Evaluation of information disclosure in annual reports of extractive industry companies

Abstract

Purpose. To assess how public annual reports of Russian extractive industry issuers comply with the requirements for disclosure of information. To examine how the introduction of Corporate Governance Code affects the level of information disclosure in extractive industries. Methodology. The paper presents the dictionary compiled by the authors using text analysis. The dictionary contains 186 terms which are to be disclosed in compliance with the requirements of Russian law. To evaluate the level of information disclosure in annual reports of extractive industry issuers, the authors calculate mandatory disclosure index. Findings. In this work, based on the standards for disclosing non-financial information in public annual reports of issuers, the following results were obtained: 1. On the basis of regulatory enactments, key terms are identified that are subject to mandatory disclosure in the annual report of the issuer. 2. A methodology is developed for assessing the level of disclosure of non-financial information on the selected blocks based on textual analysis. 3. Assessment of information disclosure in the public annual reports of mining companies in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation was carried out. The rating of information disclosure has been built. Originality. The authors are the first to assess mandatory disclosure in 120 public annual reports of 12 largest extractive industry companies whose shares were traded in Moscow Exchange from 2009 to 2018. On the basis of regulatory enactments, key terms are identified that are subject to mandatory disclosure in the annual report of the issuer. A methodology is developed for assessing the level of disclosure of non-financial information on the selected blocks based on textual analysis. The assessment of information disclosure in the public annual reports of mining companies in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation was carried out. Practical value. The created library in Package R enables to evaluate disclosure of information in public annual reports for any period.