Purpose: to investigate the key drivers and level of voluntary disclosures in biotechnology company annual reports. Methodology/Approach: using an intellectual capital disclosure index score voluntary disclosures in a large sample of listed biotechnology companies, and test the relationship between voluntary disclosures of intangible firm value with traditional Agency Theory variables. The relationships were tested statistically using correlation and multipleregression analysis. Findings: The key drivers of voluntary intellectual capital disclosures were the level of board independence, firm age, level of leverage and firm size. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that board independence, leverage and size had a significant relationship with the level of voluntary intellectual capital disclosure. Separate regression controlling for large-sized and small-sized firms demonstrated that voluntary intellectual capital disclosure was only driven by board independence and the levels of firm leverage in large firms. The small firms did not demonstrate this relationship. Research limitations/implications: Implications of this research are that smaller biotechnology companies' managers are not motivated by external debt-holder demands to make voluntary disclosures about intangible firm-value. In addition large biotechnology companies, better able to establish independent board oversight, appear more effective at driving voluntary intellectual capital disclosures; perhaps in response to greater demand by owners. A limitation of this study is its Australian context and that data is analysed only from 2005 financial year annual reports. Originality/value: To our knowledge this is an original paper whose findings have valuable implications for managing intellectual capital at the firm level. We clearly demonstrate that disclosures about intangible firm value is being driven by traditional Agency Theory Variables and more contemporary corporate governance issues, and that Drivers of Voluntary Intellectual Capital Disclosure in Listed Biotechnology Companies 1-Research Paper 3 small firms may be ignoring the importance of disclosing more about their intellectual capital.

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The move towards international harmonisation of accounting standards has dominated the work programme of the Australian Accounting Standards Board in the past two years. Some have expressed concern that Australia is moving too quickly towards harmonisation when compared to other countries. This paper examines the extent of compliance with International Accounting Standards (IAS) in six countries in the Asia-Pacific region. By providing evidence as to the level of compliance with IAS in financial statements, the paper also indicates the extent of de-facto harmony. The paper also examines various determinants of compliance with IAS and finds that country of location remains the clear driving force.

This study provides insights on the Financial Risk Management Disclosure (FRMD) patterns of Australian listed resource companies for the 2002-2006 period leading up to and immediately following adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Regression analysis demonstrates that corporate governance and capital raisings of firms are significant and positively associated with FRMD patterns. In contrast, overseas stock exchange listing of firms is significantly negatively associated with FRMD patterns. The findings show that the introduction of IFRS changes corporation's willingness to communicate risk information. Copyright (c) The Authors. Journal compilation (c) 2009 AFAANZ.