Audit Committees and COVID-19-Related Disclosure Tone: Evidence from Oman

Badar Alshabibi, Shanmuga Pria and Khaled Hussainey ()
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Badar Alshabibi: Faculty of Business Studies, University of Technology and Applied Sciences–Muscat, Al-Khuwair, Muscat 133, Oman
Shanmuga Pria: Faculty of Business Studies, University of Technology and Applied Sciences–Shinas, Al-Aqur, Shinas 324, Oman

JRFM, 2021, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: In this study, we content analyzed chairman’s statements to measure the tone of COVID-19-related disclosure in Omani listed firms for the year ending 2020. We also examined whether audit committee (AC) characteristics influence disclosure tone. After controlling for corporate board and firm characteristics, our regression analysis showed that two AC characteristics (gender diversity and overlapped directors) positively affect good news information and negatively affect bad news information. It also showed that AC size positively affects bad news information. No evidence was found that the AC independence, meeting frequency, multi-directorships, and financial expertise have an impact on the tone of COVID-19-related disclosures. Our paper contributes to the growing literature by being the first study to examine whether AC characteristics influenced disclosure tone during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results indicate that investors and regulatory bodies should take AC characteristics into account in determining the tone of COVID-19-related disclosures.

Keywords: COVID-19-related disclosure tone; audit committee; chairman’s statement; Sultanate of Oman (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C E F2 F3 G (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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