Factors on voluntary accounting information by Greek companies

Abstract

This paper reports on voluntary accounting disclosure practices of Greek listed corporations
and relates the extend and quality of disclosure to firms variables such as size, financial leverage,
age, share marketability and proportion of asset in place. The extent and quality of disclosure
have been measured by the average of scores given by 43 Greek Certified Public Accountants.
Studying the voluntary disclosure of Greek firms, the paper provides new insights into factors
behind voluntary disclosure choices. Disclosure varies widely within a sample of 36 Greek
manufacturing firms listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. According to expectations, the extent
and quality of disclosure is found to be significantly and positively related to the firm size,
whereas the innovation of the paper rests with the found relationship between disclosure and
share marketability and the non-significant association of disclosure with financial leverage, firm
age and asset in place.