Determinants of corporate disclosure and transparency: Evidence from Hong Kong and Thailand

This study examines the degrees of corporate disclosure and transparency of publicly listed companies in two emerging markets and analyzes corporate disclosure practices as a function of specific firm characteristics. The analysis uses the disclosure and transparency scores extracted from a survey instrument designed to rate disclosure practices of publicly listed companies by using the OECD Corporate Governance Principles as an implicit benchmark. Empirical results show that financial characteristics explain some of the variation in the degrees of corporate disclosure for firms in Hong Kong but not for firms in Thailand. Further, corporate governance characteristics, such as board size and board composition, show more significant associations with the degrees of corporate disclosure in Thailand than in Hong Kong. The results are broadly consistent with the notion that good corporate governance leads to better corporate disclosure and transparency in less developed markets. Copyright © 2007 Carnegie Mellon University.