Readability Of Annual Reports Research Articles

The impact of companies disclosing ESG reports in multiple languages on the enthusiasm of foreign investors for holding shares.

We collect Chinese A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2022 as samples and use the multi-period difference-in-difference model (DID) to study the impact of multilingual ESG report disclosure on the enthusiasm of foreign investors. We find that Chinese companies disclose ESG reports in both Chinese and English stimulate the enthusiasm of foreign investors to hold shares. The main manifestations are the expansion of the company's foreign shareholding quota and the increase in the number of shareholders. Further research show that disclosure of multilingual ESG reports makes up for the readability of company annual reports for foreign investors. In the case of companies with poor analyst attention and comparability of accounting information, and companies that hire non-big four auditing firms to audit financial reports, multilingual ESG report disclosures are more positive for foreign shareholdings. The participation of the central investor service center in corporate governance is weak, the degree of regional cultural integration is low, and the disclosure of English ESG reports by Chinese enterprises is conducive to promoting the enthusiasm of foreign shareholding. The research conclusions provide theoretical guidance and empirical reference for enterprises to expand information disclosure methods to foreign investors and attract overseas capital investment.

Does annual report readability influence the design of SEOs?

Motivated by the rapid growth in non-quantitative corporate disclosure and seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) in the U.S., we take a fresh look at the decision-making process behind accelerated offerings in SEOs, with a specific emphasis on the readability of annual reports within 10-K filings. In particular, our study explores whether readability of annual reports affects the choice of SEOs methods. Using a hand-collected sample of 3143 instances of seasoned equity issues between 2002 and 2021, we show a significantly positive relation between readability scores and accelerated offerings. These results hold across various robustness tests. We further reveal a negative relationship between abnormal operating performance and long-term stock performance following the announcements of SEOs, demonstrating that: firstly, SEOs provide valuable insights into future earnings; and secondly, these insights have a lasting impact on stock performance. Overall, our evidence strongly highlights the substantial influence of annual report readability on the design of SEOs, emphasizing the critical importance of conveying financial information concisely and effectively to the market.

Annual Report Readability and Opportunistic Insider Selling—Evidence from China

ABSTRACT Using a panel dataset of Chinese A-share listed firms during 2007–2021, we specify a fixed-effects model to examine whether and how annual report readability affects opportunistic insider selling. Our empirical findings show that lower readability of annual reports induces insiders to make more opportunistic sales. Further analysis reveals that stock overvaluation is the channel through which the readability of annual reports affects opportunistic insider sales. In addition, this effect is more pronounced among firms with less analyst coverage, higher retail concentration, and non-SOEs.

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

IFRS adoption and the readability of corporate annual reports: evidence from an emerging market

This study aims to investigate the impact of adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on the readability of corporate annual reports of Saudi companies. Data have been collected for a sample of 67 companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange for the period 2014–2019. Statistical methods such as the independent sample t test, the Wilcoxon matched-pair test, and the multiple regression analysis have been used to examine the effect of adopting IFRS on the readability of the corporate annual report. The results of the study reveal that the adoption of IFRS has led to a decrease in the readability of the corporate annual report. The results also indicate that there is a significant impact of the company’s size and profitability on the readability of the corporate annual report, while the leverage and industry in which the company operates do not have a significant impact on the readability of the corporate annual report. Since the annual reports of Saudi companies are published in Arabic, the study is not able to use the most popular readability indexes in the literature such as the Fog Index, Gunning Fox Index, Flesch–Kincaid Grade Index, and Flesch Reading Ease Index. Instead, the study uses three readability measures appropriate to the readability of annual reports prepared in Arabic, namely report length, report size, and LIX formula. The study contributes to the global debate about the economic consequences of adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by examining the impact of adopting IFRS on the readability of corporate annual reports, considering that this report is the main and official communication tool between the company and its stakeholders. This study is the first study to examine the impact of adopting IFRS on the readability of corporate annual reports in Saudi Arabia as one of the emerging markets.

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.

Does Board Independence Influence Annual Report Readability?

We examine whether board independence improves the readability of annual reports. Using a sample of 11,938 firm-year observations over the period 1997–2016, we empirically show that board independence decreases the readability of annual reports. This result is consistent with the notion of managerial avoidance of costly board monitoring. We also run an array of cross-sectional tests to understand the settings in which the association is either more or less pronounced. Even though managerial ability and SEC’s Plain English Rule of 1998 improve readability, we find that the negative relationship between board independence and readability continues to persist. Our results also reveal that directors’ tenure and CEO duality attenuate the board independence–readability relationship, while CEO tenure enhances this association. Overall, our findings provide additional insights into the link between board independence and annual report readability.

Organizational capital and readability of financial reports

This study uses pooled OLS technique to examine the effect of organizational capital on the readability of 10-Ks reports of a large sample of US firms from 1993 to 2019. The main finding reveals that firms with higher organizational capital report more readable 10-Ks. The effect of organizational capital on readability continues to be significant even after SEC's Plain English Rules of 1998. Our findings also reveal that organizational capital lessens the adverse effects of loss on the readability of annual reports. Overall, our findings reveal the importance of organizational capital in how a company disseminates information in its annual reports.

Disclosure characteristics of annual reports and information asymmetry: Evidence from foreign firms listed on the US stock exchange

This research examines the associations between two of the most interesting disclosure characteristics of annual reports and information asymmetry. It illustrates that the length of annual reports is negatively associated with information asymmetry. By contrast, our research shows that an improvement in the readability of annual reports does not positively affect information asymmetry among investors. Our research assumes the current tendency of annual reports does not worsen the information environments for investors in extracting the information.

Annual report readability and stock return synchronicity: Evidence from India

This study investigates the relationship between the comprehensibility of a firm’s annual report and its stock return synchronicity in the Indian market. The study employs the readability of annual reports as a measure for the cost of information processing. The findings suggest that firms with more readable annual reports tend to display higher stock return synchronicity. This relationship implies that more legible financial disclosures are associated with more efficient and transparent capital markets. Additionally, the research discovered that the relationship between readability and stock return synchronicity is particularly pronounced for companies with high institutional investment, high analyst coverage, and lower information asymmetry. The sample size of the study encompasses NSE 500 companies for the period 2015–2016 to 2019–2020.

Non-Financial Information Disclosure and High-Tech Executives' Insider Trading

This study investigates the relationship between non-financial information disclosed in annual reports and the probability of high-tech executives' insider trading by analyzing the readability of annual reports of high-tech companies listed on A-share markets from 2007 to 2021. The study finds that the lower the readability of the annual report, the higher the likelihood of insider trading by high-tech executives. This suggests that executives may manipulate annual reports to "conceal the obvious." Further research indicates that transparency in financial information, private ownership, and institutional investor holdings can restrain executives' opportunistic motives. This study offers insight for improving existing market supervision mechanisms for high-tech companies.

CEO gender and readability of annual reports: do female CEOs’ demographic attributes matter?

PurposeThis study examines the association between chief executive officer (CEO) gender and the readability of annual reports by considering some demographic attributes of female CEOs.Design/methodology/approachOrdinary least squares (OLS) regression is used to test the research hypotheses on a sample of S&P 500 firms between 2004 and 2016.FindingsThe results show that female CEOs are significantly positively associated with the readability of 10-K reports – in line with ethical-sensitivity theory. Further results show that this association is variable depending on the demographic attributes of female CEOs – in line with upper echelon theory. Specifically, older female CEOs and those with financial expertise are significantly associated with more readable 10-K reports. In contrast, female CEOs hired from within the firm are negatively associated with the readability of 10-K.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides evidence on the effect of female CEOs and their demographic attributes on annual report readability, which was not addressed in prior research.Practical implicationsThe findings show that the appointment of female CEOs seems like a helpful avenue to reduce concerns among the regulators about the textual complexity of annual reports. However, the most important policy implication of the study is that the decision to appoint female CEOs should be based more on their demographic attributes than on gender equality recommendations and full trust in women's behavioral consequences.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the academic literature on readability and gender. Prior research has not clarified which attributes and skills of female CEOs drive their abilities to improve shareholder value and make more ethical decisions. This study suggests that female CEOs are not better “per se” to improve corporate governance practices, and the impacts of female CEOs are not the same and differ according to their demographic attributes.

Asset redeployability and readability of annual report

We examine the impact of holding more redeployable assets on the readability of annual reports. Building on prior research, we develop two competing hypotheses. Using a large panel sample of 67,022 firm-year observations for the period of 1993–2018, we find that the annual reports of firms with more redeployable assets are easier to read and understand. We further obtain consistent results after performing a battery of robustness and endogeneity checks. Overall, our study joins the debate on whether holding more redeployable assets is beneficial or detrimental to a company and contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of asset redeployability.

Religiosity at the Top and Annual Report Readability

This paper examines how individual religiosity at the top level of organizations affects the quality of their disclosure practices, as measured by the readability of annual reports. Our paper extends the recent accounting and finance literature that moves away from a location-based measure to an individual-based measure for capturing the effect of religiosity. Our findings suggest that the individual religiosity of C-suite executives matters in corporate decision-making and has positive implications for the quality of corporate disclosure practices, as reflected by more readable reports. This main finding is primarily driven by the religiosity of CEOs. Additional findings also suggest that the effect of religiosity is not solely driven by the religious denomination of the majority group within a given location-based setting. Previous research using religiosity proxies based on the majority religion in the locale of firms’ headquarters may have measurement issues that disguise the effect of religiosity. This issue is particularly problematic when CEOs or other executives participate in minority religious denominations. Overall, our paper finds that CEO religiosity is an important attribute that affects the overall quality of business practice.

Earnings Management and Annual Report Readability: The Moderating Effect of Female Directors

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of earnings management on the readability of annual reports while also examining the moderating role of a female director. In particular, the readability of a company’s annual report will be seen from the management perspective using the FOG index on the annual reports of companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2015–2018 (excluding the financial sector), with a total sample of 996. This research confirms that companies that conduct earnings management can make complex company annual reports that are difficult to read as these companies tend to hide earnings management practices. Thus, the users of annual reports will find it difficult to identify these practices. This study confirms the mathematical theory of communication that annual reports are a communication tool for companies and, therefore, must be free from financial manipulation such as earnings management because this action will give a bad signal. Moreover, the moderating effect of female directors was not proven. This implies that female directors in Indonesia had not been able to moderate the readability of annual reports; one possibility might be due to the composition of female directors, which was relatively small.

The Effect of Readability of Annual Reports and Value Relevance of Financial Information on Agency Costs with Analyst Coverage as Moderating Variable

This study aims to determine the effect of readability based on the length of the annual report and the value relevance of the financial information on agency costs. The sample used in this study were 263 firm-year from Kompas100 index. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression method. The result of this study indicate that the higher the number of pages, words and characters, which reflects the poor readability of the annual report, has a negative effect on the asset turnover ratio, which is an inverse proxy for agency costs. Furthermore, the presence of the analyst coverage variable is able to moderate the positive effect between the number of pages, words and characters in the annual report on the asset turnover ratio. However, no significant effect was found during both test between value relevance to asset turnover ratio and that are moderated by analyst coverage.

Textual analysis of the annual report and corporate performance: evidence from China

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between the readability of annual reports and corporate performance in Chinese listed firms. Design/methodology/approach This research examined the annual report readability factors of Chinese listed companies by using a textual analysis method using Python to extract the text from the annual reports, convert it into numerical form to facilitate statistical analysis and then merge the results with data from the Chinese stock market to explain the impact on corporate performance and predict future earnings in the Chinese financial markets from 2008 to 2021. Findings Study findings indicate that firms with better financial reporting readability are more profitable, incur lower agency costs and have low earnings in the Chinese stock markets when readability is low (i.e. more complexity and length of annual reports). It was also found that when a listed company has a good performance, it prefers to use a short space to explain its operating and financial status. More generally, the means of the report length are short, and accounting terms are used less frequently; in the case of a poor company, the annual report is particularly long and accounting terms are more frequently used. In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, this study served as a proxy measure of returns prior to the announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, an instrumental variable approach is used, which helps results to remain robust and control for fixed effects and potential endogeneity problems. Research limitations/implications Although this study’s results cannot be generalised globally because of their limited scope, they can still be generalised across non-English speaking countries. Thus, future cross-country research is encouraged to examine the textual analysis of financial reports across those countries. Practical implications This study conveys two messages to investors and policymakers within the Chinese market. First, investors ought to pay greater attention to the nonfinancial information contained in annual reports to improve the accuracy of their predictions regarding future firm performance. Second, Chinese policymakers are encouraged to instate a policy for the use of plain English in annual reports to make them more readable by international investors. Originality/value This study contributes to the paucity of research that examines English-written annual reports in non-English speaking countries by examining the readability of annual reports in the Chinese market.

Determinants of annual reports complexity in the United States of America: an application of the Tobit model

PurposeThis paper explores the factors that shape the complexity of company annual reports in the USA. Using a general-to-specific modeling approach, this study examines the determinants of annual reports' tone complexity.Design/methodology/approachNegative relationships were found between agency problems and tone; agency costs and readability of annual reports; profitability and tone; and ownership structure and tone complexity.FindingsThese relationships helped to confirm several of this study’s hypotheses, whereas positive associations were found between investment growth opportunities and tone complexity, which contradicts one of our initial hypotheses. Findings reveal that the more complex the language in an annual report is, the more difficult it is to strategically make a judgment or decision about the reported financial situation.Originality/valueAnalyzing these variables allows security analysts and investors to obtain important information, not available in the financial statements, which would enhance their understanding of the firm and improve their recommendations and investment decision-making process.

Readability of Annual Reports on the Vienna Stock Exchange: A Test of Management Obfuscation Hypothesis

This research examines the relation between annual report readability and company performance in a German-speaking country, Austria. The incomplete revelation hypothesis, management obfuscation hypothesis and agency theory assume that firms with lower performance strategically use readability in their disclosures to obfuscate negative results. For investors, reading, analysing, and interpreting data becomes a costly affair; this weakens the negative effect of such data on a firm’s reputation and share price. We use LIX and Flesch formulas to measure the readability of letters to the shareholders and/or interviews with the board in annual reports. The sample consists of 37 companies that are listed on the Prime Market of the Vienna Stock Exchange and their data from the year 2009 to 2020. Company performance is measured by the change in turnover, profit, and share price. The analysed sections mostly show high to very high levels of difficulty. During the observation period, readability levels do not change significantly. We find that the annual reports of firms with lower performance are not harder to read and, therefore, cannot confirm the management obfuscation hypothesis. A significant influence of change in profit/loss on readability is minutely observed. Possible reasons for this observation could be characteristics of the German language, statistical outliers, the long observation period, more professional investor relations offices, and changing communication channels between companies and stakeholders. The last point, changing communication channels, also puts the obfuscation hypothesis and its application to readability up for discussion again. Implications for Central European audience: Our study shows that also Central European countries are confronted with low levels of readability in annual reports. Nevertheless, we cannot see a clear tendency towards obfuscation in corporate disclosures.

Association between fraudulent financial reporting, readability of annual reports, and abusive earnings management: A case of Indonesia

In practice, auditors sometimes have a hard time detecting false financial statements since they only look at the figures on the financial statements. Consequently, they ignore the red flags in the annual reports’ wording. This study aims to analyze how the level of readability of annual reports and abusive earnings management affects fraudulent financial reporting. A total of 240 annual reports from publicly traded industrial businesses were used. The paper used data from the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) and each sampled companies’ official website. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Falsified financial statements are the dependent variable, while annual report readability and abusive earnings management are independent variables. The Dechow F-Score is used to assess whether financial statements are false. The annual report’s readability is assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease, Length, Flesch-Kincaid, and Lasbarhets Indexes. Finally, accrual discretionary and real earnings management are used to uncover earnings management misuse. According to the findings, dishonest earnings management has a significant influence on financial statement fraud. Moreover, abusive earnings management can aid in the detection of falsified financial statements. AcknowledgmentsRector Universitas Trunojoyo Madura supported this paper under Grant Number 2285/UN46.3.1/PN/2019. Any and all views, results, conclusions, or recommendations stated in this material are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of Universitas Trunojoyo Madura. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Rector of Universitas Trunojoyo Madura for his efforts and cooperation in conducting this investigation.