A Comparative Analysis Of Online Financial Information Disclosure Indexes:an Empirical Study For China,Ecuador,Germany And The United States Of America

This thesis uses an empirical study to examine the level of disclosure of voluntary financial information in listed public companies from C hina,Ecuador,Germany and the United States of America,based on a quantitative proxy of financial and non-financial data.This study begins by establishing the grounds for internet reporting and reviewing the results obtained so far in this area in order to develop an online financial disclosure index that will give an approximation of the current situation for disclosure determinants.The index was built with 63 items,classified in 5 dimensions.Size,profitability,leverage,liquidity and industry,as independent variables,were evaluated in order to establish the determinants of online financial information disclosure in the selected countries.Mainly,size had a direct positive relationship with online financial disclosur e in Germany and C hina,in line with the majority of previous studies.However,all the variables proved to be insignificant in the case of the United States,given a broad approach on financial disclosure,and Ecuador,given a limited level of disclosure of information,which can be attributed to a lack of pressure from interest groups and the practices of the transnational companies that dominate the market.