Master-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2008.

Zugl.: Münster (Westfalen), Universiẗat, Diss., 2007.

For many years, international financial reporting – and in particular the notes reporting – has been criticized in practice and academia for failing to provide information that is appropriate for its intended users. This criticism points to deficits with regard to the content and presentation and, thus, to the overall quality of the notes reporting. However, this criticism is predominantly anecdotal in nature as there is, as yet, scarcely any valid scientific evidence that supports these claims. This work addresses this research gap by elaborating what (notes) reporting quality is, what dimensions it consists of (conceptualization), how these dimensions can be measured (operationalization) and how they are empirically manifested (empirical evidence). For the latent construct of (notes) reporting quality, a formative measuring instrument to be used in an integrative content analysis is developed with which both dimensions of (notes) reporting quality – a content dimension (e.g., relevance) and a formal dimension (e.g., diction/readability) – can be measured and analyzed. This measuring instrument is validated both theoretically (argumentative reflection) and empirically (testing of hypotheses derivable from the underlying theories). The subsequent analysis of the notes reporting quality of a representative sample of German firms reveals that the above-mentioned criticism is well founded. Furthermore, the results point out both what specific deficits exist and where. The results of this work – the conceptualization, the operationalization and the empirical evidence – together form a starting point for developing, in the context of the (notes) reporting and its quality, valid insights/knowledge in research, ‘best practice’ solutions in practice and conceptually sound and target-oriented solutions in regulation.

Cohabitation is becoming more prevalent in western society so that up to 7.5 million cohabiting couples were reported in the USA for the year 2010. The present study investigated whether the cohabitants’ attachment style might be one of the reasons for cohabitation gaining such popularity. Attachment styles as well as socio-demographic variables were compared in regard to the partnership status. A sample of 1,002 participants aged 18 to 60 were used as a representative sample (M = 43.5, SD = 10.9), of which 54% were female and 82% were married. The cohabitants were younger, more highly educated, and less frequently affiliated with a church. The cohabitants were more anxious-attached, especially those of a younger age. A one-point increase in value on the AAS anxiety scale almost doubled the possibility of cohabitation. Most of the variance can be explained by socio-demographic variables. However, based on these representative data, and after controlling for socio-demographic variables, attachment anxiety is still connected to cohabitation. The diverse results in the literature may be explained by differences in the socio-demographic characteristics of the sample.

Cohabitation is becoming more prevalent in western society so that up to 7.5 million cohabiting couples were reported in the USA for the year 2010. The present study investigated whether the cohabitants’ attachment style might be one of the reasons for cohabitation gaining such popularity. Attachment styles as well as socio-demographic variables were compared in regard to the partnership status. A sample of 1,002 participants aged 18 to 60 were used as a representative sample (M = 43.5, SD = 10.9), of which 54% were female and 82% were married. The cohabitants were younger, more highly educated, and less frequently affiliated with a church. The cohabitants were more anxious-attached, especially those of a younger age. A one-point increase in value on the AAS anxiety scale almost doubled the possibility of cohabitation. Most of the variance can be explained by socio-demographic variables. However, based on these representative data, and after controlling for socio-demographic variables, attachment anxiety is still connected to cohabitation. The diverse results in the literature may be explained by differences in the socio-demographic characteristics of the sample.

Der internationalen Finanzberichterstattung – und darin insbesondere der Anhangberichterstattung – wird seit vielen Jahren in Praxis und Wissenschaft eine fehlende adressatengerechte Informationsbereitstellung vorgeworfen. Die Kritik deutet auf Defizite hinsichtlich Inhalt und Darstellung und somit insgesamt der Qualität der Anhangberichterstattung hin. Diese Kritik ist jedoch überwiegend anekdotischer Natur, valide wissenschaftliche Evidenz fehlt bislang. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird diese Forschungslücke adressiert. Für das latente Konstrukt Berichterstattungsqualität wird dafür zunächst ein formatives Messinstrument entwickelt, mit dem sowohl die inhaltliche (u. a. Relevanz) als auch die formale Dimension (u. a. Lesbarkeit) von Berichterstattungsqualität gemessen und analysiert werden kann. Dieses Messinstrument wird sowohl theoretisch (argumentative Reflektion) als auch empirisch (Prüfung von aus den zugrundeliegenden Theorien ableitbaren Relationen) validiert. Die anschließende Erhebung von Berichterstattungsqualität einer repräsentativen Stichprobe deutscher Unternehmen mittels einer integrativen Inhaltsanalyse verdeutlicht, dass die o. g. Kritik begründet ist und zeigt auf, worin konkret Defizite bestehen. Die vorliegende Arbeit leistet damit einen Beitrag zur konzeptionellen und empirischen Rechnungslegungsforschung.:Teil 1: Einführung Teil 2: Grundlagen Teil 3: Konzeptionierung von Berichterstattungsqualität Teil 4: Empirische Analyse von Berichterstattungsqualität im Anhang bzgl. immaterieller Vermögenswerte Teil 5: Fazit