Political Uncertainty and Risk Reporting: Evidence from Egypt

Corporate risk disclosure (CRD) has recently gained considerable attention particularly after the corporate failures and accounting scandals in the US in 2000 and the global financial crisis of 2007-09. This study seeks to explore the nature of risk information provided by Egyptian listed companies within their annual reports during the 2011 Egyptian revolution and political uncertainty. The study also investigates the determinants of risk disclosure through examining the relationship between the level of CRD and company-specific characteristics, namely company size, industry type, profitability, cross-listing and amount of reserves. The study found that companies tend to disclose more monetary, future and good information on the risks they are exposed to. The results also show a positive and significant relationship between company size and the level of CRD. On the other hand, the findings demonstrate that there is a positive but insignificant relationship between the extent of CRD and the industry type, profitability and cross-listing. Moreover, the study found a negative and insignificant relationship between corporate reserves and the level of CRD.