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The Usefulness Of Corporate Financial Reports: Evidence From The United Arab Emirates

Author

Listed:
  • Abdulkareem Alzarouni
  • Khaled Aljifri
  • Chew Ng
  • Mohammad Iqbal Tahir

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the usefulness of financial reports to users in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is an attempt to find out whether current practices satisfy users’ needs of information and the extent to which these needs have been satisfied by the current disclosure practices of UAE companies. A survey questionnaire was used to explore whether the financial reports published by UAE firms were relevant to the needs of their users and to identify the disclosure items they perceived as important. Of the 512 questionnaires distributed to major external users of financial reports, 404 were returned. The results indicate that users in the UAE consider corporate annual reports to be the most important source of information. However, the level of corporate financial disclosure in the UAE does not provide sufficient information to the users. In fact, it meets only 61% of the needs reported by external users of financial reports. The users also nominated several areas of concerns, including delays in the availability of annual reports, the lack of creditability of financial information, and the non-accessibility of financial reports.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdulkareem Alzarouni & Khaled Aljifri & Chew Ng & Mohammad Iqbal Tahir, 2011. "The Usefulness Of Corporate Financial Reports: Evidence From The United Arab Emirates," Accounting & Taxation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 3(2), pages 17-37.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibf:acttax:v:3:y:2011:i:2:p:17-37
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Mehmet Asutay & Primandanu Febriyan Aziz & Banjaran S. Indrastomo & Yusuf Karbhari, 2023. "Religiosity and Charitable Giving on Investors’ Trading Behaviour in the Indonesian Islamic Stock Market: Islamic vs Market Logic," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(2), pages 327-348, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate financial disclosure; information needs; user groups; usefulness; UAE firms; annual reports;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M4 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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