Is corporate voluntary disclosure a burden to shareholders?

This study examines the effect of board characteristics on the extent of voluntary disclosure in Tunisian listed firms first separately and then moderated by some corporate ownership variables. The studied board characteristics are the proportion of independent directors on the board and the presence of a dual management structure. The moderating corporate ownership variables are family, institutional and state ownership. Our measure of disclosure assesses the amount of voluntary disclosure provided in 2019 annual reports of a sample of 48 Tunisian listed firms. We use an additive and unweighted approach to construct a disclosure index. The results indicate significant negative relationships between voluntary disclosure and board characteristics. Our results indicate that the proportion of independent directors and a dual management structure enhances the extent of voluntary disclosure. Furthermore, while institutional ownership positively moderated this relationship, this latter is negatively related to family and state ownership. These findings shed light on corporate governance features and in particular board attributes that enhance incentives for voluntary disclosure and those affecting these incentives.