International Journal of Accounting and Financial Reporting ISSN 2162-3082 2018, Vol. 8, No. 3 http://ijafr.macrothink.org 1 Corporate Disclosure: A Synthesis of Literature Kennedy Prince Modugu, Ph.D. College of Business Higher Colleges of Technology, United Arab Emirates E-mail: princekenny2010@gmail.com Received: August 29, 2017 Accepted: September 11, 2017 Published: July 24, 2018 doi:10.5296/ijafr.v8i3.11773 URL: https://doi.org/10.5296/ijafr.v8i3.11773 Abstract This study is a compendium of the existing literature on corporate disclosure with a view to identifying the gaps to which future empirical inquiry may be directed. The paper discusses the concept of disclosure as canvassed by different authors. This review is initiated with a working definition of disclosure. This was followed by a series of reviews of studies in developed countries. Added to this, are developing countries‟ studies. The review showed that the influencers of corporate disclosure differ between developed and developing countries on the one hand, and within both economies on the other hand. The review revealed mixed findings on the determinants of corporate disclosure. This suggests that the factors determining corporate disclosure are not fixed, and vary from one jurisdiction to another. The paper also x-rays a litany of theories of corporate disclosure research and suggests a unified theory that amalgamates the existing theories; and that which will be amenable to the ever-changing reporting environment. Keywords: Corporate disclosure, Synthesis, Positive accounting, Agency, Stakeholders 1. Introduction The economic contract between resource-owners and resource-managers provides that the latter should periodically be informed of the outcome of the activities of the former. This is done through several media, namely annual reports and accounts (as the principal window), bi-annual reports, monthly reports, newsletters and bulletins, internet reporting, as well as other pronouncement at conferences, seminars and symposia. Despite the satisfaction of this obligation by corporate managements, recent noisome events in some major companies across the globe suggest that a lot is left undone in corporate reporting. I am forced to ask whether corporate reporting simply connote the churning out of the mass volume of information that tells very little about the operations of a corporate entity or the fair