The Characteristics And Determinants Of Internet-based Corporate Governance Disclosure And Corporate Website Format

With the continuous development of Chinese market economy and constant improvement of capital market, information disclosure of Chinese listed companies obtains increasing public attention. And in the current internet-booming era, brand-new and practical internet-based information disclosure emerges gradually. Studies on characteristics and determinants of Internet Corporate Disclosure (ICD) have been already developed widely, while domestic relative research has also started. Based on previous studies, this dissertation will study the characteristics and determinants of Internet-based Corporate Governance Disclosure (ICGD) of Chinese listed companies. Study on this topic is almost blank at home and abroad and is very important.We refer to foreign and domestic research conclusion on the characteristics and determinants of Internet Corporate Disclosure, develop a disclosure index of 46 items to evaluate ICGD level among different companies, and test the impact of seven explanatory variables on its disclosure level, including CEO Duality,independent directors proportion,foreign share proportion,institution share proportion,auditor type,corporate size and profitability .We find that in the ICGD respect, new internet tools are applied to some extent, but its coverage rate is still in a low level and there are huge difference and disunity in content and format of ICGD in different listed companies. We also find that independent director,foreign share proportion,corporate size and profitability are positively and significantly associated with ICGD of Chinese listed companies.Also this dissertation further analyzes the content of the format of Chinese ICD, develops thirty format items, consisting of ten dynamic format items and 20 general format items. We compare our research with Xiao et al(2004) and He Yu,Zhang Tianxi(2005), finding that the format of Chinese ICD increases significantly during these years. But compared with developed countries such as the U.S., the ICGD of Chinese listed companies still has a great deal of shortages, which should be made up by both continuous development and self-improvement of Chinese listed companies themselves and that watchdog should strengthen guidance and supervision, intensify efforts to make relative policies and improve the system of ICGD. The dissertation further analyzes the determinants of the format of Chinese listed companies and find listed companies'profitability are positively and significantly associated with the ICD format of Chinese listed companies.Some suggestions about the policy-making are put forward in the final sector of the dissertation. We are confidential that our research results could be beneficial to the further improvement of both ICD format and ICGD of Chinese listed companies.