Risk reporting appraisal in post-revolutionary Tunisia

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the determinants of operational and liquidity risk reporting for the Tunisian insurance and banking sectors after the outbreak of the Tunisian revolution on 14 January 2011. Design/methodology/approach - A manual content analysis approach was used to measure risk disclosure by counting the number of risk-related words within risk-related sentences in a wide range of publications. Findings - The results show that operational risk disclosure is associated positively with operational losses frequency, institution size and the proportion of independent non-executive members of the board of directors. Also, board size is found to be negatively associated with risk disclosure. Moreover, net stable funding ratio, size and proportion of independent non-executive members have a positive effect on liquidity risk disclosure. The authors also discover that infrequency of board meetings and the presence of young members on the board increase the extent of liquidity risk information. Research limitations/implications - The research focuses on a small number of observations which somewhat restrict the generalization of results to the entire class of financial sector in Tunisia. Also, the qualitative character of some supposed explanatory variables (frequency and severity of operational risk) relies heavily on the experiences of interviewees and their basic perceptions. Practical implications - Investors might do well to rely on such characteristics (large board size, less active board and a high proportion of non-executive directors) to predict the disclosure of risk information, either operational or liquidity risk. Board members should keep an eye on reporting on risk, by promoting the success keys of governance, because good corporate governance has to be recognizable at first to be an effective value driver. Originality/value - The findings rationalize the debate over the impact of improved corporate governance on risk disclosure practices within the context of the Tunisian revolution. The logic of this rationalization may help to promote political incentives that will encourage a risk management culture based on a dynamic communication framework.