Relationship between information asymmetry and the quality of corporate governance in the context of voluntary disclosure of information and its impact on decision-making

“A Thesis Submitted to the 

Council of the Faculty of Administration & Economics – Karbala University, as Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of PhD of Philosophy in Accounting”

By:

Basim Abdullah kadhim

Supervised by

Assistant Prof Dr.  Jasim Idan Barrak

 The research aims to measure the relationship between information asymmetry and the quality of corporate governance in the context  of the voluntary disclosure in the Iraq Stock Exchange for the period (2012-2021), and the research variables were measured quantitatively depending on the financial reports published in the Iraq Stock Exchange for Iraqi private banks, as well To carry out statistical tests represented in simple linear regression, correlation coefficient, (T) test, and (F) test, as well as the analysis path, by using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) program and the analysis program (AMOS), and the most important The finding of the research mechanism is that the Iraqi banks, the research sample, have an acceptable commitment to voluntary disclosure, and that this level is close among the banks, the research sample, and that the information asymmetry in the banks, the research sample, was somewhat uneven, and the level of information asymmetry was also low, and that the stock trading of the banks The research sample is fairly good, and the number of board members mediates the relationship between information asymmetry and investment decisions, meaning that the availability of a sufficient number of board members will lead to a reduction in information asymmetry and thus work to increase investment in banks. Institutional mediates the relationship between information asymmetry and investment decisions. This indicates that institutional ownership, if available among the owners of banks, would affect the reduction of information asymmetry and thus increase the investment decisions of current and prospective shareholders. Through the results of the research, the research recommends the need to study Decision-making for current and prospective shareholders by the board of directors and executive management in commercial banks for the purpose of developing the necessary solutions to support investors’ confidence in the information reflected in the financial reports. Commercial banks should also search for ways to reduce information asymmetry between the parties related to banks by imposing control. Strict by the board of directors or the executive management’s commitment to voluntary disclosure more broadly, and attention should be paid to the impact relationship between information asymmetry and voluntary disclosure because of its role in enhancing confidence in accounting information, and commercial banks should pay attention to institutional ownership because of its impact relationship with non-compliance. Information asymmetry and its reflection on supporting investor confidence, the research sample banks should exert more importance in reducing information asymmetry by realizing the role played by banks that adopt a policy of voluntary disclosure at a high level and its reflection on the performance of banks, which in turn is reflected in investment decisions.