The Determinants and Characteristics of Voluntary Disclosure by Ethiopian Banks

The paper investigates the extent of relationship between the determinants and characteristics of voluntary disclosure made by the Ethiopian Banks. Ethiopia, a country located in the horn of Africa, has a financial sector which immature and closed to foreign ownership and operation which make the country unique compared with other countries in the sub-Saharan region. In this study a sample of nine banks selected from those financial corporate entities operating in Ethiopia. The period of study is from 2007–08 to 2011–12. For this study we have used size, debt, board size, board composition and profitability as determinants of corporate disclosure. To examine the extent of relationship between these determinants and corporate voluntary disclosure, we have used multiple regression model. The findings indicate that there is a positive relationship between bank size and board size and voluntary disclosure, which is statistically significant. The relationship between debt, board composition and profitability with voluntary disclosure is found to be negative.