Using the sample of three largest stocks from seven main market sectors in the US, the thesis examines the effect of information content of earnings announce­ ments on market reaction across sectors. Our findings prove the asymmetry of market reaction to different earnings surprise categories with negative-surprise reaction being the most profound. The financial markets tend to be less ef­ ficient in response to negative earnings surprises. Leakage of information is not present suggesting that insider trading is well-mitigated on the US capital markets. Furthermore, we investigate the market reaction to earnings surprises in different sectors separately and find that Consumer Staples and IT sector tend to be the most sensitive, on the contrary Telecommunication and Energy sector tend to be the least sensitive. G14; G15; G30JEL Classification Keywords Earnings announcement; Market reaction; Mar­ ket efficiency; Cross-sector analysis; Corpo­ rate disclosure; Insider trading; Post-earnings- announcement drift A u th o r's e-m ail p a v e l.prucekSgm ail. com S u p erv iso r's e-m ail kocenda@f s v . c u n i. cz

Cette thèse est articulée en trois chapitres et s’inscrit dans le domaine de la recherche empirique en comptabilité financière. Elle examine les déterminants et les conséquences de la communication des entreprises. Le premier chapitre étudie les effets réels de la communication financière sur les dépenses de publicité des entreprises. Le deuxième chapitre, co-écrit avec Thomas Bourveau et Vedran Capkun, étudie les conséquences réelles de la communication des résultats de recherche médicale sur les marchés financiers et sur la société. Le troisième chapitre, co-écrit avec Vedran Capkun et Yun Lou, analyse l’influence de l’information propriétaire communiquée par des concurrents d’une entreprise sur leurs produits sur la décision de cette entreprise de communication de ses propres informations propriétaires. / This dissertation is composed of three chapters investigating the antecedents and consequences of corporate disclosure in the domain of empirical-archival financial accounting. The first chapter examines the real effects of firm disclosure and its timing on firm advertising investment. The second chapter, joint work with Thomas Bourveau and Vedran Capkun, documents the real consequences of pharmaceutical firms’ clinical trial disclosure in financial markets and on broader society. The third chapter presents a joint project with Vedran Capkun and Yun Lou, exploring intra-industry peer disclosure of proprietary information as antecedents of corporate disclosure decision at product level.

Världsekonomin har gått från att vara industribaserad till att bli mer och mer kunskapsbaserad. Nya kunskapsbaserade företag som Google och Spotify har växt fram utan stora materiella tillgångar och med helt andra framgångsfaktorer än tidigare. Detta har skapat ett växande gap mellan företags bokförda värde och marknadsvärde. Det värde som utgör skillnaden mellan marknadsvärde och bokfört värde kan kallas intellektuellt kapital. Definitionen av intellektuellt kapital har förändrats utvecklats och anpassats genom år av tidigare forskning. Med växande börsvärden och osynliga tillgångar har en global efterfrågan på ökad transparens i företags redovisning uppkommit. Av flertalet internationella initiativ för harmonisering av redovisning, anses standardiserad redovisning av intellektuellt kapital vara en del i lösningen på bristande information i den traditionella balansräkningen. Med växande gap mellan redovisat värde och börsvärde följer ett antagande om ett växande gap mellan tillgång och efterfrågan på information. Tidigare studier som undersökt redovisning av intellektuellt kapital i Sverige har dock givit resultat som inte är helt förenliga med det antagandet.Studiens syfte är att synligöra det intellektuella kapitalets förändring i svenska företag och därigenom förklara tillgång och efterfrågan på ytterligare information i den existerande redovisningen för att spegla företags marknadsvärde. Studien använder en modifierad version av Karl Erik Sveibys analysmodell för identifiering och kategorisering av intellektuellt kapital i de tre huvudkategorierna internt-, externt- och humant kapital. En kvantitativ innehållsanalys på årsredovisningar åren 2007, 2009 och 2011 från Sveriges fem största företag, utförs för att besvara frågan: Hur har redovisning av intellektuellt kapital förändrats i Sverige?Resultatet visar inte på någon markant bestående förändring i mängden redovisat intellektuellt kapital. Detta kan indikera att befintlig tillgång på information i redovisning möter efterfrågan och ger skäl att ifrågasätta och debattera en standardiserad redovisning av intellektuellt kapital baserat på en global efterfrågan. För vidare forskning föreslås studier med större antal företag samt empiriska studier av efterfrågan på information om intellektuellt kapital i redovisningen. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet

The thesis presents the results of a study on the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards on the analysts information environment. The analysis is concentrated on the role of specific IFRSs and corporate disclosure. The effect of IFRS adoption on the information asymmetry between firms and outsiders is examined through properties of analysts earnings forecasts. A contribution to the existing academic literature is made by examining the role of goodwill, intangible assets and acquisitions before and after IFRS adoption in Europe. The results show that the IFRSs for goodwill, acquisitions and intangible assets are related to improvements in the analysts information environment. Another contribution to knowledge is made by investigating the effect of corporate disclosure quantity on the analysts information environment before and after IFRS adoption. For this purpose, a new approach and text analysis technique to assess the impact of corporate disclosure quantity is developed. This involves the creation of a new custom dictionary and the collection of an extensive set of qualitative data. The results show that corporate disclosure quantity under IFRS, is related to improvements in the analysts information environment but that there are differences in this effect across European countries. The results also demonstrate that the improvements in the accuracy of analysts earnings forecasts are related particularly to disclosure concerning financial instruments and operating segments. Overall, the findings of the thesis suggest that the adoption of IFRS resulted in an increase in the quality of reported earnings, which is likely to derive from higher comparability of financial statements, enhanced transparency and an improved analysts information environment. It is also established that fundamental differences across countries remain after IFRS adoption and that the development and harmonisation of financial reporting standards alone are not sufficient to increase the quality of financial information and decrease information asymmetry between market participants.

Corporate reporting has changed from the traditional form of reporting which covered financial information only to the modern form of reporting called integrated reporting which covers, financial, corporate governance and sustainability information. The levels of corporate disclosure among corporate entities within any country and between countries are thus likely to have been affected by this change. Motivated by the IMF/World Bank (2006) that observed that corporate reporting improved in Botswana during the previous five years, without indicating what the actual level was or how it compares with that of other countries; this study sought to determine the actual level of corporate disclosure of two samples of companies: 23 companies listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) and the top 40 companies (by market capitalisation) that are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The study also shows how the two levels of corporate disclosure compare. This study is qualitative and descriptive by design; and involves analysing the content of the corporate annual report of each company in a sample using a corporate disclosure checklist; and determining the level of corporate disclosure for each sample of companies. The process ends with a comparative analysis of the levels of corporate disclosure of the companies from the two samples. Consistent with the IMF/World Bank report, the study revealed that the level of corporate disclosure in the BSE sample was low but increasing. However, the increase in the level of corporate disclosure varied from sector to sector and the specific information items. The study also showed that integrated reporting was not practised at all by the companies in the BSE sample. Comparatively, companies in the JSE sample had a higher level of corporate disclosure than that of companies in the BSE sample; and the rate of increase was much higher than that in the BSE sample. The study further found integrated reporting practiced in the entire JSE sample, although at different levels. xi This study also noted that although in principle it is sensible to benchmark from the best, other fundamental factors need to be considered before carrying out the exercise. Furthermore, the study indicated that the prevalent low level of corporate disclosure in the BSE sample was evidence that the corporate reporting environment in which the BSE lies was not conducive for the theories of corporate disclosure to fully explain corporate disclosure. A number of recommendations were made including establishing corporate disclosure indices and creation of a corporate environment in which all the theories discussed in the study can explain corporate disclosure. This study contributes to the literature on cross-country corporate disclosure and cautions companies with low levels of corporate disclosure not to embark on benchmarking without creating an environment conducive for corporate reporting. The study also offers useful insights to policymakers in Botswana and South Africa; and stimulates further research on cross-country corporate disclosure. The academia too will be able to identify areas for further research from this study. / Business Management / M. Com. (Accounting)

Corporate reporting has changed from the traditional form of reporting which covered financial information only to the modern form of reporting called integrated reporting which covers, financial, corporate governance and sustainability information. The levels of corporate disclosure among corporate entities within any country and between countries are thus likely to have been affected by this change. Motivated by the IMF/World Bank (2006) that observed that corporate reporting improved in Botswana during the previous five years, without indicating what the actual level was or how it compares with that of other countries; this study sought to determine the actual level of corporate disclosure of two samples of companies: 23 companies listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) and the top 40 companies (by market capitalisation) that are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The study also shows how the two levels of corporate disclosure compare. This study is qualitative and descriptive by design; and involves analysing the content of the corporate annual report of each company in a sample using a corporate disclosure checklist; and determining the level of corporate disclosure for each sample of companies. The process ends with a comparative analysis of the levels of corporate disclosure of the companies from the two samples. Consistent with the IMF/World Bank report, the study revealed that the level of corporate disclosure in the BSE sample was low but increasing. However, the increase in the level of corporate disclosure varied from sector to sector and the specific information items. The study also showed that integrated reporting was not practised at all by the companies in the BSE sample. Comparatively, companies in the JSE sample had a higher level of corporate disclosure than that of companies in the BSE sample; and the rate of increase was much higher than that in the BSE sample. The study further found integrated reporting practiced in the entire JSE sample, although at different levels. xi This study also noted that although in principle it is sensible to benchmark from the best, other fundamental factors need to be considered before carrying out the exercise. Furthermore, the study indicated that the prevalent low level of corporate disclosure in the BSE sample was evidence that the corporate reporting environment in which the BSE lies was not conducive for the theories of corporate disclosure to fully explain corporate disclosure. A number of recommendations were made including establishing corporate disclosure indices and creation of a corporate environment in which all the theories discussed in the study can explain corporate disclosure. This study contributes to the literature on cross-country corporate disclosure and cautions companies with low levels of corporate disclosure not to embark on benchmarking without creating an environment conducive for corporate reporting. The study also offers useful insights to policymakers in Botswana and South Africa; and stimulates further research on cross-country corporate disclosure. The academia too will be able to identify areas for further research from this study. / Business Management / M. Com. (Accounting)