Determinants of Internet Financial Reporting by New Zealand Companies

The development of the Internet as a global medium for the dissemination of corporate financial information creates a new reporting environment. Extensive literature examines the determinants of voluntary financial reporting through traditional media such as print–based annual reports. This paper extends this literature by examining the voluntary adoption of the Internet as a medium for transmitting financial reports and determinants of such voluntary practice by New Zealand companies. The results indicate that some determinants of traditional financial reporting—firm size, liquidity, industrial sector and spread of shareholding—are determinants of voluntary adoption of Internet financial reporting (IFR). However, other firm characteristics, such as leverage, profitability and internationalization do not explain the choice to use the Internet as a medium for corporate financial reporting.     

The 100 plus corporate environmental report study: A survey of an evolving environmental management tool

An emerging environmental management tool is the corporate environmental report, a free-standing document, analogous to the corporate annual report, but which covers environmental and often health and safety issues. This study examines the nature of the corporate environmental reports of large, public, US companies to determine which companies produce reports, what type of information is reported, how this information is presented, and who might be the audiences for this information. This study also seeks to identify state of the art practice in corporate environmental reports, drawing on the US reports and leading environmental reports from Europe and Canada. Over 100 US companies now publish corporate environmental reports. These companies are primarily from the manufacturing sector, although they are increasingly part of the service sector. Report issuers identified employees and shareholders as their primary audiences. Both overall report organization and composition as well as report distribution, including the use of the Internet for environmental reporting, were examined. Topics which reflect leading edge environmental practice are identified and examples from reports are given. These topics include integrating business and environmental performance, environmental policy, goals and measurement, management and organizational structure, environmental and resource data presentation, third-party verification, disclosure of negative information, and sustainability. The paper discusses trends in reporting and makes recommendations to improve reports.© 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Does the presentation reform of R&D expenses in China ease financial constraints in corporate innovation?

Focusing on a sample of 9387 observations in China over the period 2016−2019, this paper empirically examines whether the presentation reform of R&D expenses that is changed from notes to income statements, mitigates corporate financial constraints of Chinese listed companies. Findings offer evidence that the financial constraints of firms decrease after the policy change, which is owing to the alleviation of information asymmetry. Further analysis reveals that the effect of the presentation reform on financial constraints is less prominent among companies that are state-owned, audited by the “Big four” and of higher institutional ownership. Overall, our study provides evidence supporting the influences of the format reform of financial reports and has implications for information users, regulators, and standard setters.     

Internet use for corporate environmental reporting: current challenges—technical benefits—practical guidance

The huge opportunities of using the internet for corporate reporting are arranged in a comprehensive system of technical benefits. In order to give a tangible example and describe practical use thoroughly, the benefits are focused on environmental reporting but they can be transferred in major parts also to financial, social or sustainability reporting—seen as a currently emerging trend towards integrated financial, environmental and social reporting. In more detail, the system of internet‐specific benefits is illustrated by four main categories: benefits concerning the underlying purposes of publishing reports, benefits concerning the entire reporting process, benefits concerning the report contents and benefits concerning the report design. In terms of corporate reporting, professional internet use will enhance the way in which companies give information, communicate and manage their business internally and externally, benefiting all members involved that are reporting companies, addressed key target groups and other stakeholders such as standard setting institutions and benchmarking organizations. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment     

A Comparitive Study of the Use of Financial Graphs in the Corporate Annual Reports of Major U.S. and U.K. Companies

The use of graphs to disclose information in corporate annual reports represents a significant dimension in financial disclosure management. Surprisingly, no inter-country comparative analysis of this area of voluntary disclosure has been conducted. This study compares the graphical reporting practices in the 1990 annual reports of 176 leading U.S. and U.K. industrial companies. Ninety-two per cent of U.S. companies use graphs compared with 80% of U.K. companies; the mean number of graphs per company being 13.0 and 7.7, respectively. Sales, an earnings measure, earnings per share and dividends per share are the four most frequently graphed aggregate financial performance variables in both countries. Significant differences in several of the variables graphed are found and explained in terms of environmental factors. In both countries, evidence of graphical information manipulation exists in the form of selectivity, measurement distortion, and presentational enhancement. Moderate evidence supports the hypothesis that U.K. companies are more likely than U.S. companies to adopt interpretative shading. Regulators need to clarify the responsibilities of directors and auditors by setting graphical guidelines.     

A comparative analysis of corporate reporting on ethical issues by UK and German chemical and pharmaceutical companies

This paper reports on a study of reporting on ethical issues in the corporate annual reports of the largest UK and German chemical and pharmaceutical companies between 1985 and 1995. The study is both comparative and longitudinal in nature, examining in detail how ethical reporting practices developed differently in two Western nations. Despite the similarity in industry affiliations of the companies in the two samples, the study found substantial differences in the nature and patterns of reporting both across time and between the two countries studied. In particular, German companies reported more information and that reporting ‘matured’ to its current level at an earlier date. The paper explores some of the factors which might be thought to have caused this diversity in reporting between the two countries including: industry initiatives; extent of regulations demanding ethical responsibility; and other social and political pressures.     

基于英国OFR揭示的企业社会责任报告及其借鉴

英国对财务报告中反映企业社会责任(CSR)信息揭示部分的"经营与财务概况(OFR)",正通过公司法的形式尝试强制性的规范。本文结合英国OFR揭示规则的变化,分析英国财务报告中CSR信息揭示的发展过程,并就其对我国企业社会责任报告模式的借鉴加以探讨。     

Tales in two countries: An insight into corporate environmental reporting in Denmark and the UK

The 1992 EC Fifth Action Plan, ‘Towards Sustainability’, expresses the Commission's commitment to ‘sustainable growth’. Detailed in the plan are requirements and areas of improvement which relate, predominantly, to environmental management. However, financial and environmental management conflict in important and fundamental areas. A failure of management practice and European policy to identify and address this conflict will not only prolong the ecological inefficiencies of industry but will isolate intent and action. This study examines this conflict with respect to training, operational time-horizons, opportunity costs, corporate governance and growth. The Annual Report is the authoritative statement of corporate performance, policy, objectives and culture. Although most reports do provide a broad if summary coverage of the main business activities, such reports are dominated by the needs of financial management. Extensive legislation and professional edicts dictate the contents of these financial reports. From the perspective of the Annual Report, it is a reasonable conclusion that financial performance is a part of whatever constitutes the core values of corporations. From this same perspective, it is also reasonable to infer that in many corporations environmental performance is not a part of corporate core values. This study compares and contrasts the Annual Reports of six environmentally significant companies in Denmark and the UK. The British environmental reports studied are thorough but separate from the Annual Report. On the other hand, the Danish firms incorporate all their environmental reporting within their Annual Reports. Which gives a better expression of a change in corporate core values?.     

我国XBRL应用的最新动态及推进措施

XBRL是因特网企业财务报告编制、发布、数据交换和财务报表及所含信息分析的一种标准方法。它的出现大大改进了传统财务报告信息传递的速度和时效,为财务信息的使用者提供便利。在XBRL国际组织的强力推广下,该技术已经广泛为世界各国所接受并得到成功应用,目前该项技术在中国也逐步在研究和应用。本文主要分析了我国应用XBR对传统会计的影响,以及XBR应用的推进措施。     

Carbon disclosure and financial performance: UK environmental policy

The outcome of carbon disclosure, the importance of which has grown remarkably in recent years to become a strategic decision‐making issue for organisations in today's competitive environment, is a subject of lively debate but remains under‐researched in the environmental accounting literature. This study is motivated by this research gap and the growing interest in assessing the financial consequences of corporate involvement in climate change beyond regulatory compliance, as evidenced by firms' voluntary participation in the Carbon Disclosure Project. Using the resource‐based view of the firm as a theoretical framework and linking it to carbon disclosure through Carbon Disclosure Project, we conceptualise and empirically investigate the impact of adopting proactive carbon management policies and communicating them to stakeholders, focusing on the financial performance of the top FTSE350 companies between 2007 and 2015. By developing a comprehensive financial performance index and controlling for several firm characteristics, we find strong evidence that voluntary carbon disclosure is positively associated with firm financial performance. The findings in this paper provide new insights and policy implications for managers, financial stakeholders, and regulators.     

我国企业内部控制信息披露存在的问题及对策分析

内部控制信息披露,可以提高企业财务报告的可靠性,为投资者提供财务报告所不能提供的信息,有助于提高管理当局内部控制的管理水平。目前我国企业内部控制信息披露存在的问题,法律、规范的不完善,企业领导者的认识不到位,与商业秘密的保护存在冲突。文章对此进行了分析,并在此基础上提出了相应的对策。     

上市公司中期财务报告自愿审计的公司治理动因——基于深圳证券市场的经验证据

本文立足于我国新兴资本市场中上市公司自愿接受中期财务报告审计这一独特的典型现象,借助于深圳证券市场的经验数据,以“审计需求动因”为理论基础,尝试通过构建经验模型,分析自愿接受中期财务报告审计的企业所具备的公司治理特征。本文采取Spearman描述性统计和Logit回归分析方法进行研究,研究发现资产负债率和资产收益率显著影响是否自愿接受中期财务报告的审计,独立董事比例、第一大股东持股比例及控股如否、管理层持股比例、两职合一以及股权制衡因素影响均不显著。     

The Influence of the Keiretsu on Japanese Corporate Disclosure

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

Sustainability reporting quality and post‐audit financial reporting quality: Empirical evidence from the UK

This study examines whether firms that appear to exhibit high sustainability reporting quality are less likely to engage in earnings management activities, thereby delivering financial information that is more transparent and reliable than that delivered by firms that do not produce high‐quality sustainability reports. I also investigate whether the association between sustainability reporting quality and post‐audit financial reporting quality is conditional on audit effort. Analysis of data drawn from FTSE 350 companies covering 2007 to 2018 indicates that firms that produce high‐quality sustainability reports are significantly and negatively associated with earnings management metrics. More importantly, this association is moderated by audit effort, measured by audit fees, suggesting that sustainability reporting quality reflects factors considered by auditors in their audit risk assessment practices. These results remain robust after several sensitivity analyses. I conclude that firms that devote more resources to producing high‐quality sustainability reports are likely to demonstrate an overall commitment to quality that alleviates auditors' concerns about the opportunistic use of sustainability reporting and reduces business risk, thereby reducing the effort auditors expend to verify financial reports.     

食品企业社会责任信息披露影响因素研究

针对近年来不断出现的食品安全事件,结合企业社会责任理论和食品行业披露的社会责任信息,对中国食品企业社会责任信息披露的主要影响因素进行了实证分析。文章选取了2006～2010年食品行业的A股公司作为研究样本,通过对企业年报、社会责任报告的内容分析,测算了公司社会责任信息披露指数。研究发现:规模越大、独立董事比例越高的公司披露的社会责任信息越多;公司财务杠杆和企业社会责任信息披露负相关;企业性质对企业社会责任信息披露无显著影响。论文从实证结果出发,提出了食品企业建立社会责任信息披露制度的建议。     

A Study of Corporate Disclosure Practice and Effectiveness in Hong Kong

The recent economic turmoil in Asia has led to a wider recognition of the importance of corporate transparency and disclosures in financial dealings. The objective of this study is to provide comprehensive and up-to-date evidence of current practice and perceived effectiveness of corporate disclosure of listed companies in an emerging economy—Hong Kong. The study compares the perceptions of chief financial officers (CFOs) and financial analysts about a variety of information flow, disclosure and capital market efficiency issues. It also seeks to determine whether there is a perceived need for increased financial reporting regulations and to what extent this and other alternative means might improve market functioning. While both subject groups believed that a majority of firms only adopt a conservative one-way disclosure strategy and the existence of a communication gap, analysts perceived a much higher need than CFOs for increased financial reporting regulations. Neither group thought that enhancing disclosure requirements alone would suffice to close this gap. Instead, they suggested an improvement in the quality of the communication and disclosure processes through means such as choosing more appropriate communication media, formulating a more proactive disclosure strategy, enhancing investor relationship, and voluntarily reporting more information desired by users.     

Financial reporting in the context of crisis: reconsidering the impact of the 'mania' on early railway accounting

The patterns of change in the financial reporting practices of the early railway companies, and their causes, are important aspects of the evolution of accounting practice more generally. They have accordingly been widely discussed in the literature, although the views expressed have rarely been supported by reference to any very substantial or systematically derived bodies of empirical evidence. One of the most interesting and important suggestions in this literature is the claim that the early UK railway companies voluntarily made both quantitative and qualitative changes to their published accounting statements, in response to a crisis in shareholder confidence in the second half of the 1840s, consequent upon the collapse of the railway mania of 1845–47. The quantitative response involved the disclosure of far more information and the qualitative led to changes in the conceptual basis of reporting, from a cash to an accruals basis, changes that met with the satisfaction of the shareholders concerned and were important parts of the gradual evolution of financial reporting. The paper undertakes a systematic analysis of the financial accounting practices of the major early railway companies from 1840 until 1855. The mapping of the variety of such practices, and their changes over time, enable a re-examination of these important claims concerning the nature of the financial reporting response to one of its earliest crises.     

External reporting of accounting and financial information via the Internet in Spain

This paper describes the current (July 1998) level of usage of Internet communication technologies by Spanish quoted companies for communication of financial and other information to interested parties. First, in order to place the communication activity in context, the current extent of Internet access in Spain is described. Second, a study of the websites which have been established by Spanish companies quoted on the Madrid Stock Exchange is reported. Finally, the paper discusses the actual and potential development of the Internet as a means of establishing ‘corporate dialogue’ (Spaul, 1997) with stakeholders.