Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent of voluntary disclosure (EVD) (i.e. overall, conventional, and Islamic disclosure) in the annual reports of Shariah Approved Companies (ShAC) listed on Bursa Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach -A disclosure index was developed, which consists of 59 items (including items related to the Shariah, i.e. Islamic items), to measure the EVD in the annual reports of ShAC. Secondary data from annual reports were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test. Findings -ShAC disclosed on average 19, 21 and 17 percent of overall, conventional, and Islamic items, respectively. The EVD of conventional items is comparable to prior studies, and higher than Islamic items.

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Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the environmental disclosure (ED) quality of public-listed companies (PLCs) in environmentally sensitive industries (ESI) in Malaysia in 2005 and 2009 (two years before and two years after the mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) requirement of Bursa Malaysia (BM)). BM (The Stock Exchange of Malaysia) has made CSR, including ED in annual reports mandatory since 2007. This study compares environmental reporting (ER) before and after the 2007 mandatory reporting requirement to determine if this command and control mechanism has had any effect on the quality of ED. Design/methodology/approach – The quality of ED was measured using a disclosure quality index adapted from various prior studies. The index consists of a total of 46 disclosure items grouped into 9 categories. Content analysis was utilized to extract data from the annual reports of 164 PLCs in ESI. Findings – Overall, the quality of ED improved in 2009 from that of 2005. More importantly, companies disclosed more quantitative environmental information in 2009 than in 2005. However, the average quality of ED was still low in 2009 compared to the overall potential score. Results provide some support for legitimacy as well as institutional theories. Research limitations/implications – The sample of the study consisted of listed companies in ESI only; the results cannot be generalized to other companies in non-environmentally sensitive sectors. Practical implications – Prior studies that used data before the mandatory CSR requirement by BM found ED in annual reports mainly declarative in nature, generally low on quality and with little quantifiable data. The results of the present study provide evidence of the positive impact of mandatory environmental reporting on ED quality. Originality/value – The use of a multi-theoretical perspective may offer a more meaningful explanation of ER behavior in Malaysia. The results of the study would provide the impetus for regulatory agencies in developing countries to perhaps consider legislating ER. The findings provide some evidence to support the influence of legitimacy and institutional factors behind improved ED of Malaysian PLCs. This outcome exhibits a positive influence on the government efforts in promoting sustainability. Finally, the study contributes to present a more up-to-date account of environmental commitment undertaken by Malaysian corporations through their environmental reporting, after the CSR mandatory listing requirement took effect in 2007.

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to examine the determinants (i.e. firm size, profitability, leverage, type of audit firm and industry type) of intellectual capital (IC) disclosure in the annual reports of Malaysian listed companies.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from the 2006 annual reports of the selected listed companies; and analyzed using descriptive statistics, t‐test, correlation and regression analyses.FindingsThe paper found that firm size, profitability, industry type are determinants of IC disclosure (ICD) in the annual reports of Malaysian listed companies, while leverage and type of audit firm did not statistically influence ICD.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper only used data from the 2006 annual reports. However, the findings have highlighted the importance of ICD determinants based on data from an emerging economy (i.e. Malaysian economy).Practical implicationsThe paper provides empirical evidence on the current practices and determinants of ICD in the annual reports of the Malaysian listed companies. This evidence would help in understanding and determining factors that influence the extent of ICD. Subsequently, it could assist in enhancing ICD in the annual reports.Originality/valueThe paper contributes by extending the limited ICD literature in Malaysia. Furthermore, the paper has tested more determinants, deemed to influence ICD, compared to prior Malaysian studies. In addition, the paper used a larger sample size with a wider industry coverage compared to previous Malaysian literature.

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate preparers' and users' perceptions on the usefulness of intellectual capital (IC) information disclosed in annual reports of listed companies. In addition, it aims to examine the significant differences in the perceptions of usefulness of IC information and IC categories of the preparers and users.Design/methodology/approachThe paper used a questionnaire survey method to collect the data (i.e. primary data). The questionnaires were distributed to companies (i.e. chief financial officers and accountants) as preparers, and brokers (i.e. analysts) and banks (i.e. credit officers) as users. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, t‐test and ANOVA.FindingsThe paper found that both preparers and users perceive the IC information disclosed in the annual reports of listed companies to be useful for their decision making purposes. Furthermore, the paper found that there are significant differences in the perception of usefulness between preparers and users.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper only focused on certain preparers' and users' perceptions. Nevertheless, it provides evidence that IC information is useful for decision‐making purposes. Future research on this issue may include more users.Practical implicationsThe findings provide evidence that IC information disclosed by listed companies is perceived to be useful by preparers and users. In addition, it provides evidence that there is significant difference between the perceptions of the usefulness of IC information by preparers, users and amongst the different user groups. Thus, these findings could be useful for regulatory authorities in Malaysia (e.g. Malaysian Accounting Standards Board and Bursa Malaysia) for the improvement of the disclosure practices (e.g. voluntary basis) by the Malaysian listed companies and enhance transparency in the capital market.Originality/valueThe paper can be considered as the first empirical study to examine the usefulness of the IC information from both views; preparers and users in Malaysia. In addition it contributes to the limited literature on IC in Malaysia.