Corporate Governance and the Level of Financial Disclosure by Tunisian Firm

This study examines the relationship between the level of disclosure and its determinants, more specifically those relating to corporate governance mechanisms. The theoretical framework of the relationship between governance and the level of disclosure is proposed by the agency theory. For a sample of non-financial listed Tunisian companies for a period of 2004-2009. We built an index to approximate the extent of disclosure. We also used an unweighted and weighted index based on the views of financial information users (banker, Analyst, Financial Market Board, shareholders). The results show that the level of disclosure is explained by the size, leverage, profitability, duality, concentration of ownership and control quality as measured by the number of auditors and the presence of Big 4. Key words: Weighted disclosure index, corporate governance, board of directors, ownershi