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Corporate governance in general has become the new crucible in which corporations are tested and declared worthy of the trust of international investors. In an age when countries compete in a global economy, compliance with corporate governance standards has become crucial to the survival of businesses. Especially in the Middle East, which is culturally and politically distant from the rest of the world, compliance with the internationally accepted principles of corporate governance has become a challenge. This thesis aims to examine how a specific aspect of corporate governance—disclosure and transparency—is viewed and applied in the Saudi Arabian context. The results of this study are important primarily for Saudi Arabian businesses positioned to play a significant role in the global economy. The Saudi economy is one that has a number of industries such as the oil industry, which forms the largest contributor of the GDP of the nation; about 67%. Other companies in the country include those, which deal in consumer goods, the financial sector, the media, retail, telecommunications, technology, travel and leisure and telecommunications. The largest conglomerates are those that deal in the oil and gas industry. These companies could benefit greatly from the financial strength provided by international investments, the technical and strategic advantages offered by partnerships and joint ventures with foreign companies and the market leadership obtained by gaining the trust and confidence of consumers in the global market. Achieving these benefits becomes feasible only if Saudi firms can comply with the minimum disclosure and transparency requirements. The thesis employs critical and comparative analyses. It explores the academic literature on corporate disclosure and discusses the theories and principles espoused in the context of the Saudi Arabian legal and regulatory framework. Also discussed is the vital role of the Islamic principles in Sharia law, which forms the basis of the Saudi legal system. This study proposes corporate disclosure practices as the basis for comprehensive reform of Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority. The idea of corporations is alien to the Islamic law, but the idea of disclosure and transparency is a fundamental of the Islamic corporate governance. The disclosures that the organizations make have a target of attaining transparency and the promotion of market discipline concerning the same institutions. There is also the conceptualization of the fact that the effectiveness of the corporate organizations relies on how they complement the international standards. The study offers recommendations for increasing transparency, disclosure and the associated principles in the Saudi Arabian stock market and better protecting minority shareholders. These recommendations follow the United Kingdom’s corporate governance approach but reflect the interests, culture, treaties, Sharia principles and legislative reforms of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The thesis concludes by presenting the Saudi perspective on disclosure and transparency and its prospects for future development.

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Education in Saudi Arabia, including the education of children with special needs, is developing rapidly. However, children with emotional and behavioral disorders are neither consistently identified nor adequately served in Saudi Arabia although they are recognized as a distinct category of children who require special education services. The goal of this study was to examine the prevalence of emotional and behavioral disorders among children in Saudi Arabia to assess the need for intervention services to help those children reach their potential. The current research identified the types of behaviors that are most evident in the study sample. Also, the relationship between demographics and emotional and behavioral disorders is studied to identify possible predictors of disruptive forms of behavior. Parents of children aged 4-17 years in Saudi Arabia were surveyed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The findings of the study suggest that children with emotional and behavioral disorders in Saudi Arabia may account for 20% of the population of children between the ages of 4 and 17. The findings also revealed that over 20% of children in Saudi Arabia have difficulties in peer relationship and lack the necessary prosocial behaviors. The parent reporting, child gender, child education type, the geographical region, the father's education level, and the family's socioeconomic status were found to be statistically significant predictors of children's difficulties. However, these predictors were only able to explain a small portion of the difficulty scores.

Following the Aramco arbitration in 1963, Saudi Arabia’s approach to international arbitration resulted in a reputation for being an arbitration unfriendly country. This was addressed to some extent by the Arbitration Law of 1983. However, arbitration under the 1983 law remained dependent on the approval of the national courts. With too much scope for judicial intervention, the legal framework undermined the final and binding nature of the award, constrained party autonomy and created inefficient delays. In 2012, a new Law of Arbitration was passed to replace the 1983 law with a legal framework intending to meet the needs of international commercial parties. The question addressed by this thesis is whether the Arbitration Law of 2012 (SAL 2012) succeeds in creating a legal framework that is consistent with the three core principles that provide the foundations for modern international commercial arbitration. These core principles of party autonomy, procedural justice and cost-effectiveness were used as normative tools for assessing the provisions of the SAL 2012, which were based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. Relying on those principles, the SAL 2012 was subjected to a comparative legal analysis, using the Model Law and the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010 as comparators. Although hampered by a lack of available case law involving the SAL 2012, the analysis concluded that the SAL 2012 is a very significant development, providing a legal framework that facilitates arbitration, encourages a pro-arbitration culture and achieves a balance between the three core principles that should meet the needs of international commercial parties. Despite this, the law could be further reformed to make Saudi Arabia even more attractive as a location for arbitration. While acknowledging that future reform should be guided by empirical research on arbitration in Saudi Arabia, proposals were made for the further development of a pro-arbitration legal framework.

Following the discovery oil in Saudi Arabia, five year plans for economic development and modernization followed. Foreign workers were needed to provide skills required for the projects. Although most of the major projects have been completed, a high percentage of foreign workers continue to be employed in the kingdom.