Abstract
The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of audit committees’ quality on the extent of voluntary disclosure in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The paper is based on a sample of ( 100) listed companies in Saudi Stock Exchanges in 2012. The study used ordinary least squares regression model to examine the relationship between explanatory variables and voluntary disclosure. Using an unweighted relative disclosure index for measuring voluntary disclosure, the empirical results indicate that a positive association between independence of audit committee members, audit committee meetings and voluntary disclosure, while there is no association between audit committee size, audit committee expertise and the extent of voluntary disclosure . The paper contributes to previous studies concerning corporate governance and voluntary disclosure through study of the impact of audit committee quality on voluntary disclosure level. The paper provides useful information to governance authority in Saudi Arabia, in particular concerning the rules of audit committees.
Key Words:
Audit Committees Quality ,Voluntary Disclosure,Corporate Governance ,Financial Reporting