Level of business insights in the MD&A and nonprofessional investors' judgments

This study examines how the level of business insights in a firm's MD&A interacts with its current financial performance to influence nonprofessional investors' judgments. Following the observations and guidance of the ASIC and SEC to define low‐and high‐insight MD&A, this study finds that low‐insight MD&A, when provided for a negative earnings surprise, increases investors’ judgments of the negative earnings persistence and hurts management reputation more than if no MD&A had been provided. High‐insight MD&A, when including a plausible external attribution, increases investors’ judgments of management reputation in the negative earnings surprise condition and decreases investors’ judgments of positive earnings persistence.     

A stakeholder analysis of employee disclosures in annual reports

Little empirical research has identified what drives companies to voluntarily report employee‐related information. Ullmann's three‐dimensional stakeholder theory model is applied as a framework to analyse associations with corporate employee‐related disclosures. Measures are developed to estimate stakeholder power, strategic posture and economic performance associated with employee‐related disclosures. Results indicate that employee‐related disclosures increase with more employee share ownership, employee concentration, the quality of corporate governance, employee recognition in corporate mission statements, adverse publicity about employees and economic performance measured by profit per employee.     

Investor valuations of suppliers' major customer disclosures

I investigate whether or not investors in suppliers to retailers find the major customer disclosure value-relevant. Major customer retailers have buyer power because the retailer represents a significant portion of a supplier's sales. Buyer power can indicate reliance on one customer where the supplier is at a disadvantage in negotiating transaction terms. Alternatively, the existence of major customers may suggest the supplier is in a mutually-benefiting partnership with the retailer. I hypothesize that investors find the major customer disclosure value-relevant; however, the direction depends on whether the investor focuses on the partnership aspect or sales concentrated with one customer. My valuation results are consistent with investors focusing on the sales concentration for larger suppliers (higher risk) and the mutually benefiting partnership for smaller suppliers (lower risk). The findings provide insight on valuation implications of having and disclosing a major customer.     

Accounting for climate change and the self-regulation of carbon disclosures

Adopting a form of “critical dialogic engagement” (Bebbington et al., 2007), this paper explores how dominant environmental discourses can influence and shape carbon disclosure regulation. Carbon-related disclosures have increased significantly in the last five years, and many of these disclosures remain voluntary. This paper considers both the construction of self-regulated carbon disclosure practices and the role that this kind of carbon information may have in climate change-related decision making. Our preliminary findings indicate that the methodological diversity underpinning carbon disclosures may inhibit the usefulness of climate change-related data. To explore these issues, this paper focuses on the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the use of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol as a reporting model within it.     

Information asymmetry and accounting disclosures for joint ventures

In September 1999, the Financial Accounting Foundation issued a special report recommending the use of the equity method supplemented with appropriate disclosures for corporate joint ventures in the United States. This study, using data for corporate joint ventures in Singapore, provides some preliminary evidence regarding the effect of the supplementary information disclosure on information asymmetry among market participants as measured by bid-ask spreads. The results show that the disclosure of supplementary information of joint ventures is associated with a significant decline in bid-ask spreads. The results also indicate that the decline in information asymmetry is larger when the investment in joint ventures is significant and that larger investing firms tend to have a smaller decline in information asymmetry compared to smaller investing firms. The implications of this study, that the provision of supplementary information about joint ventures could reduce information asymmetry among participants in equity markets, thus leveling the playing field among traders, could have implications for policymakers.     

The perceived credibility of forward-looking performance disclosures

We investigate the credibility of forward-looking performance disclosures (FLPDs) in the narrative sections of annual reports, as perceived by investors. Our proxy for these disclosures is an index of statements about future performance. We find that companies issue more FLPDs when raising debt or conveying bad news in the financial statements. In the presence of these managerial incentives, investor reliance on FLPDs increases with the quality of earnings reported in the audited financial statements. Our results suggest that firms derive a benefit in terms of higher credibility for their narrative disclosures from having a reputation for high quality earnings.     

Geographic segment disclosures: Theories, findings, and implications

This article discusses both the relevant theories and the research findings on geographic segment disclosures under SFAS 14 and relates implications of these findings to the FASB/AcSB's exposure draft. Research studies on geographic segment disclosures are divided into three broad categories: predictive ability, security pricing, and risk assessment. For each category, we provide a theoretical analysis of the importance of geographic segment information and the related empirical findings. Finally, we relate potential implications for the usefulness of geographic segment disclosures to the FASB/AcSB's exposure draft, discussing both weaknesses and improvements.     

Ownership concentration, voluntary disclosures and information asymmetry in New Zealand

This paper investigates the impact of different classes of ownership concentration on information asymmetry conditional upon corporate voluntary disclosures in New Zealand. The current paper attempts to extend this stream of research by incorporating three mutually exclusive ownership structures and considering the interactive relationship between such ownership structures and corporate voluntary disclosures. Results reveal that ownership concentration in general is significantly positively associated with bid-ask spreads (proxy for information asymmetry) observed around annual report release dates. This finding supports the adverse selection hypothesis and importantly this effect is found to be most pronounced for financial institutions and management-controlled ownership categories. When voluntary disclosure is taken into account, the findings demonstrate that disclosures significantly attenuate information asymmetry risk associated with ownership concentration. This effect is particularly pronounced for firms with management-controlled ownership structures. The findings highlight the importance of corporate disclosures under concentrated ownership structures especially management-controlled ownership structures in reducing information asymmetry and enhancing market efficiency in New Zealand.     

Evidence of assurance enhancing the quality of voluntary environmental disclosures: an empirical analysis

In response to investor and public concerns about harm to the environment, companies are increasingly disclosing environmental information. To enhance the quality of corporate environmental disclosures in a largely voluntary context, various stakeholders are also demanding independent assurance. This study uses a stakeholder‐agency theoretical perspective to examine whether the quality of voluntary environmental disclosures is enhanced when assured. This study also examines the difference in the quality of voluntary environmental disclosures when assurance is provided by either professional accountant assurers or private consultants. Our sample comprises listed companies voluntarily disclosing environmental information in stand‐alone reports, annual reports, and websites. We use an index based upon the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to measure the quality of company environmental reporting. Results of this matched pairs study show that the quality of voluntary environmental disclosures scores significantly higher for assured companies than unassured companies. For assured companies, the quality is no different when assured by accountants or consultants. Additional analysis provides preliminary evidence that experience improves the quality of environmental disclosures.     

Meanings of the term ‘sustainable development’ in Finnish corporate disclosures

There is an on-going discursive struggle over how the social and environmental problems related to modern societies should be understood and resolved. Sustainable development has become a pre-eminent concept in these discussions and businesses are increasingly employing the term in their communications. However, sustainable development means “different things to different people in different contexts” [Bebbington, J. (2001). Sustainable development: A review of the international development, business and accounting literature. Accounting Forum, 25(2), 128–157; see p. 129]. Thus, there have been recent calls in the literature to analyse what the companies are actually saying in their disclosures [Thomson, I., & Bebbington, J. (2005). Social and environmental reporting in the UK: A pedagogic evaluation. Critical Perspectives on Accounting; Kolk, A. (1999). Evaluating corporate environmental reporting. Business Strategy and the Environment, 8, 225–237]. Subscribing to the social construction of reality, this study critically assesses how the term ‘sustainable development’ is constructed in the disclosures of Finnish listed companies.

Overall, in the disclosures, sustainable development is constructed as a win-win concept, which allows society to enjoy economic growth, environmental protection and social improvements with no trade-offs or radical restructurings in the social order. However, behind the usual business rhetoric, there is very little evidence of anyone actually walking this talk. Accordingly, this research calls for further discussion on companies’ role in achieving sustainable development and on the business interpretation of sustainable development in general.     

The impact of community expectations on corporate community involvement disclosures in the UK

Despite increase mistrust between corporations and societies in the aftermath of the global corporate misbehaviours, the literature examining the impact of community concerns on corporate communications is undeveloped. Our paper is timely; it contributes to the literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) by considering the impacts of community expectations on Corporate Community Involvement Disclosures (CCID) using a ten-year panel study. We advance CSR communication research by providing a fresh theoretical perspective – media-agenda-setting theory – to the broad CSR debate and the CCID subset of this debate. Our findings support the media-agenda theoretical expectation and provide important practice and policy recommendations for improving interactions between corporations and their communities.     

Evidence on the efficacy of interest-rate risk disclosures by commercial banks

This paper documents evidence on the efficacy of maturity-gap disclosures of commercial banks in indicating their net interest income that is exposed to interest-rate risk. For the large sample of banks that filed call reports from 1990 to 1997, a period that includes a wide range of interest rate movements, we find that (i) one-year maturity gap measures are significantly related to the one-year- and three-years-ahead change in net interest income, (ii) fixed-rate and variable-rate instruments differ in explanatory ability, and (iii) the one-to-five-year aggregate gap measures also have some power in explaining three-year-ahead changes in net interest income. These findings hold after controlling for the ex post growth in assets as well as the amount of rate-sensitive assets and liabilities (a competing set of explanatory variables). Because the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s [Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), (1997). Disclosure of accounting policies for derivative financial instruments and derivative commodity instruments and disclosure of qualitative and quantitative information about market risk inherent in derivative financial instruments, other financial instruments, and derivative commodity instruments. Release Nos. 33-7386; 3438223; IC-22487; FR-48; International Series No. 1047; File No. S7-35-95 (January 31, 1997), Washington, DC] tabular disclosures are finer than maturity-gap data, our findings mitigate concerns about the usefulness of the SEC's market-risk-disclosure requirements. Furthermore, they suggest contrary to the claims of certain banks that the omission of prepayment and early withdrawal risk from gap measures does not totally compromise the ability of gap data to indicate interest-risk exposures.     

Critical accounting policy and estimate disclosures: Company response to the evolving SEC guidance

In late 2001, soon after numerous financial reporting failures including the much publicized demise of Enron, the SEC began a series of initiatives to improve critical accounting policy (CAP) and critical accounting estimate disclosures included within the MD&A section of Form 10-K. The first announcement, in the form of cautionary guidance, was issued in December 2001. This was followed by a Proposed Rule in 2002, and additional disclosure guidance near the end of 2003. Combined, the guidance required companies to provide information that would help investors understand the impact of estimates, accounting policies and external factors on financial results. Through 2007, the SEC continued to provide guidance as to the content of CAP disclosures in the MD&A.In this study, we assess the extent to which companies responded to the initial CAP guidance, and determine the extent to which company disclosures changed with additional SEC guidance by analyzing CAP disclosures included in the 2001 and 2003 10-K filings for 112 of the Mid-Cap 400 companies. Our findings indicate that most, but not all, sampled companies included 2001 CAP disclosures consistent with the cautionary advice. We find that the disclosure content increased from 2001 to 2003, and that the disclosure quality also increased. However, some items remained underdisclosed in 2003, indicating that even after a 2-year period in which the SEC continued to provide additional guidance and reviewed company CAP disclosures, companies were not fully disclosing content identified as important by the SEC, particularly when the guidance was included in the Proposed Rule.     

Media coverage and voluntary environmental disclosures: A developing country exploratory experiment

This research extends the developing-country environmental disclosure literature by exploring managerial perceptions of different environmental events and the impact of media coverage on management's decision to provide annual report environmental disclosure (ARED) voluntarily. Using the broad lens of stakeholder theory in conjunction with media agenda setting theory, a Malaysian experiment is initiated to gain insights into the type of ARED strategy preferred by management. The study also examines whether these preferences are affected by such factors as: (1) the stakeholder's perceived significance of the environmental event; (2) the stakeholder's threat/cooperation potential; and (3) the impact of media publicity on the featured event. The results suggest that the influence of media coverage on management's preferred ARED strategy is most pronounced when the event is of a negative nature and is generally ‘unobtrusive’, such that the stakeholders concerned have less direct experience on the issue.     

Market reaction to quantitative and qualitative order backlog disclosures

Analysts and practitioners have long sought information on order backlog (OB) as indicators of future sales, and in turn, of future earnings and stock returns. OB disclosures, though mandatory for annual reports, are voluntarily included in some quarterly reports and are sometimes presented only in textual narration. Given that the required annual OB data may be partially preempted by voluntary quarterly disclosures, we test whether quarterly OB disclosures are used by market participants, especially the qualitative OB disclosures, which were not tested before. We show that OB growth is helpful in forecasting future sales and thus assign a positive tone to qualitative OB disclosures that indicate OB growth. Both quarterly quantitative OB increases and positive qualitative tone are associated with immediate and drift returns, after controlling for other disclosures during the quarterly earnings announcements and variables that affect voluntary disclosure. Our results indicate that regulators may need to consider requiring OB disclosures in quarterly intervals when OB is sufficiently material.     

Shareholders’ requirements for corporate environmental disclosures: A cross country comparison

We survey individual shareholders in Australia, the UK and the US regarding corporate environmental disclosures. In general, respondents in the three countries are interested in, and positively disposed towards, these disclosures. We observe country and gender differences with Australian and female respondents more in favour of environmental reporting than others. Specifically, respondents require disclosure of an overview of environmental risks and impacts, the environmental policy, performance against measurable environmental targets and information on a range of environmental costs. Most shareholders require environmental disclosures to be audited. Shareholders call for environmental information because they believe managers should be accountable to shareholders for their companies’ environmental impacts. Furthermore, shareholders have indicated the uses for specific types of environmental information. Our results imply that legislators, standard setters and companies have to consider the policy implications of these shareholder views.     

The economic effects of expanded compensation disclosures

This paper analyzes the effects of expanded compensation disclosures on manager pay. For identification, I use the introduction of the Compensation Discussion and Analysis (CD&A) in the 2007 proxy season, a significant expansion in required compensation disclosures, to compare manager pay at firms with and without the disclosure in a difference-in-differences analysis. These disclosures are associated with increasing pay, contrary to the conventional wisdom that pay disclosures reduce pay levels via better shareholder monitoring. I hypothesize that enhanced ex ante disclosures of incentive plans reduce boards’ flexibility to make ex post adjustments or to use subjectivity and pressure boards toward more formulaic plans. Both effects impose higher payout risk on managers, leading to increased pay levels. Consistent with this hypothesis, the CD&A introduction is associated with lower likelihood to earn variable cash pay, greater use of formula-based pay, and higher pay at firms with more volatile measures of performance.     

Intellectual capital disclosures by South African companies: A longitudinal investigation

Most of the previous studies on intellectual capital disclosures have been conducted from developed countries' context. There is very limited empirical evidence in this area from the context of emerging economies in general and Africa in particular. This paper is one of the early attempts in this regard. The main purpose of this study is to examine the extent and nature of intellectual capital disclosures in ‘Top 20’ South African companies over a 5 years period (2002–2006). The study uses content analysis method to scrutinise the patterns of intellectual capital disclosures during the study period. The results show that intellectual capital disclosures in South Africa have increased over the 5 years study period with certain firms reporting considerably more than others. Out of the three broad categories of intellectual capital disclosures human capital appears to be the most popular category. This finding stands in sharp contrast to the previous studies in this area where external capital was found to be most popular category.     

Voluntary disclosures of intangibles information by U.S.-listed Asian companies

This paper provides evidence on the voluntary disclosure of intangibles information for U.S.-listed Asian companies. The paper examines the following issues: (1) the effect of firm size, ownership concentration, proportion of foreign revenue, and leverage on voluntary disclosures of intangibles information by U.S.-listed Asian companies; and (2) the use of international standards, and the effect of domestic and global culture on those disclosures. Results indicate that larger firms, firms with greater ownership dispersion, and firms with lower leverage provide more voluntary disclosure of intangibles information. The paper also documents that companies from countries that are more individualistic provide more voluntary disclosure of intangibles information than companies from countries that are collectivist. Therefore, it appears that domestic culture does affect the voluntary disclosure of intangibles information in the U.S. This paper uses the index developed for Portuguese companies by Oliveira, Rodrigues, and Craig (2006), to measure voluntary disclosures of intangibles information thereby providing external validity to their instrument.