Disclosure In Corporate Annual Reports Research Articles

A more subtle set of information in corporate annual reports for disadvantaged stakeholders

The traditional corporate annual report consists of two types of disclosures, that is, mandatory and contextual disclosures. The research problem focuses on the issue whether full disclosure in corporate annual reports could entail mandatory and contextual disclosures as well as a more subtle set of information for disadvantaged stakeholders. To solve the research problem, use was mainly made of a literature review dealing with certain aspects of decision-useful financial reporting. The literature review was complemented by exploratory empirical research. It was found that full disclosure in corporate annual reports could consist of mandatory and contextual disclosures as well as a more subtle set of information for disadvantaged stakeholders.

Financial Disclosure in Corporate Annual Reports: A Survey of Selected Literature

Financial Disclosure in Corporate Annual Reports: A Survey of Selected Literature

The voluntary CSR disclosure in corporate annual reports: Evidence from Australia

The relationship between credible Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) performance and desirable firm outcomes is well established in corporate governance literature. Over the past two decades in particular, there has been an increased recognition of this relationship in the business community and a concomitant increase in the quantity and detail of CSR activities being voluntarily reported by corporations has been observed. The rationale for the increasing levels of voluntary CSR reporting has been attributed to two main corporate strategies: to conform to the expectations of the society and to socially legitimise their operations to their salient stakeholder groups. Whilst there has been extensive academic interest in the concept of CSR, it has focused almost exclusively on normative definitions of the concept, and/or the presentation of empirical evidence that details „why corporations should report their CSR activities‟ and „what CSR activities they should report‟. What is lacking the literature, however, is a focus on the question as to „how do corporations strategically report their CSR activities?‟ We find that there is evidence to support a „Core/Periphery Model‟ of strategic CSR disclosure, which we feel provides a framework for predicting how corporations will voluntarily disclose their CSR performance given the issues, events and/or crises that affect their industry environments.

Social responsibility disclosure in corporate annual reports: evidence from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries

The objectives of this study are two-fold: 1) to evaluate social responsibility disclosure in the annual reports of manufacturing companies listed in the financial markets of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); 2) to examine the impact of a number of company variables on the extent of disclosure of this information. To achieve these objectives, a disclosure index was developed and applied to the annual reports of 60 manufacturing companies listed in the financial markets of the six countries included in the GCC. The results indicate that, on average, a company disclosed about 26% of the 45 items included in the index with only eight companies receiving disclosure scores of 40% or more. The results of regression analysis revealed that the size of the company and the auditing firm (international or local) are major variables in explaining variation in the extent of social responsibility disclosure between the sample companies.

Voluntary disclosure in Malaysian corporate annual reports: views of stakeholders

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify “qualitative” factors influencing voluntary information disclosure in annual reports.Design/methodology/approachSemi‐structured interviews were held with twenty‐seven market participants in Malaysia to elicit opinions on issues related to voluntary information disclosure.FindingsAnalysis of interview responses revealed that factors influencing voluntary disclosure in annual reports include the quality of management, gaining analyst trust and promoting company shares, good news versus bad news, the existence of other channel of communication, governance structure and market forces.Research limitations/implicationsSome of the “qualitative” factors identified do not appear to be totally independent from one another. Further work using factor analysis can be an avenue for future research on accounting disclosure.Practical implicationsThe results also suggest that some companies may be willing to share information to selected interested parties such as analysts during private meetings rather than in a public document such as the annual report. Thus disclosure in a corporate annual report should not be taken as a conclusive measure of a company's extent of voluntary reporting.Originality/valueThis paper is one of few studies which adopts an interview approach to identify “qualitative” factors influencing voluntary information disclosure in annual reports.

Disclosure Regulation and Accounting Education in the UK: Moving Towards Corporate Accountability 252 and Transparency

This paper was motivated by the current debate over the voluntary approach to environmental disclosures in corporate annual reports and assesses the effectiveness of the current policy of voluntarism in the UK. A brief review of the relevant theories, which explain why managers might choose to voluntarily provide environmental responsibility information to parties outside the organisation, is presented. With this background, the paper then questions whether the UK government’s faith in voluntarism and the pursuit of best practice will be enough to generate any real change in current environmental reporting practices. We argue that voluntarism is not effective and that there is an urgent need to introduce strict governmental regulations on the information that must be disclosed and the form in which it should be presented in corporate annual reports as have been established in several other countries. In addition, further consideration is needed to achieve reforms in academic accounting education in order to improve corporate accountability and transparency in corporate annual reports. Organisations need to respond to the growing demands for corporate social and environmental responsibility and this will be possible with the support of an accounting profession that takes a more proactive approach to engaging with stakeholders. For this to happen, we need to rethink the focus of accounting and business education. We must move away from the dominant model, which treats accountancy as a set of techniques, towards a more holistic approach which recognises the social and environmental impacts of organisational activity.

Employee‐related disclosures in corporate annual reports and the King II Report recommendations

The recommendations of the King II Report on corporate governance regarding employee‐related disclosures by listed companies were identified. The annual reports of the Top 100 industrial companies as well as of the mining companies listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange were furthermore analysed to establish the percentage of companies that comply with the King II recommendations. It transpired that few of them comply fully with these recommendations.

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN CORPORATE CHARACTERISTICS AND DISCLOSURE LEVELS IN ANNUAL REPORTS: A META-ANALYSIS

Accounting researchers have investigated associations between corporate characteristics and disclosures in corporate annual reports since 1961. Findings have consistently shown corporate size and listing status to be significantly associated with disclosure levels, while mixed results have been reported for leverage, profitability, and audit firm size. The purpose of the present paper is to integrate prior disclosure studies and to identify the underlying factors that moderate the apparent variation in results. A meta-analysis of 29 studies confirms significant and positive relationships between disclosure levels and corporate size, listing status and leverage. No significant association is found between corporate profitability or size of audit firm, with aggregate disclosure levels. This study also found that in addition to sampling error, the results are moderated by differences in disclosure index construction, differences in definition of the explanatory variables, and differences in research settings.

The Influence of the Keiretsu on Japanese Corporate Disclosure

AbstractThis paper represents a contribution to testing whether the extent of disclosure in Japanese corporate annual reports varies according to group structure. Consideration is given to keiretsu (group interfirm networks) classification and the mechanism for monitoring by a main bank or main company. This topic is of interest because the Japanese system of corporate governance is fundamentally different from those prevailing in Anglo‐Saxon countries and this distinction may impact on corporate disclosure policy. Attention is focused on the exclusionary theory of corporate disclosure in which information is disseminated within group members but specifically excludes others. Regression analysis is undertaken to assess the importance of group structure in explaining variability in the extent of disclosure after controlling for known factors such as size, stock market listing, industry, borrowings, and type of business. The results suggest that companies within a keiretsu with a main‐bank or main‐company monitor and which are therefore less subject to capital market discipline do not disclose less information than other companies in their annual reports. It appears that whatever type of corporate governance mechanism is adopted in Japan there exists a monitor that places approximately equal demands on information disclosure in corporate annual reports.

Green reporting: accountancy and the challenge of the nineties

Part 1 The background to Green reporting: the implications of current trends in Green awareness for the accounting function - an introductory analysis. Part 2 The future of Green reporting: industry and commerce the trade union movement the accounting profession Green pressure groups the investor. Part 3 Green awareness - current trends: environmental disclosures in corporate annual reports in Western Europe current trends in the reporting of Green issues in the annual reports of United Kingdom companies environmental management in practice the social audit movement Green investment. Part 4 The further development of Green reporting: developing Green reporting systems - some practical implications.

The extent of voluntary disclosure in corporate annual reports and its association with security risk measures

Corporate annual financial statements have increased in their extent of disclosure over recent years and this trend likely to continue.The Purpose of the study was to examine whether the amount of disclosure was linked to the assesment of stock market risk. Specially, the level of disclosure was examined to see if it was associated with systematic risk д,unsystematic risk,and variance of return. The results revealed no significant association between the amount of disclosure and the level of stock market risk. Thus, although greater amounts of disclosure may be of use to the users of accounts, it is not because of its ability in assesing current and future levels of systematic risk or others types of security risk.

The Impact of Size, Stock Market Listing, and Auditors on Voluntary Disclosure in Corporate Annual Reports

The Impact of Size, Stock Market Listing, and Auditors on Voluntary Disclosure in Corporate Annual Reports