Voluntary Accounting Disclosures by U.S.-Listed Asian Companies

Abstract

The current study examines the voluntary disclosures (provided in the U.S.) by U.S.-listed Asian companies. Our findings indicate that significantly fewer (greater) voluntary disclosures are provided by U.S.-listed Asian companies from countries which have a strict (less strict) mandatory disclosure regime in their home country. This finding is contrary to the model developed in Einhorn 2005. In addition, this study documents that over 80 percent of U.S.-listed Asian companies are voluntarily using “international” standards for their financial statements and thus contributing towards international accounting convergence. However, their choice to use “international” standards is not affected by their proportion of foreign sales or size. An important contribution of this study is the development of a measure for strictness of mandatory disclosure regimes of Asian countries by using expert rankings.