The voluntary disclosure of internet

financial reporting (IFR) in an emerging

economy: a case of digital Bangladesh
Mohammad Nurunnabi, Monirul Alam Hossain
Journal of Asia Business Studies

ISSN: 1558-7894

Article publication date: 13 January 2012

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Abstract
Purpose
The present study seeks to paint the current state of voluntary disclosure of
internet financial reporting (IFR) in Bangladesh as an example of an emerging
economy and to investigate empirically some company characteristics as
determinants of such practice.

Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of 83 listed companies in Bangladesh in the year 2009 and
the disclosure index of Deller et al., Marston, Xiao et al. and Marston and
Polei and comments from the users and investors of Bangladesh, the study
employs statistical analysis to investigate the association between a number
of company characteristics and the extent of voluntary disclosure of IFR.

Findings
The findings revealed that only 29.12 percent (83) companies had web sites
out of the 285 listed companies and only 33.34 percent (28) companies'
provided financial information. Out of seven variables, only big audit firms and
non‐family ownership variables were significantly associated with the levels of
voluntary disclosure. Another important result revealed that despite the
mandatory requirements of having audit committee in Bangladesh, the
companies without the audit committee were disclosing voluntary information
more and it raised the question on the lack of regulatory enforcement in
Bangladesh.
Research limitations/implications
The scope of this study is limited to a single country; it would be interesting to
replicate this study to a group of emerging countries which have many
similarities to the Bangladesh environment.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, no studies have been conducted on
IFR in a South Asian emerging country, in particular Bangladesh. The study
also is the first of its kind to examine the whole population of a period in any
country which enhances contribution to IFR literature. Unlike the prior studies
conducted in emerging countries, the study contributes not only to the present
state of IFR by the listed companies in Bangladesh but also the connectivity
problem between the dream and reality of the digital Bangladesh concept. The
study also finds that the companies' IFR practices are not influenced by
“Digital Bangladesh” concept.

Keywords
 Internet financial reporting

 Voluntary disclosure

 Emerging economies

 Bangladesh

 Emerging markets

 Information disclosure

Citation
Nurunnabi, M. and Alam Hossain, M. (2012), "The voluntary disclosure of internet
financial reporting (IFR) in an emerging economy: a case of digital
Bangladesh", Journal of Asia Business Studies, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 17-
42. https://doi.org/10.1108/15587891211190688
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Publisher
:
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited