Corporate Governance Disclosure Practices in India, with an Application to the Telecom Industry

India offers an excellent illustration of a pattern of economic transition when an emerging economy adapts the concept of corporate governance to its economic and cultural environment. A vital component of good corporate governance is corporate governance disclosure, which has received growing attention among researchers of the Indian and BRICS economies. The present paper provides a meta-review of literature on corporate governance disclosure in India. The novelty of the analysis is severalfold. First, we highlight the existence of features in the legal framework of corporate governance disclosure that are similar to developed countries as well as outlining India-specific traits. Second, our paper surveys a range of empirical works on corporate governance disclosure in India to reveal India-specific patterns in the interrelation between disclosure and the financial performance of companies. Third, the paper gives evidence on the special features of corporate governance disclosure in India, using the example of the rapidly developing telecom industry in the country. Telecom may be regarded as a representative industry that reflects the innovative business model in India, the history of liberalization, the increase in competition, and the importance of raising profits and fostering company growth. Our analysis shows that India follows a number of approaches to corporate governance disclosure which are observed in large Western economies and that parallels can be established between disclosure practices and the legislative framework in India and the UK. At the same time, India has a number of unique traits in its corporate governance disclosure practices that may be explained by the special features of its economic development.