Audit Committee Attributes, Corporate Governance and Voluntary Disclosure: Evidence from Jordan

Abstract

This study examines the impact of audit committee attributes, corporate governance on voluntary disclosure of the non-financial firms listed on Amman stock exchange, the sample size consists of 72 listed firms covered the time period 2013-2016. Voluntary disclosure was measured using the relative disclosure index ratio. Multiple regression techniques were employed to test the study hypotheses, the results show that audit committee independence and audit committee meetings frequency have a significant positive impact on the level of voluntary disclosure, the results also revealed that independent board members and foreign ownership have a significant positive impact on the level of voluntary disclosure, however, family control exerts a negative significant impact on the level of voluntary disclosure. The findings of this study may have policy implications for the Jordanian corporate governance regulators as well as to regulators in the developing countries. Audit