Timeliness of corporate reporting in developing economies : evidence from Turkey

This paper empirically investigates the effects of both firm and audit -specific factors on the timeliness of financial reporting practices of firms listed on Borsa Istanbul using panel data methodology. This study employs a data set containing annual data from 150 non-financial Turkish listed companies in Borsa Istanbul between the years 2009 – 2014 to document their reporting behaviors. Descriptive analysis indicates that average reporting time is 69 days for the whole sample and 62 days and 74 days for individual and consolidated financial statements respectively. In line with prior studies, firm size, dividend per share, auditor type and good news (income), unsurprisingly, has a significant negative impact on timeliness behavior of sample firms. In addition, financial statement type (individual and consolidated financial statements) also has a significant effect on reporting time. On the other hand price to book ratio and leverage of firms have no significant impact as hypothesized. Examining the reporting behavior of emerging markets contribute to the literature through comparing with the developed countries and indicating the factors which have impact on timeliness. The outcomes of research also provide some insights to the interested parties and regulatory bodies to evaluate the preparation of financial statements in terms of timeliness.