Impact of the busyness and board independence on the discretionary disclosures of Indian firms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of board characteristics such as size, independence, busyness and duality on the extent of discretionary disclosures of listed Indian firms. Design/methodology/approach A disclosure index with 110 items was constructed to assess the discretionary disclosures in the annual reports of listed firms. The study measured disclosure using 1,024 firm-year observations over 8 years from 2009 to 2016. Board characteristics such as size, independence, busyness and duality have been used in the study as indicators of corporate governance. Findings The results indicate that while the proportion of independent directors positively impacts the extent of discretionary disclosures, boards with duality and the busyness of the director have a negative impact. The size of the board does not significantly impact the extent of disclosures. Research limitations/implications This study examines the discretionary disclosures made only in the annual reports. Future studies could examine information disclosed in other media. Moreover, this study uses an un-weighted self-constructed disclosure index, which is subject to its inherent limitations. Originality/value This study has examined the impact of the “busyness” of the director on the extent of disclosures. This variable has not been explored in prior studies. The significance of the variable indicates that the number of directorships held impacts the efficiency with which a director performs his/her role in the board. The study reiterates the need for firms and policymakers to focus on improving board independence and to move away from leadership structures with duality.