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National legislatures and corporate transparency

Author

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  • Carney, Richard W.
  • Chen, Ruiyuan
  • El Ghoul, Sadok
  • Guedhami, Omrane

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to posit and test whether the presence and structure of national legislatures can account for the varying degree of corporate transparency displayed by firms operating in emerging economies. We conducted tests using a sample of 226,088 firm-level observations spanning 67 countries over the period 1990–2014. Firms located in political regimes that lack national legislatures display a lower level of transparency than those in regimes with semi-competitive legislative elections, and these in turn display lower transparency than firms located in countries with competitive elections.

Suggested Citation

  • Carney, Richard W. & Chen, Ruiyuan & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane, 2024. "National legislatures and corporate transparency," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:71:y:2024:i:c:s0275531924002344
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102441
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    institutional theory; transparency; opacity; corporate earnings; emerging economies; authoritarian regimes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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