Abstract
This thesis consists of three essays analysing corporate governance (CG) reforms in emerging economies, with a particular focus on Oman. The three essays focus on three closely related CG topics that quantitatively examine the extent to which Omani CG reforms have been effective in enhancing three main corporate policy decisions. In brief, given the dearth of empirical evidence on the nature of CG’s influence on these three corporate policy decisions in emerging economies in particular, this thesis seeks to contribute to the literature by providing new insights with specific focus on CG reforms that have been pursued in Oman. Specifically, this thesis contributes to the limited, but steadily growing body of literature on the effectiveness of CG mechanisms in influencing a number of crucial managerial decisions, including voluntary disclosure, financing and earnings management, in emerging economies. The reported empirical findings of the three essays are fairly robust across a number of econometric models and estimations that take into account alternative variables and potential endogeneity problems. The conclusions derived from these findings suggest policy implications and recommendations for policy makers such Muscat Securities Market and Capital Market Authority. Emerging countries’ regulatory authorities in general and Omani regulators in particular can benefit from this study in further reforming their regulations and suggesting CG recommendations that improve the quality of financial information