Assessing the Decision Usefulness of Integrated Reports of Namibian Listed Companies

Abstract

The study evaluates the decision usefulness of integrated reports by listed Namibian companies using specially designed control checklists. A manual content analysis of the sampled 2018–2019 integrated reports was performed, using the control checklists for the decision usefulness’ qualitative characteristics. The study finds that the integrated reports produced in Namibia are generally decision useful, though the reports’ usefulness varies from company and industry. The study’s findings have policy implications, such as the need to prepare integrated reports for decision-making. The findings also provide detailed insights into the decision usefulness and quality of the Namibian listed companies’ integrated reports and can serve as feedback for companies, especially the report preparers. This study has ramifications for company leadership (e.g., financial managers, boards) and regulators, as it urges businesses to produce decision-useful annual integrated reports if they want their transparency disclosures to be viewed as “informative” by their significant stakeholders, thus improving the decision usefulness of their corporate reports.