Determinants of Voluntary Disclosures on the Websites of Firms in Ghana

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of voluntary disclosure (VD) on the websites of Ghanaian companies. Specifically, the study examines the relationship between VD and four variables: company size, profitability, liquidity and leverage. The study employed a quantitative explanatory design. The study revealed that 76.2 per cent of the companies had and reported a significant portion of information on their website. It was also revealed that all the companies disclosed more user-friendly information than the other components of voluntary disclosure followed by the financial information disclosure. On explanation of VD, size, profitability and liquidity are significant determinants of VD. In addition to the current requirement of publishing financial statements in newspapers, regulators should encourage companies to keep websites to disclose more information. The availability of more investor related information on company websites will inform potential investors about the performance of these companies and attract investments.