A disclosure index to measure the extent of corporate governance reporting by UAE listed corporations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of corporate governance reporting by United Arab Emirates (UAE) listed corporations. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports on the study of annual reports of 95 UAE listed corporations representing the major economic sectors (banking, insurance, industrial and service) in the country while crafting a corporate governance reporting index that not only advocates the voluntary publication of corporate governance information but also stresses its underlying ethos of public accountability and transparency. Findings Overall, the extent of governance disclosure is found to be similar across the major economic sectors in the UAE. The lowest disclosures are associated with information about external auditing and non‐audit services. The highest disclosures are those dealing with management structure and transparency, which are also found to be significantly different across the sectors in the UAE. Research limitations/implications The study examines the corporations' annual reports, as this is the only vehicle in which corporate governance information is disclosed. Future research is recommended to include other disclosure channels such as press releases, corporations' websites, and online reporting. Practical implications The findings of this study can assist UAE regulators in formulating corporate governance disclosure requirements. The findings also provide the international business community insights concerning the extent of corporate governance reporting in the UAE. Originality/value The crafted corporate governance reporting index not only adds a quantitative dimension advocating the voluntary publication of governance information but also considers the socio‐political context in the UAE.