Tariq H. Ismail

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of market and organizational determinants on the voluntary disclosure level of Egyptian companies.

Design/methodology/approach – Uses a disclosure index of voluntary disclosure that is based upon the following information categories: strategic information; financial information; non-financial information; and future prospect information to rate the level of disclosure. Multivariate analysis, voluntary disclosure determinants: earnings quality; ownership structure; competition intensity; information asymmetry, and possible relationships with disclosure level provide the basis for discussion.

Findings – It is found that the level of voluntary disclosure in the emerging market of Egypt ranges from low to moderate level. There is no significant relationship between a company's voluntary disclosure level and earnings quality and competition intensity, while this relationship is significant for information asymmetry and ownership structure.

Research limitations/implications – The results are constrained by the proxies that represent non-financial factors of the market.

Originality/value – This paper extends prior studies on voluntary disclosure in Egypt by looking at a comprehensive set of market and organizational factors that might affect the disclosure level, based on a structured disclosure index of strategic, financial and non-financial, and future prospect information. The findings would help boards of directors to explain the adoption of certain disclosure strategies, and understand the corporate disclosure behavior.