Corporate Governance Codes in a Transitional Economy

This study aims to investigate the influence of the introduction of a corporate governance code in 2005 on the levels of compliance with mandatory IFRS disclosure requirements by companies listed on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) as a leading stock exchange in the Middle East. Using a disclosure index derived from mandatory IFRS disclosure requirements for the fiscal year 2007, this study measures the levels of compliance by a sample of 75 non-financial companies listed on the focus stock exchange. This study extends the financial reporting literature and the emerging market disclosure literature by being the first to investigate the influence of corporate governance requirements for best practices on the levels of compliance with mandatory IFRS disclosure requirements by companies listed on the EGX. Results provide evidence of the lack of influence of corporate governance best practices on the levels of compliance with mandatory IFRS disclosure requirements as it is not yet part of the cultural values within the Egyptian context. These findings are consistent with the notions of the proposed theoretical foundation.