A Study at the University of Bahrain Examines the Impact of Corporate Governance on Intellectual Capital Disclosure

Sakhir – University of Bahrain (Khadija Abdul Salam)
February 16, 2022

A study conducted at UoB concluded that there is a significant positive correlation between the functions of the board of directors and the audit committee on the one hand, and the level of intellectual capital disclosure in the annual reports of companies listed on the financial markets in GCC countries.

The study, submitted by the student Lina Fouad Mashallah as a requirement for a master’s degree in accounting, aimed to examine the impact of corporate governance functions on intellectual capital disclosure in the annual reports of companies listed on the financial markets in GCC countries.

The study was entitled, “Intellectual Capital Disclosure and Corporate Governance: Evidence from Companies Listed in the Gulf Cooperation Council.”

The study concluded that there is a significant positive correlation between three functions of the board of directors; the size of the board, the frequency of board meetings and the financial experience of the board of directors on the one hand, and the level of intellectual capital disclosure on the other hand. The findings of the study revealed that there is a significant positive correlation between two of the functions of the audit committee, namely the independence of the audit committee and its meetings on the one hand, and the level of intellectual capital disclosure on the other hand.

The researcher pointed out that the findings of the study are of great importance to the regulatory bodies in developing guidelines and procedures to encourage intellectual capital disclosure in annual reports.

The researcher added that the findings of the study would help policy makers identify the current intellectual capital disclosure practices to develop better rules and regulations that would enhance transparency and disclosure and assist users of annual reports of listed companies in GCC countries.

The discussion committee consisted of the professor in the Accounting Department at the University of Bahrain, Omar Issa Juhmani as a supervisor, associate professor in the Accounting Department, Dr. Hala Elias as an internal examiner, and Dr. Taisier Zoubi, from the American University of Sharjah, as an external examiner.

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