Information In Annual Reports Research Articles

Is greater connectivity of financial and non-financial information in annual reports valued by market participants?

The establishment of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and the endorsement by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) foundation of the principles underlying the Integrated Reporting (IR) Framework, attest to a regulatory intent to develop a disclosure framework better connecting sustainability-related financial disclosures with financial disclosures. Strategic Reporting (SR), effective in the United Kingdom (U.K.) since 2013, is a prime example of such a framework. Utilizing proprietary data from PwC U.K., we find higher SR disclosure quality is associated with higher liquidity, lower cost of capital, and more accurate, less dispersed analysts’ forecasts. We then hypothesize and compare these impacts with the capital market effects of disclosure quality under the reporting framework preceding SR. We find that the effects of higher liquidity and lower cost of capital are more pronounced under SR, suggesting that SR, as a mandated, more connected reporting framework, enables more effective capital market communication. We also find that the incremental capital market benefits are more significant for entities with higher exposure to the change, better sustainability performance and higher organizational complexity. For regulators and standard setters, these findings indicate that their emphasis on greater connectivity of financial and non-financial information is valued by market participants.

Corporate reporting behavior: Factors influencing the adoption of integrated reporting in India

Corporations have a responsibility to provide a fair view of their financial state to their stakeholders. To facilitate the reporting process, the IFRS recommends the integrated reporting framework, which firms may may adopt voluntarily. This study examines the motivations of management in voluntarily disclosing capitals-related information in annual reports of companies listed on the Nifty Metal Index and their willingness to adopt the IR framework. It also empirically investigates how a company’s long-term and short-term goals impact integrated reporting adoption. The Integrated Reporting Capitals Index (IRCIN) was constructed to study the reporting behavior of companies within the specified framework. The reporting patterns within the metal industry are analyzed by employing the fixed effects model. Results highlight the interconnectedness of financial and non-financial capital dimensions in corporate reporting practices, albeit with a strong emphasis on financial capital. The average word count describing the financial capital was high, while the intellectual capital was the lowest. Strategic management evaluated via cash flow from investing activities proved statistically significant at the 5% level. Similarly, short-term goals indicated by profit after tax were found to play a crucial role in encouraging corporations within the Nifty Metal Index to adopt the integrated reporting framework. Conversely, book value per share exhibited a negative coefficient, indicating a historical disconnect with the reporting entities. These insights suggest that the adoption of the integrated reporting framework by management is driven by strategic goals, short-term objectives, and overall company performance.

Annual Report Readability and Information Disclosure Quality: Evidence from Tunisia

Annual Report Readability and Information Disclosure Quality: Evidence from Tunisia

Revolutionizing energy practices: Unleashing the power of artificial intelligence in corporate energy transition

Corporate energy transition is crucial for long-term sustainable development. The widely discussed Artificial Intelligence (AI), as a disruptive technological innovation, is highly potential for enhancing environment performance. However, the specific impact of AI on the process of corporate energy transition and its underlying mechanisms have not been fully explored. This study focuses on A-share listed corporates in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets in China spanning from 2011 to 2021. Based on corporate annual report information and information from over 200,000 patent application texts, we innovatively construct indicators for corporate energy transition and AI technology application. Furthermore, we empirically investigate the impact of AI technology on corporate energy transition and its potential mechanisms through combining information asymmetry theory and institutional theory. The empirical results indicate that: 1) AI can drive corporate energy transition and the promoting effect of AI collaborative innovation on corporate energy transition should not be ignored. 2) AI can help corporates achieve energy transition through pathways such as mitigating information asymmetry, reducing financing constraints, adjusting sustainable development concepts and practices. 3) The driving effect of AI on corporate energy transition varies depending on the characteristics of different types of corporates, industries, and regions. This study provides strategic guidance and decision support for business managers and policymakers, assisting both corporates and governments in better utilizing AI technology during the social energy transition process to achieve a dual optimization of environmental and economic goals.

Leverage manipulation and strategic disclosure: evidence from non-financial information in annual reports based on multimodal machine learning

ABSTRACT This study adopts multi-modal machine learning to deeply interpret corporate non-financial information and explore the influence of corporate leverage manipulation on non-financial information disclosure. It is found that enterprises will strategically disclose non-financial information when implementing leverage manipulation, that is, the emotion of non-financial information text is more positive, farther away and more difficult. Based on the motivation of leverage manipulation, when enterprises face greater pressure of ‘deleveraging’ policy and stronger financing constraints, enterprises are more inclined to disclose non-financial information strategically when implementing leverage manipulation. Further, the dual motives of leverage manipulation are explored deeply. For the samples with high ‘deleveraging’ policy pressure such as state-owned enterprises and high media attention, and the samples with strong financing constraints such as high short-term debt repayment pressure and high debt financing cost, the positive relationship between leverage manipulation and strategic disclosure of non-financial information is more significant.

Does good news cover bad news?

AbstractDoes good news cover bad news? We present evidence from the Chinese stock market, in which the fiscal year is always the same as the calendar year. Listed firms are required to announce their annual report by the end of April, coinciding with the deadline for the release of their first‐quarter reports. We find that firms with negative earnings surprises in the previous year are more likely to postpone the announcement of their annual report until they announce their first‐quarter report. However, we find no evidence to suggest that this bundling disclosure weakens market responses to information in annual reports.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Intellectual Capital and Their Influence on Annual Report Readability: A Literature Review

This research aims to determine the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) performance, Intellectual Capital, and the readability of annual reports as a key communication tool between companies and stakeholders. This research uses a qualitative literature review approach by analyzing several previous studies related to this topic. The results of the analysis show that companies that are actively involved in CSR practices and have strong Intellectual Capital tend to present annual reports with a higher level of readability. This optimal readability has a positive impact on the understanding of various stakeholders, including investors and creditors, which in turn can support better decision-making. The implication is that companies can utilize CSR practices and Intellectual Capital development as a strategy to increase the readability of their annual reports. Therefore, increasing transparency, readability and clear disclosure of information in annual reports can contribute positively to a company's reputation and support long-term business growth. Recommendations for companies involve paying attention to the regulatory and disclosure reform initiatives that regulators have implemented to ensure disclosure is effective and affordable for all stakeholders

The spillover effect of customers’ management tone on supply chain: Based on suppliers’ provision of trade credit

ABSTRACTBased on the data of China’s A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2022, this paper confirms that customers’ management tone has a spillover effect in the supply chain, which in turn affects suppliers’ provision of trade credit. The results show that the more positive customers’ management tone is, the more trade credit suppliers provide. A further analysis finds that the disclosure of customers’ management tone increases analyst attention, which in turn promotes suppliers’ provision of trade credit.In addition, when the supplier’s bargaining power is lower, the regional product market is more developed, and the customers’ annual report information quality is higher, the relationship between customers’ management tone and suppliers’ provision of trade credit is more significant. This study enriches the relevant literature on supply chain management and has important practical significance for promoting the stable development of supply chains.

Understanding fund manager readership of annual report risk disclosure

ABSTRACT An understanding of company risk for investment decisions is fundamental for capital market users such as fund managers. The annual report is an established source of risk reporting information. Whilst market-based studies highlight the economic value relevance of risk reporting, such disclosure at a firm level, has been widely criticised, failing to provide meaningful, decision-useful, information to users. Despite these criticisms, the small body of risk reporting literature that has directly engaged with capital market users provides evidence of their readership of such reporting but has not examined their reasoning behind this. Drawing on 24 interviews with fund managers, we examine the usefulness of risk reporting to them. The theoretical framing of comfort is employed to analyse themes emergent from the transcribed data. Applying senses of comfort helps to unpack the reasoning for their continued use of such reporting and to provide a counterpoint to the criticisms as to its lack of usefulness to such users. These findings, through direct engagement with a primary annual report user group, extend prior predominantly archival risk-based disclosure research and contribute to our understanding of user consumption of annual report information. Highlights Interviews with 24 UK fund managers/equity market actors. Generally critical of annual report risk reporting quality, but evidence that it is widely read by them. Their readership, and its usefulness to them, framed through comfort. Tension of economic value relevance versus sociological comfort.

Voluntary Disclosure of R&D Activities: A Comparative Study of Selected IT and Pharmaceutical Companies in India

This study looks at voluntary R&D disclosure trends in the annual reports of a few Indian IT and pharmaceutical industries. A self-created R&D disclosure index has been created for the study's purposes. Secondary data provide the foundation of this investigation. The chosen IT and pharmaceutical firms' public annual reports were used to get the data. The study examines the extent of voluntary R&D disclosure both at the aggregate level and is based on a disclosure checklist comprising 52 elements of R&D information. Descriptive statistics have been utilised for the comparison of IT and pharmaceutical firms. The outcome demonstrates that, in comparison to IT businesses, pharmaceutical companies have disclosed more R&D information in annual reports in the context of total voluntary R&D disclosure

Prediction and Characteristic Analysis of Enterprise Digital Transformation Integrating XGBoost and SHAP

Objective: An interpretability model of enterprise digital transformation that integrates XGBoost and Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) is proposed to accurately identify the important factors that affect the digital transformation of enterprises and their mode of action, improve the digital capabilities and levels of enterprises, and prevent the risks of digital transformation of enterprises. Method: The annual report information of listed companies from 2009 to 2021 is used as the research object. First, the digital transformation index is constructed using the text mining method. Second, an enterprise digital transformation prediction model based on XGBoost is constructed and compared it with other mainstream algorithms, such as linear regression and random forest, to find a comprehensive optimal model. Finally, the SHAP interpretation framework is introduced to quantify and attribute the importance of each characteristic variable. Results: The results found that the XGBoost model outperformed the compared models in the mean absolute error and R2 performance indicators. In addition, development capability, comprehensive capability, and solvency are important characteristics influencing the digital transformation of enterprises, and they differ in the way, direction, and strength of influence on the digital transformation of enterprises. Research value: This paper applies XGBoost integrated learning method to identify the factors of enterprise digital transformation, which enables enterprises to assess their digital transformation status, discover the key determinants of digital transformation, and adopt effective digital transformation modes for higher value.

Praktek Income Smoothing Ditinjau dari Cash Holding, Bonus Plan, Kepemilikan Institusional dan Profitabilitas

Purpose: This study aims to examine the effect of cash holding, bonus plans, institutional ownership, and profitability on income smoothing in financial sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Methodology/approach: The research data is sourced from the Annual Report and Share Price Information of Finacial Companies Listed on the IDX (Indonesian Stock Exchange) 2017-2021. The analytical method uses logistic regression by SPSS 26. Findings: The results show that cash holding and bonus plan have no significant effect on income smoothing. Meanwhile, institutional ownership and profitability have signuficant effect on income smoothing Practical and Theoretical contribution/Originality: The implication of this research is expected to help investors and shareholders to understand the factors that can maximize management behavior to do income smoothing on financial statement. In addition, potential investors are expected to be able to use the findings of this study to help them assess the condition of the company before making investment decisions. Novelty of this research is focusing on the financial sector as a sample whereas previous research only focused on the non-financial sector. Research Limitation: Future studies may be useful to use other variables to income smoothing examined to provide a newly additional finding.

Does IFRS convergence affect the readability of annual reports by Indian listed companies?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of IFRS convergence on annual report readability in an emerging market context, with an emphasis on the contents of management discussion and analysis (MD&A), notes to the accounts (Notes) and the whole annual report.Design/methodology/approachThe study performs firm-fixed effect regression on a sample of 143 Indian listed companies over a period spanning from 2012 to 2021 to examine the influence of IFRS convergence on readability. This assessment primarily focuses on broader spectrums of readability dimensions, namely annual report length and complexity, wherein complexity is measured using the Gunning Fog, Flesch Reading ease and Flesch-Kincaid grade index.FindingsAs Indian firms shift to IFRS reporting, the findings suggest that annual reports have become significantly lengthier and more complex, causing deterioration in readability. The Notes section, in particular, exhibits the most significant increase in length and complexity, followed by the entire annual report and MD&A section. Furthermore, the findings also indicate that the complexity of the Notes section is instrumental in the observed complexity growth of the whole annual report in the post-IFRS period.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study employs readability indices rather than directly taking into consideration the opinions of actual users of annual reports to determine readability. As a result, the study does not provide direct evidence on how information in annual reports affects users' readability.Practical implicationsThe findings provide insightful information to managers and policymakers about the difficulties stakeholders may encounter while reading IFRS-based annual reports, which ultimately impact their investment decisions. Thus, there is an important managerial implication from this, depending upon the severity of complexity corporations participate in while complying with IFRS in the post-IFRS period.Originality/valueAnalyzing the influence of exogenous information shock, such as IFRS convergence, on readability is critical, particularly for emerging markets like India, where a lack of financial literacy and weaker enforcement already have detrimental effects on the capital market. In light of this, the current study provides a comprehensive examination of the impact of IFRS convergence on annual report readability and contributes to the growing IFRS literature in the less explored emerging market context.

Sentimental Sustainability: Does What Companies Say Tell More Than What Companies Do?

AbstractBased on a sample of more than eleven thousand unique 10‐K reports of US companies filed with SEC in period 2013 to 2018, this study examines the relationship between actual sustainability performance of companies, evaluated by MSCI ESG performance scores, and the extent and the scope of environmental, social, and governance information disclosure in their annual reports. The study shows empirical evidence supporting the signalling theory view of voluntary disclosure of ESG information in annual reports for most industries, while environmentally unfriendly companies belonging to the Mining industry division show excessive reporting behavior favoring environmental topics, which is consistent with incentives to improve public image and mitigate social, political, and legal risks in line with the legitimacy theory of information disclosure. When differentiating between forward‐looking and non‐forward‐looking ESG statements, the study shows that companies providing more forward‐looking ESG information in annual reports show better next‐year ESG performance. This study implements established content analysis techniques with focus on ESG reporting and performance, building up on the study of Baier, Berninger, and Kiesel (2020) that proposed an ESG‐tailored dictionary for textual analysis purposes.

Managing cyber risk in the financial sector: Insights from a case study

Purpose: This article focuses on cyber risk as an emerging issue within the risk management process and the internal control system in the financial sector. It in-vestigates whether cyber risk management (CRM) is (dis)integrated into traditional enterprise risk management (ERM) and analyzes the external dynamics affecting the CRM design. Design/methodology/approach: This article draws upon institutional theory and the concept of boundary objects. The research examines a listed Italian bank and gathers the data from semi-structured interviews, direct observations, meet-ings, and archival sources. Findings: The findings underline that cyber risk rationale plays a crucial role in the CRM process. The interplay between institutional complexity and the need to manage cyber risk is critical for a bank to have a stable and flexible infrastructure. The knowledge boundaries related to the cyber risk culture require further cyber risk talk. Originality/value: This research furthers the understanding of cyber risk and CRM as an integral part of the ERM and internal control systems in the financial sector, in which there is a shortage of case studies. The financial sector is highly regulated, and managing cyber risk has become crucial as banks usually deal with enormous amounts of personal and sensitive data stored on networks and in the cloud. Practical implications: This case study emphasizes the crucial role of CRM in the identification and reporting of cyber risk information in annual reports.

Shariah governance disclosure and its effect on Islamic banks' financial performance: evidence from Malaysia and GCC countries

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the level of Shariah governance disclosure among Islamic banks in Malaysia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (i.e. Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia). On top of that, the effect of Shariah governance disclosure on Islamic banks financial performance is investigated.Design/methodology/approachData underwent quantitative content analysis and a mean comparison of the Shariah governance disclosure mechanisms as well as multiple regression analysis. Shariah governance information is obtained from the Islamic banks' official websites and the Bursa Malaysia Exchange.FindingsThe results of the content analysis revealed that the level of Shariah governance disclosure among Malaysian Islamic banks has been more pronounced than in the GCC countries. Additionally, the multiple regression analysis results specified that of the five Shariah governance disclosure mechanisms, the Shariah committee emerged as the strongest determinant in the financial performance of the Islamic banks, followed by transparency and disclosure.Practical implicationsIslamic banks should emphasise publishing Shariah governance information in annual reports to reflect superior accounting practices as assessed by certified Shariah auditors with an effective monitoring system.Originality/valueThe empirical findings are vital for serving as a guideline for Islamic banks in Malaysia and the GCC countries to disclose their practice of Shariah governance and gain empirical insights into its effect on firms’ financial performance. Following that, Islamic banks would improve their accounting practices while adhering to Shariah principles, strengthen internal controls and boost their brand reputation.

Financial Performance of Banking Institutions: The Role of Management Ownership, Independent Commissioners, and Audit Committee

This research examines the impact of implementing effective corporate governance practices on the financial performance of banking firms publicly traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The study focuses on banking businesses listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, including the population for analysis. A purposive sampling method was employed to select eight banking companies for the study. The utilized data source comprises secondary data consisting of annual report information about banking institutions. The employed data analysis methodology involves the application of the classical assumption test, which encompasses a normality test, a heteroscedasticity test, and a multicollinearity test. Additionally, all hypotheses are examined by partial, simultaneous, and determination coefficient tests. This study's findings suggest a favorable relationship between managerial ownership and independent commissioners; however, this relationship does not significantly impact financial performance. The audit committee has a notable and substantial impact on the financial performance of banking firms publicly traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).

The impact of strategic emphasis on the readability of narrative information in annual reports

PurposeThis study aims to examine how a firm’s strategic emphasis on value appropriation over value creation is associated with the readability of narrative disclosures in annual reports.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines the effect of the strategic emphasis on annual report readability based on a total of 45,273 US firm-year (5,754 unique firms) observations for the period from 1994 to 2018. Strategic emphasis is measured as advertising expenses minus research and development expenses, scaled by sales and Bog index and various measures, such as the FOG, KINCAID and FLESCH index, are used to measure the annual report readability.FindingsThe authors find that the strategic emphasis on value appropriation over value creation is positively related to firms’ annual report readability. In addition, the positive effect of the strategic emphasis on value appropriation over value creation on annual report readability is more pronounced with high managerial ability.Practical implicationsWith the continual effort of Securities and Exchange Commission regulation and IFRS updates to improve narrative disclosures, it is meaningful to provide evidence showing how managers shape narratives in annual reports by highlighting good news with easy-to-understand words, but also may establish a barrier to understanding by choosing to use long and complex words depending on their strategic emphasis.Originality/valueThe evidence suggests that a strategic emphasis between value appropriation and value creation and managerial ability is an important factor in shaping the readability of annual reports, which contributes to the management, accounting and finance literature that investigates the relationship between resource deployment (i.e. strategic emphasis) and textual properties of corporate financial disclosures (i.e. readability).

The Practice of Board Delegation of CLBG in Malaysia-Decision Making, Regulatory Compliance and Disclosure

This paper explored the Board’s delegation practices in Malaysia's company limited by guarantee (CLBG). It investigated the decision-making process, regulatory compliance, and disclosure of the Board's functions in promoting transparency to the stakeholder/public. The methodology involves a survey from CLBG. The study used a correlation analysis to determine the significant determinants of board delegation practices. The results showed that decision-making processes and disclosure of information in annual reports or websites could show the delegation role of the Board of directors. However, the sample only covers 20 CLBGs in Klang Valley and Selangor as the pilot study. Keywords: delegation; CLBG; committee; accountability eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA CE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

Impact of Company Characteristics, Liquidity, and Good Corporate Governance on Tax Aggression

This study aims to determine the impact of company characteristics, liquidity, and good corporate governance on tax aggressiveness. As secondary data, annual report information from companies included in the LQ45 index and listed on the IDX between 2016 and 2020 is utilized. The sample size was fourteen companies. The study used regression analysis of panel data as a methodology. The results indicated that the liquidity variables partially influenced tax aggressiveness, whereas the company's characteristics and good corporate governance did not. The test results suggest that if the liquidity level is low, it will reduce the level of creditor trust and result in a decrease in the level of capital loans by creditors; therefore, the company will maintain its liquidity level so as not to engage in tax avoidance.