Search for Firm and National Level Factors Affecting Disclosures Related to Information Technology Problems Amongst Commercial Banks in the Asia-Pacific: Evidence from Year 2000 Dilemma

• Main Author: Van der Zahn, Jean-Luc Wolfgang Mitchell
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2005
• Subjects: Accounting; Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics; Finance and Financial Management
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soa_research/123
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The objective of this study is to investigate the association between three organisational (firm size, economic performance and listing status) and five national (legal system, equity market size, economic development, cultural values and the political and civil system) and the amount of disclosure on a key information technology (IT) problem (Y2K). Disclosure practices in the annual reports of commercial banks in the Asia-Pacific region form the underlying data sample for the study. Findings indicated that the amount of Y2K disclosure amongst the sample population varied across national boundaries. Multiple regression results suggested a statistically significant association between several firm- (organisational size and listing status) and national-level (legal system, size of the equity market, level of economic development, cultural dimension of power distance and the political and civil system) factors. It is argued, based on these empirical results, that greater action needs to be taken to facilitate greater harmonization of the disclosure and communication of details related to IT problems with the significant technical, economic, political and social implications. The ability to achieve such harmonization, however, may be hampered by firm- and national-level factors that influence such disclosure practices in this region.