Determinants of internet-based corporate governance disclosure by Spanish listed companies

• Published in: Online information review 2008-01, Vol.32 (6), p.791-817
• Main Author: GANDIA, Juan L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Annual reports; Business management; Capital markets; Communication; Communication. Information transfer; Corporate governance; Disclosure; Distribution costs; Exact sciences and technology; Governance; Information and communication sciences; Information science. Documentation; Internet; Investments; Investors; Library and information science. General aspects; New stock market listings; Principles; Sciences and techniques of general use; Spain; Stock exchanges; Stockholders; Studies; Transparency; Websites
• ISSN: 1468-4527; 1468-4535
• DOI: 10.1108/14684520810923944

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse the corporate governance information disclosed by Spanish listed companies on the internet, with the objective of assessing the extent and the influence of several corporate characteristics on the level of information voluntarily disclosed.Design methodology approach - The study took as its reference the existing literature on the examination of the quality of web sites and the importance of content as a key variable in determining web site quality. To quantify the corporate governance information disclosed by Spanish listed companies, three transparency indexes were designed. To contrast which variables determine the information provided online, the investigation based itself on studies about voluntary disclosure in companies, and three lineal regressions models and an ANOVA analysis were performed.Findings - The empirical evidence obtained reveals that the firms that score highest for transparency are also those that are most likely to use the internet as a channel for the disclosure of corporate governance information. The results show that disclosure levels depend on the degree to which firms are followed by analysts, their listing age, their "visibility" and the fact of belonging to the communications and information services industry.Practical implications - The need for this study was clear in view of the increasing interest shown by supervisory authorities for the oversight of the European and US capital markets in regulating not only the content but also the manner in which corporate governance information is disclosed over the internet. During the coming years, regulatory stock market agencies will have to strive to take advantage of the opportunities that the internet offers to increase both the relational and informational capacity of company web sites.Originality value - Corporate governance research has focused mainly on the analysis of the information that firms ought to disclose and the effects of disclosure generally, without considering the media involved. This paper suggests a new approach that examines the relevance of technology, particularly the internet, and orients supervisory authorities in the direction to follow for improving corporate governance transparency in listed companies.