Corporate Governance Drivers of Voluntary Intellectual Capital Disclosure

Abstract

This study provides further insights on the key corporate governance drivers of intellectual capital (IC) disclosure in Egyptian companies. It uses IC disclosure index of three components; internal capital, external capital, and human capital to identify IC disclosure level in annual reports of the largest 100 companies listed in the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX). Descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis, and the association between IC disclosure levels and three potential explanatory corporate governance characteristics namely: (i) board composition, (ii) ownership structure, and (iii) audit committee provide the basis for discussion.

The results suggest that blockholders’ ownership, government ownership and audit committee are the explanatory variables that could have significant impact on voluntary intellectual capital disclosure by Egyptian companies, whereas board independence, and management ownership has no impact on IC disclosure. Additionally, firm size and leverage do influence IC disclosure levels in Egyptian companies. The survey results may assist regulators to understand the impact of corporate governance factors on companies’ IC voluntary disclosure levels and thereby help them specify ways to regulate disclosure on IC in an attempt to improve the quality of information disclosed to stakeholders.

Keywords: intellectual capital, voluntary disclosure, corporate reporting, corporate governance, Egyptian listed companies

JEL Classification: M41, N25, L21, G38, K22