Determinants of Corporate Disclosure in Financial Statements: Evidence from Vietnamese Listed Firms

Abstract

Using data of listed firms on Hochiminh Stock Exchange, the study examines determinants of corporate disclosure in financial statements. In line with the literature, the findingsshow that firm size, the use of financial leverage and the presence of supervision board have a positive influence on corporate disclosure. Furthermore, auditing firm (whether a Big4 or not) also plays an important role in the degree of information disclosure by firms.Contradicting to the literature, however state ownership and the proportion of nonexecutive members in director board show a negative relation to corporate disclosure level. These counter factscanbe explained by real situations of Vietnam over the studied period. Finally, the concurrent role between chair of director board and managing director reduces corporate disclosure degree, as predicted by the agency theory.