Impact of family ownership and board gender diversity on financial disclosure: evidence from an emerging country

The study demonstrates the influence of family ownership and board gender diversity on the extent of firms' voluntary financial disclosures in the case of a developing country. Employing data of 181 Pakistani firms for the period 2011-2018, our results show that family ownership is negatively associated with voluntary financial disclosure. Furthermore, the study also shows that having independent members on corporate boards exerts a positive effect on financial disclosures among family-owned firms and it is further enhanced if there is a significant presence of women directors as independent directors. Our findings persist after employing a battery of robustness tests. Our findings highlight valuable empirical directions for corporate decision makers and policymakers regarding the significance of board gender diversity and voluntary financial disclosure as monitoring mechanisms for lowering the effects of asymmetric information and problems of agency.