Economic and political determinants of anti-corruption disclosure in the MENA region

Abstract

This paper studies the economic and political determinants of Corporate Anti-Corruption Disclosure (ACD) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region banking sector. Twenty Lebanese banks, eleven Egyptian banks, fourteen Jordanian banks, and ten Saudi banks are studied from the period 2013 to 2019. A content analysis is implemented along with an explanatory study for 354 observations. The findings show that government effectiveness and the quality of accounting standards positively affect ACD. Conversely, a negative influence was found regarding the rule of law. These findings highlight the significant impact of having an effective government and adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on reducing corruption and promoting accountability, transparency, and disclosure. In the same manner, a strong and effective government that enforces the adoption of IFRS reflects the country’s compliance with corporate governance practices, such as having independent audit committees, which contribute to reducing corruption and promoting disclosure and transparency. These results support the legitimacy theory. On the contrary, the negative association between ACD and the rule of law could be related to the defective and poor enforcement of law in some MENA region countries. This study assists policymakers in setting ACD laws and helps in designing strategies that aim to reduce corruption and improve disclosure practices.