Determinants and characteristics of voluntary internet disclosures in GCC countries

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants and characteristics of voluntary Internet disclosures by listed companies in three Gulf Cooperation Council countries. This paper uses archival data from 192 listed companies in Qatar Stock Exchange, Muscat Securities Market, and Bahrain Bourse. Binary Logistic Regression analysis is used to examine the determinants of Internet financial reporting. Kruskal-Wallis test is used to examine the differences in disclosure characteristics among the three countries. The results reveal that firm size is the major influencing factor that impacts Internet financial reporting in the GCC. A number of disclosure characteristics differ significantly between the three countries. The paper provides insights into corporate Internet disclosure in the GCC that will benefit all stakeholders with an interest in corporate reporting in this important region of the world. The results are consistent with previous literature that corporate size is a major determinant of Internet financial reporting.