The determinants of corporate disclosure: a meta‐analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between disclosure and seven corporate characteristics which are ownership dispersion, analysts following, audit firm size, leverage, corporate size, profitability, and multi‐nationality. Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies the meta‐analysis technique developed by Hunter et al. in 1982 to a sample of 16 articles published between 1997 and 2006 for the purpose of cumulating and integrating the findings across studies. Findings – The paper shows a significant association between disclosure and audit firm size. Originality/value – The paper is an extension of previous work of Ahmed and Courtis to the extent that it includes other determinants of disclosure not included in prior works. It also aims at reconciling the inconsistent results of prior studies.