UNIVERSITY OF BASRAH INVESTIGATES THE IMPACT OF PEER PRESSURE ON MANDATORY AND VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE

A PhD. dissertation at the College of Administration and Economics, Department of Accounting, examined the impact of peer pressure on mandatory and voluntary disclosure, an analytical study of companies listed on the financial markets of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The dissertation, presented by student Hassan Abdul-Ridha Hassan, aimed to examine the impact of peer pressure on mandatory and voluntary disclosure. Specifically, the impact of the level, content, and timing of mandatory and voluntary disclosure by peer companies on the level, content, and timing of mandatory and voluntary disclosure by companies in other sectors. To achieve these objectives, data was collected from the annual reports of companies listed on the financial markets of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, for the period 2013-2022. A checklist issued by the Big Four audit firms was adopted to examine the level of mandatory disclosure. 
The study concluded that the clear and direct impact of peer companies' disclosure on the disclosure behavior of other companies within the same sector does not occur in isolation from the competitive environment in which they operate.
The study found that companies do not make their disclosure decisions in isolation from the competitive environment in which they operate, but rather are significantly influenced by the disclosure practices of their peers, particularly in terms of the level of disclosure provided, the timing of disclosure, and the tone used in the narrative disclosure, whether optimistic or pessimistic.