Meaningful Disclosure Research Articles

Политическое инвестирование бизнеса как категория политической науки: теоретические версии в современном российском контексте

The article proposes a conceptual model of political investment of business, which reflects the political and economic realities of the modern Russian state. In the conditions of unprecedented external pressure on the national economy, political investment by representatives of business circles at the federal and regional levels is one of the effective tools that contribute to the strengthening of internal dialog between society and government represented by public institutions. Also, political investment provides an increase in stability and investment attractiveness of the economy as a whole, reduces the riskiness and corruption component. The author of the article proposes as an initial theoretical and methodological platform for the meaningful disclosure of political investment as a category of political science analysis the classical concept of corporation, which is historically linked to the concept of civil society. The central idea that political investment expresses is the mediation of private and public interests.

Takaful Reporting on IFSB Requirements in Malaysia: Users and Preparers Perspective

Bank Negara Malaysia (2014) mentioned the importance of having meaningful disclosure to protect participants. However, it did not provide details of the elements of meaningful disclosure. There is no specific guidelines or standards of what should be reported and how detailed the items should be reported. Takaful operators have more knowledge in the operational aspect of takaful, compared to the participants. Authorities try to harmonise all the possible variations and gaps between takaful operators (preparers) and participants (users) for the benefit of the industry. Any gap between what is expected to be reported (desirable) and what is actually reported needs to be analysed in order to provide more information relevant to the users and to standardise the disclosure level. By adopting Sulaiman’s (2005) framework, the study determines what users and preparers perceive as meaningful disclosure on the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) standards. The first two objectives of the study are to determine the disclosure perspectives of the two parties while the third objective is to examine if gaps exist between the two stakeholders. Questionnaire was distributed to takaful agents to examine their perception while content analysis was employed to evaluate the actual level of disclosure in takaful operators' websites. The gap analysis was conducted between the desired and actual level of disclosure and found significant differences among all the gaps. Additionally, the average level of disclosure is 44%. It is hoped that the findings will assist authorities in formulating guideline in takaful industry in Malaysia.

Access to information research in the digital era

Access to information research in the digital era

Users Perspective on Voluntary Disclosure of Takaful Policy Requirements in Malaysia

Takaful also known as Islamic insurance industry has been growing rapidly across the globe. The unique organizational structures of takaful operators, their products’ and participants’ rights have increased the demand for transparency and put additional pressure to voluntarily disclosed more information. This study focuses on disclosure of takaful information from user’s perspective. A checklist was developed to represent desirable level of disclosure based on various requirements and standards. To measure the voluntary disclosure level, the checklist was distributed to takaful agents to examine their perception of the disclosure on takaful information. The findings show that majority of the users (86.14%) agreed that all disclosure items on takaful policy requirements are meaningful. It is hoped that the findings will assist authorities in formulating guideline or policy pertaining to meaningful disclosure for the users in the future.

Культурный разрыв: к проблеме определения феномена и его основных признаков

Introduction. The article analyzes one of the qualitative states of culture, called the cultural gap, which is a phenomenon of ambivalent properties, on the one hand, generating most of the destruc- tive conflicts in the history of mankind, and on the other hand, in constructive overcoming of contra- dictions, prompting creative transformations. The purpose of the study is to give a definition of a cultural gap with the allocation of significant distinctive features found when analyzing any empirically fixed manifestations of it, for subse- quent understanding at the ultimate general level of reflection. Methods. Philosophical-anthropological, systemic, axiological, historical-philosophical and dialectical approaches are used as the methodological basis of the research, making it possible to consider the phenomenon of cultural gap in various aspects. Scientific novelty of the research. An analysis of the main directions of scientific discourse in the subject area under consideration makes it possible for us to conclude that the phenomenon of a cul- tural gap is studied within the framework of social and humanitarian knowledge, but mainly in relation to the analysis of conflict situations and turning points in history. The phrase “cultural gap” itself is beginning to be introduced into scientific circula- tion, however, often outside the established con- ceptual apparatus, in a narrow context and without meaningful disclosure, which makes it scientifically necessary to address the emerging subject field of studying the phenomenon and determining the meaning of the corresponding term. Results. As a result of the study, the author identifies significant signs of the phenomenon of a cultural gap, consisting in the loss of the integrity of certain areas of culture due to the heterogene- ous development of its parts, a critically significant interruption at the level of structure and content of the universals of culture in the deep value and semantic relationships provided by it, supporting mutual understanding and conflict-free coexistence of people. As no less significant signs, one can also designate the polarization and absolutization of cultural contradictions that result in antagonistic relations between representatives of sociocultural communities, separated by the interruption of these relationships Conclusions. The definition of a cultural gap, formed on the basis of existing options for inter- preting and comprehending this phenomenon, its essential and contextual features, is due to the ontological and semantic ambiguity of some of its aspects, due to which it goes beyond a strict defini- tion and is partly projective in nature, containing significant research potential. The realization of this potential through the functional capabilities of philosophical anthropology and philosophy of culture will make it possible to determine the main approaches to identifying, preventing and overcom- ing cultural gaps, including the formation of new worldview meanings and values that can ensure harmonious coexistence between people of differ- ent cultures in modern conditions.

СРАВНИТЕЛЬНЫЙ АНАЛИЗ ТРАДИЦИОННЫХ И КРОСС-ИННОВАЦИОННЫХ ПОДХОДОВ В ЦИФРОВОЙ ТРАНСФОРМАЦИИ РОССИЙСКОЙ ПРОМЫШЛЕННОСТИ

The intensive introduction of digital technologies in industry causes deep organizational and functional transformations in enterprises, which necessitates a deeper study of the mechanisms of innovative development in modern conditions. Digital transformation affects all aspects of industrial companies’ activities – from business processes to interaction with partners and consumers. In this context, cross-innovation is of particular importance as a key factor in increasing competitiveness. The purpose of the study is to identify key criteria for comparing traditional and intersectoral innovations and to provide meaningful disclosure of their specifics in the context of the digital transformation of Russian industry. The work uses a set of general scientific and special methods, including analysis of literary sources, statistical observation, expert assessments, methods of logical and comparative analysis. The results of the study contribute to the development of the theory of innovation management, allowing a deeper understanding of the specifics of cross-innovation in the context of digitalization.

INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN OF THE FINANCIAL CONTROL MODEL: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF IDEAL AND REALITY

The article is devoted to the attitude to INTOSAI as the leader of the control function of finance in the world, and to the INTOSAI recommendations, grouped into the IFPP, as an example of a control model: with a properly constructed structure and filled with meaningful disclosure on the implementation of control measures. This view of the INTOSAI experience enables us to propose our own institutional design for the INTOSAI classifications. The result of the institutional design is essentially a reflection of the reference (ideal) model of the external financial control model, i.e. the EGA Model, in terms of its structure. EGA Model has the INTOSAI institutional structure (Institutional Framework) and the INTOSAI auditing framework (Auditing Framework): to the institutional structure we have included not only fundamental and basic principles, but also several standards that, in our opinion, are also related not only to the control methodology , as far as the formation of the control model; to the audit structure, we include not only standards that methodologically ensure the principles of auditing, but also standards that are a methodology for the implementation of various types of audits, with guidance on their application. Having obtained the classification of the INTOSAI experience in the background, we can conduct a study of the existing practice of state financial control in Ukraine and its compliance with the specified standard with the help of methods of institutional analysis, by comparing the formal norms of INTOSAI with the formal norms forming the national practice of state financial control. The data of the comparative analysis are grouped into the appropriate tables: at the level of the structure of the established control practice; at the level of methodology of functioning control subjects. The result of the conducted comparative analysis, which consisted in testing the practice of state financial control in Ukraine for compliance with the standard (ideal) model, was the establishment of non-compliance of the researched practice with the developed standard - a quasi-model of the institute of financial control was built in Ukraine.

Security breaches and modifications on cybersecurity disclosures

Research Question: How do firms approach their cybersecurity disclosure obligations, especially for those who experienced a cyber-attack? Prior research has found that year-after-year modification on textual disclosures adds more appreciable information that makes it more relevant. But do firms provide meaningful disclosures to promote market transparency? Motivation: Because of growing cybersecurity threats in recent years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued several regulations and guidance that emphasized on the disclosure of material information on cybersecurity. Given that the mandatory risk factor disclosures in SEC Form 10-K is the first place firms are encouraged to disclose cybersecurity-related assessment, it is important to examine how firms approach their disclosure expectations. Idea: To examine whether firms respond to cyber-attacks with meaningful disclosures, we use the Vector Space Model (VSM) to calculate disclosure modifications before and after major cyber-attack incident. Data: We extracted cybersecurity breach incidents from the Data Breach Database, a centralized and global database of data breaches maintained by a leading security company. In addition, we use the SEC data depository to find firms’ 10-K disclosures. Findings: We find that firms modify their cybersecurity disclosures by increasing the quantity of disclosures, but not necessarily the quality of disclosures as measured by document similarity. Furthermore, we find partial evidence that the degree of modification is positively associated with the severity of cyber-attacks. Contribution: Our evidence suggests that firms tend to use boilerplate language to disclose cybersecurity-related issues. This finding is consistent with prior research. That is, consistent with prior literature, the information content in public company 10-Ks is limited. We find that this seems to be the case as well when it comes to cybersecurity disclosures.

Auditors’ application of materiality: insight from the UK

ABSTRACT Changes to the auditors’ reports aim to reduce the information gap and make auditing more transparent. Despite the existence of standards and guidelines research on materiality in practice is limited, this article examines auditors’ application of materiality as disclosed in their reports following the introduction of the revised standard on auditors’ reports in the UK. We provide evidence on actual benchmarks used and materiality rationales. Additionally, we also examine audit firm and industry variations in materiality practices as well as materiality reporting to audit committees. We find materiality disclosures are generally compliant with regulation and consistent with a desire to reduce the information gap auditors make additional disclosures. However, there is variation in the nature and extent of disclosures, possibly due to potential concerns about making the subjectivity of auditing too apparent, which can limit the reports’ usefulness. Overall, the revised standard has enhanced transparency, but there is room for improvement in providing more meaningful disclosures in the auditors’ reports.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ СТАНОВЛЕННЯ БЮРО ЕКОНОМІЧНОЇ БЕЗПЕКИ УКРАЇНИ, ЯК СУБ’ЄКТА ІЗ ЗАХИСТУ НАЦІОНАЛЬНОЇ ЕКОНОМІКИ: ТЕОРЕТИКО-ПРАВОВИЙ ОГЛЯД

The article is devoted to the issue of theoretical and legal review of steps to establish the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine as a subject for the protection of the national economy. It is emphasized that, given the novelty and, consequently, the lack of research on a wide range of issues regarding the existing legal status of the institution, the focus should be on the historical aspect. It is seen that the application of this approach will contribute to the completeness and comprehensiveness of the study and the meaningful disclosure of many problematic vectors of the functioning of the analyzed subject. In order to facilitate the logic of the research material, a conditional starting point was identified, which became a real "impetus" for the implementation of measures to establish a new body to protect the national economy (ratification of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union). Energy and their Member States, on the other hand, dated June 27, 2014 (hereinafter referred to as the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU). It is proposed to represent this gradation as follows: 1) the period from the moment of ratification of the Association Agreement of Ukraine with the EU dated June 27, 2014 until the beginning of implementation of measures to establish and launch the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine (September 16, 2014 – July 2, 2020); 2) the period from the beginning of the implementation of measures for the creation and launch of the research subject to the present (02.07.2020 – present). The first stage focused on draft legislative acts, which, according to the authors, were to form the legal basis for the activities of the institution, as well as a comparative description of the latter. Within the framework of the second stage research, the documents (drafts and normative legal acts) that form the basis of the work of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine were considered and analyzed.

Environmental indicator disclosure of international contractors

ABSTRACT Companies have acknowledged their corporate social responsibility (CSR) in recent years. However, environmental performance indicators are generally insufficiently disclosed. This study has investigated the disclosure of environmental indicators in the CSR reports of international contractors and proposed the sequence and method for indicator disclosure. Measurement scales were used to analyze 34 environmental indicators of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 guidelines in terms of content requirements and characteristics. CSR reports of eight selected contractors were examined to calculate percentages of indicator disclosure. Finally, the indicators were ranked in three levels to present a meaningful disclosure sequence for construction companies. The average disclosure rate of the 34 indicators of the eight contractors was 29%. A total of 3, 11, and 20 indicators were high, medium, and low disclosure, respectively. The disclosure percentages for materials, water, effluents and wastes, emissions, and energy were 63%, 42%, 37%, 36%, and 33%, respectively. A company can disclose high-disclosure quantitative indicators with priority, such as materials and water, and supplement them with qualitative ones. Materials are a crucial input of the construction process. Therefore, data regarding materials should be collected early to ensure that data are available for other indicators.

УСПІШНІСТЬ БІЗНЕСУ: ДИСКУСІЙНІ ПИТАННЯ ЗМІСТОВОЇ ІНТЕРПРЕТАЦІЇ ТА МЕТОДИЧНИХ ЗАСАД ОЦІНЮВАННЯ

Effective economic activity of any enterprise, regardless of size, is an important factor in the economic and social development of the country's economy, improving the welfare and quality of life of the population, increasing the GDP of the state and the like. To succeed in business today, entrepreneurs need to be flexible and have good planning and organization skills. The growing uncertainty and variability of the external environment require entrepreneurs and managers to be highly competent in setting up business structures. Accordingly, the question arises of determining the ultimate goal of the creation and operation of the business (enterprise), as well as the formation of the terminological field (set of terms), which are used for this purpose. The purpose of the article is to deepen the study of the problem of assessing the success of entrepreneurship and ways to increase the success of small and medium-sized businesses. The relevance of the article lies in the need to disclose the content of the concept of "enterprise success", which is an integral qualitative characteristic of the state of the enterprise, reflects the presence of competitive advantages and the potential for further development. The article describes the characteristics of the concept of "enterprise success" through the systematization of the definition of the concept by other authors and highlighting the key aspects of focusing attention. The methodological approaches to assessing the success of the business of various scientists are highlighted and their developments are analyzed. Theoretical research methods have been applied to form new hypotheses regarding the definition and analysis of academic performance. The result of the study was the selection and meaningful disclosure of the most important criteria for the success of an enterprise, including measures of success for both owners and consumers and partners / investors. A “portrait” of a successful enterprise has been formed.

Decision-making algorithm for the optimal installation of receiving antennas of stationary hydroacoustic communication systems for dispatching geospatial processes

The article considers metrological aspects of decision-making on the installation of receiving antennas of stationary hydroacoustic communication systems at the stage of designing the infrastructure for dispatching spatial processes based on modeling and visualization of expected receiving zones using intelligent geoinformation systems. The issues of intellectual decision support for optimal spatial installation of receiving antennas are considered. The influence of the quality of information support of geoinformation systems on the accuracy of the results of calculating the expected reception zones of hydroacoustic communication systems in various hydro-acoustic conditions was evaluated. A new efficiency indicator is proposed in the form of the volume of the reception area. This article is devoted to the meaningful disclosure of these concepts and indicators.

When Does Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure Affect Investment Efficiency? A New Answer to an Old Question

Prior evidence that firm’s investment behavior is positively affected by its corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure, as one of the key CSR areas of the company, leaves unaddressed whether all kinds of disclosure have the same effect. Drawing on stakeholder theory, this study analyzes the issue in a more exhaustive way. A cross-sectional logistic regression model is used to test the hypothesized association, and the results imply that firms’ high (low)-quality disclosure regarding their engagement in CSR activities increases their chances of being from the investment-efficient (inefficient) group. The obtained results conclude that CSR reporting activity is not beneficial for companies unless a meaningful disclosure of sustainability information is made. Our results are robust to using alternative proxies for CSR disclosure quality. This study contributes to the scarce evidence on CSR reporting in Pakistan and provides a useful method for assessing quality of CSR reports.

Youth unemployment in the system of social economic relations

Unemployment is a complex and socially acute macroeconomic problem. Youth unemployment in the current transformations of social and labor relations becomes especially relevant and requires a comprehensive study. Scientific understanding of the content and forms of youth unemployment is an important basis for developing practical measures to reduce it and effectively use the potential of youth in socio-economic development. The subject of the article is the phenomenon of youth unemployment, the aim is to reveal the features of modern youth unemployment in the current transformations of the labor market and develop practical measures to reduce it. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set and solved: the reasons for the tendency to increase youth unemployment in the context of digitalization of the economy; the basic forms in which there is youth unemployment are characterized; the structure of youth unemployment is analyzed; the main directions of overcoming unemployment due to the improvement of youth policy in the labor market are proposed. To solve these problems, the following research methods were used: general scientific foundations and fundamental provisions of economic theory, interdisciplinary approach to a more meaningful disclosure of the unemployment category, behavioral scientific approach used to explain the behavior of young people in the labor market. The results of the study are: substantiation of the institutional imperfection of the labor market, which creates contradictions in the system of youth unemployment; characteristics of social exclusion of youth and other negative trends in the labor market in Ukraine. Conclusions. Ways to minimize youth unemployment through the formation of an innovative model of social and labor relations, the cultivation of inclusive institutions and active youth policy of the state are substantiated.

НАПРАВЛЕНИЯ СОВЕРШЕНСТВОВАНИЯ ПРАВОВОГО ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЯ СЛУЖБЫ НА ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫХ ДОЛЖНОСТЯХ СУБЪЕКТА РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ Часть I

This is an attempt to provide a meaningful disclosure of the key features of the legal status of civil servants in the Russian Federation in this article. The specifics of their legal status are expressed in the aggregate of legally established guarantees, restrictions and liability. This made it possible to analyze the legal framework governing the service in these positions on a scientific basis. Study the history of formation and development of Institute of the state posts of the Russian Federation, studying the legislative experience of the Russian regions, the existing judicial practice and theoretical developments in the scientific literature, is intended to facilitate the search for optimal solutions of actual problems of legal regulation of legal relations associated with the replacement of these posts.

Meaningful and Accurate Disclosure of Conflict of Interest at the ASTRO National Meeting: A Need for Reassessment of Current Policies.

Conflict of interest (COI) disclosure is essential to research integrity. The average reading comprehension in English is 3.8 words per second (wps). This study examines presenters at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) national meeting over a recent 3-year period to determine whether disclosure is presented accurately and in a manner that allows the audience to comprehend the content. We examined videos of presentations as well as slides from 2014 to 2016 from the ASTRO virtual meeting, noting whether a COI slide was presented, the duration the slide was visible, and the number of disclosures. Disclosures were cross-referenced for discrepancies with the publicly reported Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments database. Using a cutoff of 4 wps, we noted how many presentations were presented at speeds of ≤ 4 wps and > 4 wps. The final data set consisted of 401 presentations delivered by 364 presenters. Using a threshold of 4 wps, 34.0% of presenters had COI slides shown too fast for the average audience to comprehend. Moreover, 16.3% of US physicians incorrectly underreported industry funding received. Of these presentations with discrepancies, 32.6% did not have a COI slide, 39.5% failed to disclose any COI, 27.9% partially disclosed COIs, and 11.6% contained multiple discrepancies. The number of wps were correlated with having a discrepancy on multivariable regression ( P = .046; odds ratio, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.19). A substantial minority of presentations at ASTRO lack meaningful disclosure, and a surprising number incorrectly reported COIs. Additional guidance may be needed to promote more meaningful and accurate disclosure of COIs at major national meetings in oncology.

Information for authors and editorial policies

Information for authors and editorial policies

PILLAR 3: MARKET DISCIPLINE OF THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN CEE COMMERCIAL BANK AND TURBULENT TIMES

The study presented in the paper contributes to covering the gap in the area of sufficient information disclosure that also increases the interests of relevant stakeholders in contributing to depository market discipline and in being relevant to their interest within Pillar 3 framework. This paper is focused on an analysis of website data dedicated to Pillar 3 disclosures of commercial banks and on studying the behaviour of stakeholders in relation to the timing of serious market turbulence. The examined data consists of log files that were pre-processed using web mining techniques and from which were extracted frequent itemsets by quarters and evaluated in terms of quantity. The authors have proposed a methodology to evaluate frequent itemsets of web parts over a dedicated time period. The results show that stakeholders’ interest in disclosures is lower after turbulent times in 2009, higher in the first quarter, also higher together with annual reports (lower for Pillar 3 solo information). The paper’s results suggest that further changes in commercial banks´ information disclosure are inevitable in order to achieve an effective market discipline mechanism and meaningful disclosures according to the regulator´s expectations.

Concurrent bariatric operations and association with perioperative outcomes: registry based cohort study

Objective To determine whether perioperative outcomes differ between patients undergoing concurrent compared with non-concurrent bariatric operations in the USA.Design Retrospective, propensity score matched cohort study.Setting Hospitals in the US accredited...