The determinants of reserves disclosure in the extractive industries: evidence from Australian firms Grantley Taylor a , Grant Richardson b , Greg Tower a , Phil Hancock c a Accounting Discipline, School of Accounting, Curtin University, Perth 6102, WA, Australia b Accounting Discipline, Discipline of Accounting and Information Systems, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, SA, Australia c Accounting Discipline, School of Accounting and Finance, University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, WA, Australia Abstract This paper examines the determinants of reserves disclosure (RD) in the Austra- lian extractive industries. Our regression results indicate that RD are positively associated with variables relating to corporate governance, foreign listing, exis- tence of reserves in foreign jurisdictions, pledging of reserves in debt covenants, leverage and external (Big 4) auditor, after controlling for firm size, subindustry, shareholder concentration and development/production stage. Additional regres- sion testing shows that the existence of reserves in foreign jurisdictions is the most important determinant of RD in Australia. This paper contributes to a bet- ter understanding of the extent and rationale behind the RD practices of Austra- lian resource firms. Key words: Mineral and petroleum reserves; Disclosure; Accounting estimates; Accounting setting JEL classification: M41 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-629X.2011.00433.x 1. Introduction The extractive mining and petroleum subindustries are of major global eco- nomic importance. A number of large diversified multinational mining and petroleum firms, including BHP Billiton Ltd., Rio Tinto Ltd., Newcrest Min- ing Ltd., Woodside Energy Ltd. and Alumina Ltd., are listed on the Austra- lian Stock Exchange (ASX) and other stock exchanges globally. In December 2009, the resources sector accounted for approximately 33 per cent of the total ASX domestic market capitalisation and 44 per cent of listed firms with Received 18 January 2011; accepted 30 June 2011 by Steven Cahan (Deputy Editor). Ó 2011 The Authors Accounting and Finance Ó 2011 AFAANZ Accounting and Finance 52 (2012 Suppl.) 373–402