Determinants of corporate internet reporting: evidence from Egypt

The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential factors that may affect the level of corporate internet reporting by Egyptian listed companies.

The content analysis approach to examine the information cited by the largest Egyptian companies is used in their web sites. The paper modifies and uses the disclosure index of Xiao et al. Ordinary least square multiple regression analysis is used to examine the determinants of the internet reporting.

It is found that 56 per cent of Egyptian companies report a significant portion of information on their web sites. In addition, the paper finds that some financial characteristics explain the variation in the degree of internet reporting between Egyptian listed companies. In particular, profitability, foreign listing and industrial type (communications and financial services) are the determinants of the amount and presentation formatting of information disclosed on Egyptian companies' web sites. However, other firm characterises, such as firm size, leverage, liquidity and auditor size, do not explain corporate internet reporting.

The research finding is essential as it assists in informing regulators about the characteristics of Egyptian companies that are, and are not, satisfying national and international investors' demand of updated/online information. It also assists current and potential stakeholders to know the drives of corporate internet reporting in Egypt. Consequently, they may further investigate and verify such reporting practices. In practice, online reporting can be used as an effective tool for improving stakeholders' decision‐making process. Therefore, further research can be undertaken to examine the degree to which online reporting provides value‐relevant information for stakeholders.

To the best of the knowledge, there is no study examining the potential drivers of internet corporate reporting practice in Egypt. This paper is the first to examine the potential factors affecting corporate internet reporting in Egypt. The disclosure index used is designed to be suitable for companies working in the Egyptian environment.