The influence of the introduction of accounting disclosure regulation on mandatory disclosure compliance : evidence from Jordan

This paper examines the influence of accounting disclosure regulation, governance reforms and ownership changes, resulting from privatisation, on mandatory disclosure compliance of a sample of 80 non-financial, listed Jordanian companies for the years 1996 and 2004. Employing two checklists based on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) extant in the years 1996 and 2004, we find that disclosure compliance with the IFRS is significantly higher in 2004 than that in 1996. Our multiple regression results indicate that disclosure regulation reforms produced the most significant influence on mandatory disclosure compliance. Further, governance reforms through the mandate of audit committees emerged as a significant determinant of compliance with mandatory disclosure requirements.