The Controlling Shareholders, Disclosure and Firm Value: An Analysis of Taiwanese Firms

Abstract

This study examines 417 non-financial publicly listed firms in Taiwan, fmding that the firm value is positively related to both “excess control” of controlling shareholders and the firm's disclosure transparency. The results suggest disclosure requirements and the incentive of shareholders could enhance the firm value by mitigating agency problems. However, the study finds that only firms with superior disclosure and greater excess control of shareholders could outperform their industry peers. Firms with inferior disclosure and weaker excess control of shareholders thus performed the worst. The implication is that the incentive of large shareholders and disclosure requirements are complementary mechanisms, both necessary to assure good corporate governance.