Die freiwillige Publizität sogenannter Alternativer Performance Kennzahlen (APKs) wird fortlaufend kontrovers diskutiert. Gegenstand der Diskussion ist der mögliche Missbrauch von APKs aufgrund der Tatsache, dass diese relativ zu den nach gängigen Rechnungslegungsvorschriften (GAAP) fest...

Die vorliegende Dissertation untersucht, in welcher Form lokal entwickelte Corporate Governance Kodizes und Best Practices aus der Industrie zur Entwicklung der Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung (NB) in Südafrika, Mauritius und Kenia beitrugen. In der Vergangenheit wurde zwar die Notwendigkeit...

The highlights section in the annual report provides an opportunity for firms to emphasize specific performance measures and sets the tone for the rest of the annual report. Based on a sample of the top 200 Australian firms, we find that companies rely on non-IFRS earnings to supplement...

Organizations rely on accountability systems and transparency for decision-making and strategy implementation. Based on qualitative field data from multiple case studies, and quantitative survey data on senior executives, this thesis contributes to prior research on accountability system design...

This paper investigates the extent to which voluntary disclosure quality (VDQ) of firms is reflected in equity prices. As a novel contribution, we explore the idea that the speed with which equity prices reflect any benefits or costs of VDQ varies across firms. We find that in environments where...

Firms talk more about the climate on earnings conference calls when climate matters are more material for a firm, when there is greater shareholder pressure or when it is better prepared for climate-related disclosure. However, there is also large unexplained variation in climate talk. In a...

Research on the effects of voluntary disclosure quality on the cost of equity capital is often plagued by endogeneity concerns. I use a dynamic panel system GMM estimator to minimize these concerns by incorporating the dynamic nature of voluntary disclosure choices. The dynamic panel system GMM...

We hypothesise and test for a U-shaped relation between the cost of equity capital and the level of disclosure in annual report narratives. Using a computer-generated word-count-based index of the level of disclosure in U.K. annual report narratives, we document a negative relation with the cost...

Does earnings management, even though legal, hinder investor trust in reported earnings? Or do investors regard earnings management as a way for firms to convey private information, or simply as a neutral feature of financial reporting? We find that past abstinence from earnings management...