The impact of board characteristics on the effectiveness of internal control information disclosure——evidence from China-listed companies

For a long time, internal control is a hot research topic in the theoretical and practical fields. However, there are few empirical studies on the disclosure of internal control information of Listed Companies in China. The factors that affect the quality of internal control information disclosure of Listed Companies in China have not been fully studied and verified. Therefore, on the basis of previous studies, this dissertation discusses the relationship between the board characteristics and the effectiveness of internal control information disclosure (ICID). Taking 684 A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange as samples, this dissertation analyses the influence of board characteristics of listed companies on the quality of internal control information disclosure from 2009 to 2018. Through the establishment of pooled OLS regression model, this dissertation empirically analyses the negative correlation between the size of the board, the shareholding ratio of shareholders and the effectiveness of ICID. In addition, when the chief executive officer (CEO) concurrently serves as the chairman of the board, the information asymmetry will increase and the quality of information disclosure will be reduced. Moreover, properly increasing the number of board meetings will help to improve the effectiveness of ICID. However, this study fails to prove that there is a significant correlation between board independence and ICID level. The results show that the supervision role of independent directors in Chinese enterprises has not been brought into full play. After the robustness test, the above conclusions are still valid, so this study has practical economic effect and value. From the current research practice in China, the impact of independent director mechanism on the level and quality of ICID needs to be improved. Although it is difficult to form a unified standard of ICID and corporate governance due to the differences in practice in different countries, it is necessary to disclose high-quality internal control information for the public, especially for investors. It is hoped that this study can provide empirical support for improving the effectiveness and transparency of internal control information disclosure