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This study has investigated mandatory disclosure requirements of financial instruments. A first-time adoption compliance review has been undertaken for the FTSE 100 non-financial IFRS 7 compliant firms. In contrast to prior studies, the results reveal that disclosure levels were high, and in some cases firms produce more disclosure than mandatorily required. As recent reviews of disclosure have shown, extant research lacks a coherent definition of quality that links to the original motivations for financial reporting. An argument has been built for adopting compliance levels as an appropriate proxy for the quality of disclosure. This study tests this definition via key stakeholders’ views both ex-ante and ex-post. A combination of content analysis of comment letters, survey data and semi-structured interviews was adopted. Though there is some evidence to the contrary, by and large, it seems that this definition of quality carries a level of integrity. Following this, a determinants study was undertaken investigating what factors drove the quality and quantity of these disclosures. It was found that higher levels of visibility (news stories versus analysts following), a share issue during the year and a higher volume of derivative assets held were statistically significant to quality. Those determinants significant to quantity were lower levels of managerial ownership and higher levels of news stories versus analyst following. However, of greater interest was the finding that the determinants of the quantity of disclosures were different to quality – and often in opposition. Thus, for the first time in a mandatory reporting environment, the findings cast doubt over the appropriateness of researchers adopting quantity as a proxy for quality. Finally, prior literature has shown that accounting standards requirements can be biased towards certain user groups as a result of the lobbying process. If this was the case for IFRS 7 then the compliance results presented could be unfairly skewed as proposals might be adopted to benefit those stronger lobbyists. It is pleasing to note that this study found that the IASB appears to have approached all groups’ responses fairly and appropriately. However, it should be noted that the evidence suggests that if the geographical origin of a response was from either the UK or from outside of the remaining countries of Europe and the US there was a significantly lower chance of the proposed amendment(s) being accepted. This study contributes to the literature by presenting results from a first full review of financial instruments reporting under IFRS 7, and by providing evidence that full, partial, non- and over-compliance are most likely explained by legitimacy theory, impression management and proprietary costs theory. In addition, this is the first study to review key stakeholders’ attitudes towards the financial instruments reporting requirements, thus helping to justify using the level of compliance as an appropriate measure of quality, whilst providing a cautionary conclusion about the possible inappropriateness of adopting quantity as a proxy.

This thesis adds to the ongoing accounting and financial literature by investigating the determinants and economic effects of corporate disclosure in a low disclosure environment – the two Chinese stock markets.  It examines two research questions: whether the imposition of exogenously-imported corporate governance legislation and international accounting standards (IAS) lead to a fundamental improvement of corporate disclosure practices; and the estimation risk perspective of whether increased corporate disclosure results in a lower cost of equity capital through reducing the risk premiums on information uncertainty on firm-special characteristics. Results for the first question demonstrate that, while corporate disclosure is increased over time, neither advanced corporate governance mechanisms nor the IAS facilitate material improvement in voluntary disclosure.  Instead, the ownership structure, especially foreign-ownership, seems to play a more essential role in determining companies’ disclosure practices. In regards to the second research question, this thesis shows stock prices of listed Chinese companies are largely informational inefficient, and that, under this circumstance, the level of corporate disclosure is strongly negatively associated with stock return volatilities.  This negative association appears to result from the high-margin decrease in information asymmetry on firm-special characteristics when listed companies increase mandatory disclosure.  This finding therefore provides further country-level evidence in support of the view that the extent of negative association between corporate disclosure and the cost of equity capital is primarily dependent upon the features of stock markets and the disclosure environment in different nations. This thesis concludes with recommendations for the Chinese government and the market regulator, the China Securities Regulation Committee (CSRC), to fundamentally improve current political and legal systems and to effectively enforce the mandatory disclosure legislation.

As more patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are living into adulthood, patients may need to disclose their CF status to others, such as in romantic or professional settings. Patients who choose not to disclose their CF status may be limited in their closeness with others, which may negatively affect their psychological functioning and health-related quality of life. Few studies, however, have examined disclosure in CF, and currently no validated measures of CF disclosure exist. The purpose of this study was to explore CF disclosure in adults and validate a new assessment of CF disclosure, the Cystic Fibrosis Disclosure Scale (CFDS). Results were consistent with prior research in disclosure in CF, with participants disclosing most often to close others and less often at school or in the workplace. Disclosure to close and casual friends was consistently associated with better psychosocial functioning. Factor analyses determined the CFDS was valid and that all questions should be retained. The Count Group subscale emerged as the “best” subscale grouping and coding method. This study contributed to the literature by serving as the first validation study of a questionnaire of disclosure in CF. Additionally, as disclosure in CF is a new emerging area, this study added information to the sparse literature on this issue. The CFDS as it exists now gathers important research and clinical information from adults with CF, and should be examined further with a larger sample size and more descriptive information.

Faculty of Humanities School of Human and Community Development 0316309j / This study sought to explore the process of disclosure among a group black South African homosexuals. Specifically, the study investigated the factors that inhibit and/or facilitate disclosure, how obstacles to disclosure are dealt with, as well as consequences of disclosure. Snowballing sampling method was used to select appropriate participants. A sample was drawn from ACTIVATE; a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Club from University of the Witwatersrand. The sample comprised of six male participants, between the ages of eighteen (18) and twenty-five (25), who are living openly, either partially or fully, as homosexuals. Data was gathered using a semi-structured interview schedule. The face-to-face individual interviews were audio taped. The interviews were transcribed and data was analysed using the thematic content analysis method. The results of the study indicated that disclosure is a significant process that most homosexuals are bound to face or at least consider. Among the factors identified as playing a role in facilitating disclosure are self-acceptance and identification of self with the homosexual identity. Acceptance by family and society also proved to be important in facilitating the process of disclosure. Inability to acceptance one’s sexual orientation and lack of social support are among the factors that tend to hamper the process of disclosure. Difficulties faced with during the process of disclosure include rejection by family and society which is accompanied by discrimination based on sexual orientation. As much as disclosure brings about a sense of relief and the freedom to express one’s sexuality, it can also bring about feelings of ambivalence. An individual has to now reject the heterosexual orientation which is considered “normal” to pursue a homosexual identity that corresponds with one’s feelings but is considered “immoral”. Disclosure is a difficult process and individuals who wish to disclose often anticipate negative responses from their next of kin and society. Subsequently, it becomes undesirable to disclose under such circumstances. If society were more accepting towards homosexuality, homosexuals would be encouraged to disclose their sexual orientation without the fear of being rejected and discriminated against.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:26:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Elizabeth Alves Gomes.pdf: 832335 bytes, checksum: 02cf50e8e482436247cda97178274bc8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-03-08 / The main aim of this study was to examine the association between disclosure and cost of capital for Brazilian companies. In order to attain the general aim three specific objectives were posed: evaluating methodology for testing the association between disclosure and capital cost; analyzing capital cost models that might be adopted for use in the Brazilian market; and examining the effects of the amount and quality of information disclosed by Brazilian companies in their annual shareholder reports. The Ordinary Least Squares Method was used to test the correlation between disclosure and cost of capital. Cost of capital was used as dependent variable; explanatory variables analyzed were 3 disclosure indexes and 9 indicating size, risk, and variance in earnings. Three models were used to calculate capital cost: Capital Asset Pricing, Discounted Dividends, and Ohlson-Juettner. Testing was based on two non-probabilistic samples of company stock traded on the São Paulo Stock Exchange. The first sample comprised 131 companies from different segments; the second consisted of companies submitting reports and competing for the 6th Brazilian Publicly Traded Companies Association (local acronym ABRASCA) awards in 2003. The results of this study showed that the model chosen for calculating capital cost affects the results obtained in empirical tests, and that variable disclosure may be significant in one model and not in another. These results match data obtained by Botosan (1997). Two of the disclosure indexes, IDISCABR (used for the ABRASCA award) and INNM (index representing companies adhering to the New Market s differentiated Corporate Governance requirements) differed at 5% significance level, showing that companies in the ABRASCA sample benefited from lower costs by using more stringent disclosure levels. Testing based on the overall sample of 131 companies provided evidence showing that correlations between disclosure and cost-of-capital are sensitive to sample heterogeneity, as Botosan (1997) explained in his groundbreaking study. The main contributions of this study relate to precautions researchers must take when selecting methods of calculating cost of capital; the possibility of using different disclosure indexes to test cost-of-capital and disclosure empirically in the Brazilian market; and evidence that the sample of 37 companies participating in the ABRASCA awards reduced their cost-of-capital through more transparent policies. Although obtained from a small sample, this result may encourage other Brazilian companies in their decision making and instigate further research on the theme. / O presente trabalho de pesquisa teve por objetivo principal estudar a associação existente entre disclosure e custo de capital próprio das empresas brasileiras. Para atingir o objetivo principal foram traçados três objetivos específicos: avaliar uma metodologia disponível para testar a associação entre disclosure e custo de capital, analisar quais modelos de custo de capital poderiam ser adotados para utilização no mercado brasileiro e examinar os efeitos da quantidade e da qualidade da informação apresentada pelas empresas brasileiras no relatório anual publicado para os acionistas. A metodologia estabelecida para testar a associação entre disclosure e custo de capital foi o Método dos Mínimos Quadrados Ordinários. Como variável dependente foi adotado o custo de capital e como variáveis explicativas foram analisados três índices de disclosure e 9 variáveis indicativas de tamanho, risco e variação nos resultados. Foram adotados três modelos para cálculo do custo de capital: o Modelo de Precificação de Ativos de Capital (CAPM), o de Dividendos Descontados (MDD) e o de Ohlson e Juettner. Os testes foram efetuados com duas amostras não probabilísticas com empresas com ações negociadas na Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo. A primeira amostra contou com 131 empresas de diversos segmentos e a segunda com as empresas que apresentaram relatório para concorrer às premiações do 6º. Prêmio ABRASCA do ano de 2003. Os resultados desta pesquisa evidenciaram que o modelo escolhido para cálculo do custo de capital interfere nos resultados obtidos nos testes empíricos, e que a variável disclosure pode se apresentar significativa em um modelo e não significativa em outro. Esses resultados estão em concordância com os dados obtidos por Botosan (1997). Dois dos índices de disclosure, o IDISCABR, índice de pontuação da premiação ABRASCA, e o INNM, índice representativo das empresas que aderiram a níveis diferenciados de Governança Corporativa do Novo Mercado, mostraram-se significativos a 5%, evidenciando que as empresas da amostra ABRASCA se beneficiaram de custos menores pela adoção de níveis diferenciados de disclosure. Os testes com a amostra Geral de 131 empresas permitiram obter evidência de que os testes entre disclosure e custo de capital são sensíveis à heterogeneidade da amostra, conforme esclareceu Botosan (1997) em seu trabalho pioneiro. As principais contribuições deste estudo referem-se aos cuidados que o pesquisador deve observar para escolher o modelo para cálculo do custo de capital, a possibilidade de se estabelecerem diferentes índices de disclosure para testar empiricamente custo de capital e disclosure no mercado brasileiro, e a evidência de que uma amostra de 37 empresas participantes do prêmio ABRASCA obtiveram redução em seus custos de capital pela adoção de políticas mais transparentes. Este resultado, apesar de obtido para uma pequena amostra, serve de incentivo para a tomada de decisão de outras empresas brasileiras e para que novas pesquisas sejam elaboradas com relação ao tema.

A thesis submitted to the School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg, South Africa 2017. / Introduction: As Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission and HIV treatment programmes have scaled-up, more women are being kept alive and fewer children are infected with HIV. One of the challenges that HIV-infected women face is how to disclose their own HIV status to their children. The disclosure literature suggests that the main reason for women’s HIV-disclosure is to obtain social support, including financial, practical and emotional assistance, to help women to manage their HIV infection. HIV-related stigma, lack of knowledge of how to disclose, uncertainty about a child’s reaction to disclosure, and a perception that a child lacks the developmental capacity to handle HIV-disclosure are factors that affect disclosure decisions. HIV-disclosure is considered a critical element in strengthening the capacity of families in the continuum of HIV care. In 2011, the World Health Organization published guidelines for parental HIV-disclosure to children. These guidelines recommended full disclosure to primary school-aged children (from 6 years up to 12 years) and partial disclosure to younger children. Globally, but particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, HIV-disclosure interventions are lacking. The Amagugu maternal HIV-disclosure intervention was developed, piloted and evaluated between 2010 and 2012 to assist mothers to disclose their HIV status to their HIV-uninfected children. The intervention enrolled 281 mothers and their primary school-aged HIV-uninfected children, and aimed to increase maternal capacity to disclose their HIV status. This was implemented through six lay counsellor- led, home-based, sessions, including a health intervention at a primary health care clinic. The Amagugu intervention was acceptable and feasible in a high HIV prevalence, resource-poor, rural setting, and increased maternal HIV-disclosure to primary school-aged HIV-uninfected children. Methods: This PhD study was nested within the Amagugu study and was conducted at the Africa Centre for Population Health, now the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), in the Hlabisa sub-district of Umkhanyakude, northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The aim of this PhD was to explore, in more depth, the experiences of women enrolled in the Amagugu intervention, including their experiences of the health intervention. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The sample for the PhD study comprised three groups: 1) all mothers from the Amagugu study (N=281); 2) a sub-sample of mothers from the Amagugu study (N=20) and 3) health care staff employed in the clinics where the Amagugu study took place (N=87). The quantitative data used in the PhD study xvi were collected at different time points from the 281 women, using questionnaires specifically designed for the Amagugu study, including baseline and post-disclosure questionnaires. Data on the clinic experiences were collected from the 281 mothers using semi-structured questionnaires administered after the health intervention. Semi-structured questionnaires, specifically designed for this PhD study, were administered to the clinic staff during the health intervention. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires with the clinic staff (N=87), nine focus groups with clinic staff after the health intervention, and in-depth and semi-structured interviews with the sub-sample of women (N=20) who were enrolled after the Amagugu intervention had been completed. The University of KwaZulu-Natal Biomedical Research Ethics Committee (BREC Ref: BF 144/010) and the University of Witwatersrand Human Research Ethics Committee (Ref: R14/49) granted ethical approval for the PhD study. Results: The results reported in this PhD are drawn from four papers written during the course of this PhD, (three published papers and one paper accepted for publication). The results have been integrated from the data collected from the women and health care staff that were used for the PhD, and a literature review that resulted in a publication. The three main themes that emerged from the PhD are: 1. HIV-related stigma and HIV-disclosure: The literature review revealed that fear of HIV-related stigma was the most common reason for non-HIV-disclosure of HIV to both adults and children. In the sub-sample of 20 women, only two women had not disclosed to other adults due to fear of HIV-related stigma prior to the intervention. Those who had disclosed to only some, but not all other adults in their close social networks, reported HIV-related stigma at household (6/18), community (2/18) and clinic levels (1/18). Although HIV-related stigma was reported, there was also a normalisation of HIV and antiretroviral therapy (ART) in some communities due to the high social exposure to HIV in the study area. Qualitative data from the focus groups with clinic staff, and interviews with the sub-sample of 20 women, recognised that children’s exposure to HIV education has played a role in the normalisation of HIV. 2. HIV-disclosure and family strengthening: The majority of women in the sub-sample had disclosed their HIV status to other adults including their partners, friends and xvii other relatives, prior to the Amagugu intervention. Most women reported living positively with HIV and receiving necessary support from those to whom they had disclosed. Of those women who had disclosed to partners, about half had disclosed to their partners first before disclosing to any other adults. Their partners had mixed reactions to disclosure but were overall supportive. Whilst women’s original fear of disclosing their HIV status to their children had been that they would be stigmatised by their children, on the contrary, most children were supportive. The majority of women in the sub-sample expressed that they would advise other women in similar circumstances to disclose their HIV status to their children for social support, because disclosure increased family cohesion and improved antiretroviral therapy adherence. The health staff echoed the same sentiments regarding social support and family cohesion in the focus groups. 3. HIV-disclosure and access and adherence to HIV treatment: The interviews with the sub-sample of 20 women, and the semi-structured questionnaires and focus groups with 87 clinic staff, all revealed that participants agreed that whilst maternal HIVdisclosure was challenging, it was necessary for women to obtain social support from their children. Health care staff also agreed that maternal HIV-disclosure to their children was instrumental in supporting HIV-infected women to access and adhere to their HIV treatment. The clinic staff recognised the role they could play in health promotion and increasing opportunities for children to participate in activities at health facilities, but acknowledged that they needed support to address logistical constraints that hinder child-friendliness in health facilities, including heavy workloads, poor clinic infrastructure and staff shortages. The health intervention provided clinic staff with child-friendliness training and materials that were found to be acceptable and feasible, and yielded encouraging results. Discussion: This study contributes to the literature about the experiences of African, HIVinfected, rural women with HIV-uninfected children living in an ART-era. In particular the experiences of women who have participated in a maternal HIV disclosure intervention in Africa have not been explored previously. The findings of this work indicate that a decade after being diagnosed with HIV, women in this resource-poor setting are generally living positively with HIV. However, HIV-disclosure to other adults does not necessarily translate xviii to disclosure to children, and parents require specific interventions to assist them with this, and to understand the development and level of understanding of their children. Conclusion: Despite concerns raised by women prior to the intervention, including fear of HIV-related stigma and a perception that children lacked the developmental capacity to grasp knowledge about maternal HIV status, the women in this study reported no regrets in disclosing their status to children. They also reported receiving support from their children, which in turn, assisted them with adherence to their own HIV treatment. Future studies could test the same Amagugu intervention materials in a group of HIV-infected women with uninfected children not previously involved in research to explore whether similar results are found. / MT2017

I use a quasi-exogeneous shock to information asymmetry among shareholders to evaluate the effect of information asymmetry on corporate disclosure. In the post-Regulation FD period, the merger between a shareholder and a lender of the same firm provides a shock to the information asymmetry among equity investors, because Regulation FD applies to shareholders but not lenders. After the merger, the shareholder gains access to the firm-specific private information held by the lender. I first provide evidence that information asymmetry among shareholders increases after the shareholder-lender mergers. I then use a difference-in-differences research design to show that after shareholder-lender merger transactions, firms issue more quarterly forecasts (including earnings, sales, capital expenditure, EBITDA, and gross margin), and the quarterly earnings forecasts are more precise. This study provides direct empirical evidence that information asymmetry among investors affects corporate disclosure.

According to the interpersonal process model, interactions characterized by self-disclosure and empathic responding foster emotional intimacy between the two participating individuals (Reis & Shaver, 1988). This study provided “insider” and “outsider” perspectives of this model, examining the relation between perceived and observed behaviors in couple interactions and their relative contributions to the development of intimate feelings. The sample consisted of 102 community couples who completed measures of intimacy after engaging in videotaped discussions about relationship injuries that occurred both within and outside of the relationship. Both self-report and observational measures were used to assess disclosure and empathic responding during these discussions. There was significant agreement between self- and observer-report of men’s behavior, between self- and observer-report of women’s male partner’s behavior, and between partners’ report of disclosure and empathic responding. There was mixed support for global distress and attachment style as predictors of differences between self- and observer-report. Whereas an earlier study using observational measures found gender differences in the effect of self-disclosure and empathic responding on intimacy (Mitchell et al., 2008), in this study self-report measures from the same sample indicated that perception of both an individual’s own and his or her partner’s disclosure and empathic responding predicted intimacy for both men and women. Observational measures provided incremental validity relative to self-report measures in predicting intimacy. These findings suggest that targeting certain personal and relational characteristics may be helpful in treating intimacy deficits and also indicate that self-report and observational measures provide unique information about the influence of behaviors on the development of intimate feelings in couple relationships.

Confidentiality as a group norm and how it affected self-disclosures in personal growth groups were compared between control and treated groups. The sample consisted of 53 students enrolled in a graduate level group counseling course. The students were randomly assigned to six groups: three control and three experimental groups. Each group had two facilitators. The groups all met in the same place, at the same time and observed the same protocols. The process group model was followed. This study had four hypotheses and three main objectives: first, to determine what effect establishing confidentiality as a norm had on a participant's self-disclosures, second, to determine if the group members believed that the norm of confidentiality would be breached by either the group facilitators or the group members; and, finally, to examine the attitudes and opinions of control and treated group members towards the belief that confidentiality as a group norm would promote more self-disclosures in personal growth groups. The qualitative and quantative data revealed that confidentiality as a norm did not produce significantly greater self-disclosures. Group members generally believed that confidentiality among members would be observed and members had a high belief that their group facilitators would not violate their stated ethical standards. There was no significant difference between control and treated groups in their belief that confidentiality as a norm was important for self-disclosures to occur. / Graduation date: 1986