privately owned firms: An empirical analysis of profitability, leverage, and labor intensity. American Economic Review, 91(1), 320-334.
Dhaliwal, D., Naiker, V., & Navissi, F. (2010). The association between accruals quality and the characteristics of accounting experts and mix of expertise on audit committees. Contemporary Accounting Research, 27(3), 787-827.
Elfeky, M. I. (2017). The extent of voluntary disclosure and its determinants in emerging markets: Evidence from Egypt. The Journal of Finance and Data Science, 3(1-4), 45-59.
Epstein, G., Pérez, I., Schoon, M., & Meek, C. L. (2014). Governing the invisible commons: Ozone regulation and the Montreal Protocol. International Journal of the Commons, 8(2), 337-360.
Ernstberger, J., & Grüning, M. (2013). How do firm-and country-level governance mechanisms affect firms’ disclosure? Journal of accounting and public policy, 32(3), 50-67.
Fifka, M. S. (2013). Corporate responsibility reporting and its determinants in comparative perspective–a review of the empirical literature and a meta‐analysis. Business strategy and the environment, 22(1), 1-35.
Frias‐Aceituno, J. V., Rodriguez‐Ariza, L., & Garcia‐Sanchez, I. M. (2013). The role of the board in the dissemination of integrated corporate social reporting. Corporate social responsibility and environmental management, 20(4), 219-233.
Harford, J., Mansi, S. A., & Maxwell, W. F. (2012). Corporate governance and firm cash holdings in the US Corporate Governance (pp. 107-138): Springer.
Henry, D. (2010). Agency costs, ownership structure and corporate governance compliance: A private contracting perspective. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 18(1), 24-46.
Ho, S. S., & Wong, K. S. (2001). A study of the relationship between corporate governance structures and the extent of voluntary disclosure7. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, 10(2), 139-156.
Jaggi, B., Leung, S., & Gul, F. (2009). Family control, board independence and earnings management: Evidence based on Hong Kong firms. Journal of accounting and public policy, 28(4), 281-300.
Jermias, J. (2008). The relative influence of competitive intensity and business strategy on the relationship between financial leverage and performance. The British Accounting Review, 40(1), 71-86.
Johansen, K., Laser, S., Neuberger, D., & Andreani, E. (2017). Inside or outside control of banks? Evidence from the composition of supervisory boards. European Journal of Law and Economics, 43(1), 31-58.
Khlif, H., Ahmed, K., & Souissi, M. (2017). Ownership structure and voluntary disclosure: A synthesis of empirical studies. Australian Journal of Management, 42(3), 376-403.
Killick, T. (2010). Development economics in action second edition: a study of economic policies in Ghana: Routledge.
Klein, A. (2002). Audit committee, board of director characteristics, and earnings management. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 33(3), 375-400.
Krause, R., Semadeni, M., & Cannella Jr, A. A. (2014). CEO duality: A review and research agenda. Journal of management, 40(1), 256-286.
Lekaram, V. (2014). The relationship of corporate governance and financial performance of manufacturing firms listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange. International Journal of Business and Commerce, 3(12), 30-57.
Li, S. (2010). Does mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in the European Union reduce the cost of equity capital? The Accounting Review, 85(2), 607-636.
Louie, J., Ahmed, K., & Ji, D. (2019). Voluntary disclosures practices of family firms in Australia. Accounting Research Journal(just-accepted), 00-00.
Marra, A., Mazzola, P., & Prencipe, A. (2011). Board monitoring and earnings management pre-and post-IFRS. The International Journal of Accounting, 46(2), 205-230.
Mullins, W., & Schoar, A. (2016). How do CEOs see their roles? Management philosophies and styles in family and non-family firms. Journal of financial economics, 119(1), 24-43.
Nekhili, M., Nagati, H., Chtioui, T., & Rebolledo, C. (2017). Corporate social responsibility disclosure and market value: Family versus nonfamily firms. Journal of Business Research, 77, 41-52.
Pavlopoulos, A., Magnis, C., & Iatridis, G. E. (2019). Integrated reporting: An accounting disclosure tool for high quality financial reporting. Research in International Business and Finance, 49, 13-40.
Penrose, E. T. (2017). Foreign Investment and the Growth of the Firm 1 International Business (pp. 33-48): Routledge.
Plumlee, M., Brown, D., Hayes, R. M., & Marshall, R. S. (2015). Voluntary environmental disclosure quality and firm value: Further evidence. Journal of accounting and public policy, 34(4), 336-361.
Ronnie Lo, H.-L. (2009). Voluntary corporate governance disclosure, firm valuation and dividend payout: Evidence from Hong Kong listed firms. University of Glasgow.  
Samaha, K., Khlif, H., & Hussainey, K. (2015). The impact of board and audit committee characteristics on voluntary disclosure: A meta-analysis. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, 24, 13-28.
Senft, S., Gallegos, F., & Davis, A. (2016). Information technology control and audit: Auerbach publications.
Shah, S. A. (2018). Corporate Governance Dynamics in Emerging & Developed Economies With Strategic Financial Perspective (Comparative Study Of Pakistan & Usa). Contemporary Issues In Business & Economics (ICCIBE), 464.
Shan, Y. G., & McIver, R. P. (2011). Corporate governance mechanisms and financial performance in China: Panel data evidence on listed non financial companies. Asia Pacific Business Review, 17(3), 301-324.
Sodeyfi, S. (2016). Review of literature on the nexus of financial leverage, product quality, & business conditions. Journal of Economic & Management Perspectives, 10(2), 146-150.
Tirole, J. (2010). The theory of corporate finance: Princeton University Press.
Torchia, M., & Calabrò, A. (2016). Board of directors and financial transparency and disclosure. Evidence from Italy. Corporate Governance, 16(3), 593-608.
Tsamenyi, M., Enninful-Adu, E., & Onumah, J. (2007). Disclosure and corporate governance in developing countries: Evidence from Ghana. Managerial Auditing Journal, 22(3), 319-334.
Vergauwe, S., & Gaeremynck, A. (2019). Do measurement-related fair value disclosures affect information asymmetry? Accounting and business research, 49(1), 68-94.
Ward, J. (2016). Keeping the family business healthy: How to plan for continuing growth, profitability, and family leadership: Springer.
Zeng, S., Xu, X., Yin, H., & Tam, C. M. (2012). Factors that drive Chinese listed companies in voluntary disclosure of environmental information. Journal of Business Ethics, 109(3), 309-321.