Opening the Saudi Arabian stock market: Its impact on information disclosure

Download This Article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Opening the stock market has several impacts on companies and the economic status of a country (Ilhan, 2019). The Saudi market is considered as a big opportunity for foreign investors, as it is among the largest economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions (Elimam, 2017). This study aims to investigate the effect of the liberalization of the stock market in Saudi Arabia on the disclosure of information. To do this, information was gathered through secondary data collection. Empirical studies and existing data collected by other parties were critically analysed to fulfill the research objectives and come up with conclusions. In particular, they were examined through content analysis. Liberalizing the Saudi stock market seemed to improve the disclosure of information. However, it has been found that there are several variations in disclosure of information levels between companies based on the Saudi Arabian Capital Market Authority (CMA) codes. These variations mainly depend on company type, code, and ownership.

Keywords: Stock Market Liberalization, Information Disclosure, Liberalization Effect, Disclosure Effect

Authors’ individual contribution: The Author is responsible for all the contributions to the paper according to CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) standards.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge the funding received for my Master’s degree from the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission (SACM). We want also to express our sincerest appreciation to my supervisor, Kay Smith for her valuable notes on this research, her moral support, and encouragement.

JEL Classification: M48, G14, G32

Received: 27.06.2020
Accepted: 14.12.2020
Published online: 16.12.2020

How to cite this paper: Alajmi, A. (2020). Opening the Saudi Arabian stock market: Its impact on information disclosure. Corporate Governance and Sustainability Review, 4(2), 102-126. https://doi.org/10.22495/cgsrv4i2p10