Risk Reporting During a Crisis: Evidence from the Egyptian Capital Market

Research purpose: This paper examines corporate risk disclosure (CRD) practices and determinants in the annual reports of Egyptian listed companies during the 2011 political crisis (uprising) in Egypt.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Content analysis of the annual reports of a sample of nonfinancial listed companies representing different industry sectors was conducted to investigate attributes and factors underlying their risk disclosures.

Findings: The findings demonstrate that companies disclosed more monetary, future and good risk information. The results show a positive and significant relationship between company size and the level of CRD, a positive but insignificant relationship between the extent of CRD and some company-specific characteristics: industry type, profitability and cross-listing, and a negative and insignificant relationship between corporate reserves and the level of CRD.

Research Limitations/Implications: A larger sample size would be needed for greater generalization of the findings. This study extends the literature on CRD by examining CRD practices at a time of current and ongoing crisis. However, more research is needed to examine variations in CRD practices before and after the 2011 political crisis.

Practical Implications: The results could be used by information users, companies and the capital market authority to inform policy-making and tighten regulations to improve CRD. Recommendations are made for improving the quality and informativeness of risk information.

Originality/Value: It is important to investigate CRD practices, considering the dearth of research, particularly in emerging capital markets and during crises, when companies are exposed to more, especially uncontrollable, risks. This study fills a void in literature by examining CRD practices during the 2011 political crisis in Egypt.