Mofijul Hoq Masum

Corporate voluntary disclosure becomes a burning issue in the literature of accounting throughout the last two decades. The study aims to explore the most crucial determinants that influence corporate voluntary disclosure in a transition economy. A cross-sectional study based on the pharmaceutical and chemical companies listed in the Dhaka Stock Exchange is conducted to reconnoiter the crucial determinants affecting the voluntary disclosure. Based on the agency theory, stakeholder theory, and previous literature, the determinants are selected. An unweighted disclosure index is used to measure the extent of voluntary disclosure; after that, a multivariate analysis is steered to reconnoiter the key determinants of voluntary disclosure. It is found that firm leverage and firm liquidity are the key determinants that significantly influence the corporate voluntary disclosure in a transition economy. In contrast, no significant positive association is found between voluntary disclosure and board size. In additon, it is also found that market category significantly influences voluntary disclosure with an inverse direction. This study has important implications for both the corporate people and the regulatory bodies of the transition economy. The study also helps various stakeholders of the transition economy – Bangladesh, in designing their strategies regarding the most significant determinants of voluntary disclosure.

Acknowledgment
We are very thankful to the Institute of Advanced Research (IAR), United International University, Bangladesh, to grant us the fund by mobilizing which we generate our required data for the study and complete this empirical study.

Corporate performance is one of the core pillars of accelerating the economic growth of any economy. There are some direct and indirect components of corporate performance. This study is conducted to measure the impact of indirect factors, such as corporate voluntary disclosures, on corporate performance. A sample of 872 annual reports is investigated. A content analysis has been conducted to measure voluntary disclosure. The study employs the short panel data, fixed model regression, and Panel Corrected Standard Error (PCSE). The analysis indicates that corporate voluntary disclosure has influenced the return on assets with a regression coefficient of 0.0724 at p ≤ 0.01. Corporate voluntary disclosure in the transitional economy significantly influences corporate performance. However, the volume of corporate voluntary reporting in energy-related disclosure and climate-related disclosure is minimal, as the mean is only 2.21% and 2.31%. This implies that the government of the transitional economy may focus on persuading corporations to disclose additional information besides mandatory disclosure. In addition, indirect determinant of corporate performance, like corporate voluntary disclosure, brings sustainability to corporate performance, which further assists the transitional economy in shifting its economic status from one dimension to another.

Acknowledgment
The authors are very thankful to the Institute of Advanced Research, United International University, Bangladesh, for providing partial funds to complete this empirical study.
This project is partially funded by the Institute for Advanced Research Publication Grant of United International University, Ref. No.: IAR-2024-Pub-069.