Corporate Financial Reporting on the Internet: Evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

This research paper investigates the utilization of the Internet for communicating financial information by the listed companies of Bangladesh, a developing country. The sample for the study consists of 268 companies listed on the stock exchanges (the Dhaka Stock Exchange and the Chittagong Stock Exchange) of Bangladesh. Corporate websites of the sample companies were browsed by using a standard web browser for collecting data relating to corporate reporting on the Internet. On-line financial reporting in Bangladesh is still in its infancy. Only 104 (38.81 percent) of the 268 companies have a website and only 64 companies (61.54 percent) disclose at least one financial item. A scoring scheme has been developed to measure the level of on-line financial reporting. A wide variation in the level of on-line financial reporting across 15 sectors has been found. It also ranks different sectors of companies based on their reporting scores. The highest-ranking sector was the Banking, Leasing & Finance sector. This paper adds to the existing body of literature on on-line financial reporting studies by exploring on-line financial reporting practices of Bangladesh, a developing country.

Keywords: Internet, Financial Reporting, Corporate Websites, Listed Companies, Bangladesh, Reporting Score

JEL Classification: M41, M47, M49