Download or read book The Effect of National Governance Codes on Firm Disclosure Practices written by John Nowland and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study tests for direct and indirect effects of voluntary corporate governance codes on company disclosure practices. Two direct effects of the codes are expected: (1) an overall improvement in company disclosure practices, which is greater when the codes have a greater emphasis on disclosure, and (2) a leveling out of disclosure practices across companies (larger improvements in companies that were previously poorer disclosers) due to the codes minimum comply-or-explain standards. The codes are also expected to have an indirect effect on disclosure practices through their effect on company governance practices. The results show that the introduction of codes in eight East Asian countries has been associated with lower analyst forecast error and a leveling out of disclosure practices across companies. The codes are also found to have an indirect effect on company disclosure practices through their effect on board independence. This suggests that voluntary corporate governance codes have both a significant direct effect and a significant indirect effect on company disclosure practices.