IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/accoun/v44y2009i4p313-333.html

The impact of family-firm structure and board composition on corporate transparency: Evidence based on segment disclosures in Malaysia

Author

Listed:
  • Wan-Hussin, Wan Nordin

Abstract

The aim of this study is to contribute to the growing literature on the quality of accounting disclosures by family firms by investigating whether the alignment (entrenchment) effect leads to high (low) corporate transparency. Unlike previous studies, this study also examines the relationship between board composition and corporate transparency by distinguishing between the two types of nonexecutive directors, namely independent and affiliated directors. Using the enhanced segment disclosures by Malaysian firms in 2001/2002 as a proxy of corporate transparency, the results indicate that family firms are more inclined to disclose all the required items for the primary basis of segment reporting, consistent with Ali, Chen, and Radhakrishnan (2007) and Wang (2006). The result also indicates that firms with higher proportion of affiliated directors are more likely to make greater segment disclosures. However, no evidence is found to support the contention that independent directors and institutional investors promote corporate transparency, consistent with previous Malaysian studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Wan-Hussin, Wan Nordin, 2009. "The impact of family-firm structure and board composition on corporate transparency: Evidence based on segment disclosures in Malaysia," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 313-333, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:accoun:v:44:y:2009:i:4:p:313-333
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020-7063(09)00070-3
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    2. Lorenzo Patelli & Annalisa Prencipe, 2007. "The Relationship between Voluntary Disclosure and Independent Directors in the Presence of a Dominant Shareholder," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 5-33.
    3. Jaggi, Bikki & Leung, Sidney & Gul, Ferdinand, 2009. "Family control, board independence and earnings management: Evidence based on Hong Kong firms," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 281-300, July.
    4. Shuping Chen & Xia Chen & Qiang Cheng, 2008. "Do Family Firms Provide More or Less Voluntary Disclosure?," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 46(3), pages 499-536, June.
    5. Eliezer M. Fich, 2005. "Are Some Outside Directors Better than Others? Evidence from Director Appointments by Fortune 1000 Firms," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(5), pages 1943-1972, September.
    6. Juan Manuel Garcia Lara & Beatriz Garcia Osma & Fernando Penalva, 2007. "Board of Directors' Characteristics and Conditional Accounting Conservatism: Spanish Evidence," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 727-755.
    7. Roszaini Haniffa & Mohammad Hudaib, 2006. "Corporate Governance Structure and Performance of Malaysian Listed Companies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(7-8), pages 1034-1062.
    8. Mike W. Peng, 2004. "Outside directors and firm performance during institutional transitions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(5), pages 453-471, May.
    9. Wendy Beekes & Peter Pope & Steven Young, 2004. "The Link Between Earnings Timeliness, Earnings Conservatism and Board Composition: evidence from the UK," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(1), pages 47-59, January.
    10. Irene Karamanou & Nikos Vafeas, 2005. "The Association between Corporate Boards, Audit Committees, and Management Earnings Forecasts: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 453-486, June.
    11. Roszaini Haniffa & Mohammad Hudaib, 2006. "Corporate Governance Structure and Performance of Malaysian Listed Companies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(7‐8), pages 1034-1062, September.
    12. Cornett, Marcia Millon & Marcus, Alan J. & Tehranian, Hassan, 2008. "Corporate governance and pay-for-performance: The impact of earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 357-373, February.
    13. Ronan G. Powell, 1997. "Modelling Takeover Likelihood," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(7‐8), pages 1009-1030, September.
    14. Dechun Wang, 2006. "Founding Family Ownership and Earnings Quality," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(3), pages 619-656, June.
    15. Singh, Manohar & Davidson III, Wallace N., 2003. "Agency costs, ownership structure and corporate governance mechanisms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 793-816, May.
    16. Coles, Jeffrey L. & Daniel, Naveen D. & Naveen, Lalitha, 2008. "Boards: Does one size fit all," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 329-356, February.
    17. Byard, Donal & Li, Ying & Weintrop, Joseph, 2006. "Corporate governance and the quality of financial analysts' information," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 609-625.
    18. Pik Kun Liew, 2007. "Corporate Governance Reforms in Malaysia: the key leading players' perspectives," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 724-740, September.
    19. Wendy Beekes & Philip Brown, 2006. "Do Better‐Governed Australian Firms Make More Informative Disclosures?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3‐4), pages 422-450, April.
    20. Koh, Ping-Sheng, 2003. "On the association between institutional ownership and aggressive corporate earnings management in Australia," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 105-128.
    21. Wendy Beekes & Philip Brown, 2006. "Do Better-Governed Australian Firms Make More Informative Disclosures?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3-4), pages 422-450.
    22. Villalonga, Belen & Amit, Raphael, 2006. "How do family ownership, control and management affect firm value?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 385-417, May.
    23. Ronan G. Powell, 1997. "Modelling Takeover Likelihood," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(7‐8), pages 1009-1030, September.
    24. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 2008. "Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 48(2), April.
    25. Jennifer C. Ireland, 2003. "An Empirical Investigation of Determinants of Audit Reports in the UK," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7‐8), pages 975-1016, September.
    26. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation," Scholarly Articles 29407535, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    27. Boone, Audra L. & Casares Field, Laura & Karpoff, Jonathan M. & Raheja, Charu G., 2007. "The determinants of corporate board size and composition: An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 66-101, July.
    28. Gillian H.H. Yeo & Patricia M.S. Tan & Kim Wai Ho & Sheng–Syan Chen, 2002. "Corporate Ownership Structure and the Informativeness of Earnings," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(7‐8), pages 1023-1046.
    29. Gillian H.H. Yeo & Patricia M.S. Tan & Kim Wai Ho & Sheng-Syan Chen, 2002. "Corporate Ownership Structure and the Informativeness of Earnings," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(7&8), pages 1023-1046.
    30. Cheng, Eugene C.M. & Courtenay, Stephen M., 2006. "Response to discussion of "board composition, regulatory regime and voluntary disclosure"," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 293-294.
    31. Cheng, Eugene C.M. & Courtenay, Stephen M., 2006. "Board composition, regulatory regime and voluntary disclosure," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 262-289.
    32. Fan, Joseph P. H. & Wong, T. J., 2002. "Corporate ownership structure and the informativeness of accounting earnings in East Asia," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 401-425, August.
    33. Ahmed, Anwer S. & Duellman, Scott, 2007. "Accounting conservatism and board of director characteristics: An empirical analysis," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2-3), pages 411-437, July.
    34. Annalisa Prencipe, 2004. "Proprietary costs and determinants of voluntary segment disclosure: evidence from Italian listed companies," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 319-340.
    35. Cheng, Shijun, 2008. "Board size and the variability of corporate performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 157-176, January.
    36. Jung, Kooyul & Kwon, Soo Young, 2002. "Ownership structure and earnings informativeness: Evidence from Korea," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 301-325.
    37. Chung, Richard & Firth, Michael & Kim, Jeong-Bon, 2002. "Institutional monitoring and opportunistic earnings management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 29-48, January.
    38. Fleming, Grant & Heaney, Richard & McCosker, Rochelle, 2005. "Agency costs and ownership structure in Australia," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 29-52, January.
    39. Jennifer C. Ireland, 2003. "An Empirical Investigation of Determinants of Audit Reports in the UK," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30, pages 975-1016.
    40. Morck, Randall & Schleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 2008. "Management ownership and market valuation: an empirical analysis," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 48(2), April.
    41. Claessens, Constantijn A. & Djankov, Simeon & Lang, Larry H. P., 1999. "Who controls East Asian corporations ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2054, The World Bank.
    42. Randall Morck & Bernard Yeung, 2003. "Agency Problems in Large Family Business Groups," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(4), pages 367-382, October.
    43. Byrd, John W. & Hickman, Kent A., 1992. "Do outside directors monitor managers? *1: Evidence from tender offer bids," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 195-221, October.
    44. R.M. Haniffa & T. E. Cooke, 2002. "Culture, Corporate Governance and Disclosure in Malaysian Corporations," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 38(3), pages 317-349, October.
    45. Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 2003. "Boards of directors as an endogenously determined institution: a survey of the economic literature," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 9(Apr), pages 7-26.
    46. Ali, Ashiq & Chen, Tai-Yuan & Radhakrishnan, Suresh, 2007. "Corporate disclosures by family firms," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1-2), pages 238-286, September.
    47. Smith, Clifford Jr. & Warner, Jerold B., 1979. "On financial contracting : An analysis of bond covenants," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 117-161, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lim, Mable & How, Janice & Verhoeven, Peter, 2014. "Corporate ownership, corporate governance reform and timeliness of earnings: Malaysian evidence," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 32-45.
    2. Jesus Sáenz González & Emma García-Meca, 2014. "Does Corporate Governance Influence Earnings Management in Latin American Markets?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 419-440, May.
    3. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, May.
    4. Fidanoski, Filip & Mateska, Vesna & Simeonovski, Kiril, 2013. "Corporate Governance and Bank Performance: Evidence from Macedonia," MPRA Paper 46773, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Mar 2013.
    5. Pavlopoulos, Athanasios & Magnis, Chris & Iatridis, George Emmanuel, 2017. "Integrated reporting: Is it the last piece of the accounting disclosure puzzle?," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 23-46.
    6. Sumon Kumar Bhaumik & Andros Gregoriou, 2010. "‘Family’ Ownership, Tunnelling And Earnings Management: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 705-730, September.
    7. Abdalla Shwairef & Azlan Amran & Mohammad Iranmanesh & Noor Hazlina Ahmad, 2021. "The mediating effect of strategic posture on corporate governance and environmental reporting," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 349-378, February.
    8. Kamran & Attaullah Shah, 2014. "The Impact of Corporate Governance and Ownership Structure on Earnings Management Practices: Evidence from Listed Companies in Pakistan," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 19(2), pages 27-70, July-Dec.
    9. Hussein Abedi Shamsabadi & Byung-Seong Min & Richard Chung, 2016. "Corporate governance and dividend strategy: lessons from Australia," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 583-610, October.
    10. Franco Ernesto Rubino & Paolo Tenuta & Domenico Rocco Cambrea, 2017. "Board characteristics effects on performance in family and non-family business: a multi-theoretical approach," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(3), pages 623-658, September.
    11. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Guay, Wayne R. & Weber, Joseph P., 2010. "The role of information and financial reporting in corporate governance and debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 179-234, December.
    12. Ayman Haddad & Wasim AlShattarat & Naser AbuGhazaleh & Haitham Nobanee, 2015. "The impact of ownership structure and family board domination on voluntary disclosure for Jordanian listed companies," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(2), pages 203-234, December.
    13. Roshayani Arshad & Rohaya Md Nor & Nur Adura Ahmad Noruddin, 2011. "Ownership Structure And Interaction Effects Of Firm Performance On Management Commentary Disclosures," Journal of Global Management, Global Research Agency, vol. 2(2), pages 124-145, July.
    14. Andreou, Panayiotis C. & Louca, Christodoulos & Panayides, Photis M., 2014. "Corporate governance, financial management decisions and firm performance: Evidence from the maritime industry," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 59-78.
    15. Ju-Fang Yen & Chih-Yung Lin & Yan-Shing Chen & Ying-Chen Huang, 2015. "Founding Family Firms and Bank Loan Contracts," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 48(1), pages 53-82, August.
    16. Yves Mard & Sylvain Marsat, 2011. "Gestion des résultats comptables et structure de l'actionnariat : le cas français," Post-Print hal-00650550, HAL.
    17. Ahmed Bouteska & Mehdi Mili, 2022. "Does corporate governance affect financial analysts’ stock recommendations, target prices accuracy and earnings forecast characteristics? An empirical investigation of US companies," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(4), pages 2125-2171, October.
    18. repec:ehu:cuader:7639 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. García-Meca, Emma & Sánchez-Ballesta, Juan P., 2011. "Ownership structure and forecast accuracy in Spain," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 73-82.
    20. Ray Donnelly & Mark Mulcahy, 2008. "Board Structure, Ownership, and Voluntary Disclosure in Ireland," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(5), pages 416-429, September.
    21. Roshayani Arshad Author_Email: roshayani@salam.uitm.edu.my & Rohaya Md Nor & Nur Adura Ahmad Noruddin, 2011. "Ownership Structure And Interaction Effects Of Firm Performance On Management Commentary Disclosures," 2nd International Conference on Business and Economic Research (2nd ICBER 2011) Proceeding 2011-332, Conference Master Resources.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:accoun:v:44:y:2009:i:4:p:313-333. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620179 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.