An increasing number of companies are reporting their environmental performance, impacts, and activities. The objectives of such reports are many including, in particular, reacting to external pressures from company stakeholders demanding more information about environmental performance. This might also be matched by management requiring information to better run the business - hence an internal requirement for information that would then be available for publication. Because, this environmental reporting serves multiple objectives and satisfies different needs of different readers, it varies in the type of information provided, the scope and depth of material disclosed, presentation formats used, the credibility of the information provided and its overall quality. Although richness of report content, scope of topics covered, presentation and credibility of this content have all been used to assess the quality of corporate environmental reporting (CER), to date most prior studies have looked simply at the volume of and/or the types of information when assessing the quality of CER. Studies have used two main indices to measure disclosure quality; subjective analysts' indices and semi-objective indices. Subjective indices such as the Association of Investment Management and Research (AIMR), formerly the Financial Analysts Federation (FAF) disclosure ratings, are built on corporate disclosures' ratings weighted by a panel of leading analysts in each industry. In semi-objective indices, on the other hand, a pre-determined list of items (topics of disclosure) is developed and tested for their presence (absence ) and/or the richness of their content. It is noted that most disclosure studies adopt this second approach in the form of disclosure index studies, a partial type of content analysis. Other disclosure measures have included textual analysis such as thematic content analysis, readability studies, and linguistic analysis. However, there is no consensus about the best measure for assessing reporting quality. One of the most important limitations encountered in the disclosure literature is the difficulty in assessing the quality of disclosure (Healy and Palepu, 2001; Urquiza et al., 2009). For example, these studies identify three key limitations. Firstly, there is inherent subjectivity involved in the selection of the quality measure and in the coding scheme to assess this 'quality' generally researchers choose their own methods or proxies. Secondly, there is an ignorance of the quality perceptions of preparers and users of corporate disclosure. Hammond and Miles (2004) argue that we cannot assess the quality of disclosure independently of a detailed understanding of users' need of disclosure. Thirdly, it has been common to use annual reports (ARs) to assess the extent and quality of corporate responsibility disclosure, ignoring the other reporting media such as corporate responsibility reports (CRRs), websites, home advertisings, etc (Forst et al., 2005; KPMG, 2011). Thus considering the fact that robust, reliable, and replicable quality assessment is problematic, the objectives of this research are threefold. Firstly, to build a more representative quality model based on the findings of a questionnaire ascertaining the views of both preparers and distinct categories of readers of ARs and/or CRRs. Secondly, to apply this model to FTSE 100 CER in both ARs and CRRs to ascertain whether the proxies frequently used in prior literature yield similar results to those derived from this more complex model. Thirdly, to investigate whether the common use of ARs, rather than more detailed CRRs in assessing CER quality is giving a misleading picture of the level and richness of disclosure available to stakeholders.

The purpose of financial reporting is to provide information that is useful for decision making. Recently, however, there has been a systematic decline in the usefulness of such information. Indeed, the current reporting model seems to be no longer sufficient mainly due to the fact that it ignores many of the nonfinancial intangible factors which are increasingly becoming important in determining corporate value and performance. That is, there is a need for the traditional reporting model to be modified or at least broadened to reflect Intangible Assets (IA) in order to enhance the usefulness of information being provided to different stakeholders. In the absence of mandatory reporting requirements, one alternative way of disseminating information regarding IA is to engage in voluntary disclosure practices. It has also been suggested that companies which would benefit the most from such practice are those originating from emerging economies looking to expand into international markets. While there exists an array of empirical studies which have examined the voluntary disclosure practices of corporations from developed economies, less considered are the reporting practices of emerging market companies regarding their IA. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the voluntary disclosure practices of the top 200 emerging market companies regarding the variety, nature and extent of IA and to consider some of the factors that may be associated with the level of such disclosure. Using a disclosure index based on the Value Chain Scoreboard??? (Lev, 2001), narrative sections of the 2002 annual reports of the top 200 emerging market companies are analysed. The findings indicate that emerging market companies engage in voluntary disclosure practices in order to disseminate different varieties of mainly quantitative IA information to their global stakeholders. Further, the variety and the extent of IA disclosure are associated with corporate specific factors such as leverage, adoption of IFRS/US GAAP, industry type, and price to book ratio. Contrary to the existing literature on voluntary disclosure, however, firm size and ownership concentration are not found to be associated with the IA disclosure level. Country specific factors such as the level of risks associated with economic policy and legal system are also found to be significantly associated with the IA voluntary disclosure level.

Dissertation (MBus) -- AUT University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (ix, 113 leaves ; 30 cm.) in City Campus Theses Collection (T 658.4080951 LI)

M.Comm. (Accounting) / The emphasis given to narrative disclosure in corporate reporting, both in South Africa and internationally, has greatly increased in recent years. A major example of this was the issuance of The Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting (hereafter Conceptual Framework 2010) by the International Accounting Standards Board (hereafter IASB) in 2010. The Conceptual Framework was developed using the objective of financial reporting as a foundation (IASB, 2010a: par-OB1). In 2010, the IASB issued an International Financial Reporting Standard (hereafter IFRS) Practice Statement known as ‘Management Commentary – A framework for presentation’ (hereafter IFRS Practice Statement on Management Commentary). The IFRS Practice statement on Management Commentary defines management commentary as “a narrative report that provides a context within which to interpret the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of an entity. It also provides management with an opportunity to explain its objectives and its strategies for achieving those objectives” (IASB, 2010b: par-IN3).

Please read the abstract (Summary) on pp264-265 of this document / Thesis (DCom (Accounting))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Accounting / unrestricted

Ling Fook-tong. / Abstract also in Chinese. / Thesis (MBA)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: l. 49-50.

Chen Chang. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 33-34). / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Ma Yue. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-36). / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- Lincoln University, 2008. / Also available via the World Wide Web.

This study examines the disclosure of forward-looking information in annual reports of companies listed on Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE). It aims to determine if ZSE listed companies disclose forward-looking information and if they do disclose, how helpful the information is to the intended users of the annual report for decision making purposes? The factors proposed for the investigation are therefore disclosure and effectiveness of the forward-looking information. Since the annual reports represent the main source of voluntary disclosures of forward-looking information, the investigation uses a disclosure index based on an analysis of the statements made by management in annual reports of the companies listed on ZSE. In this study, the level of forward-looking information disclosed in the annual reports of the firms is examined in three broad categories namely, (a) context, nature, objectives and strategies, (b) drivers of development and performance, and (c) financial position, analysis and explanations . We find that companies do disclose forward-looking information. However, 9 out 10 companies sampled reflect that the level of disclosure lacks the critical detail and clarity necessary for decision making by its intended users. On average, excluding Old Mutual that is listed on the London and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges and has the highest score of 4 (i.e. above average disclosure - information is rich and detailed and contains key information), ZSE companies disclosed below average forwardlooking information insufficient to give a clear understanding of the position and performance of the company. The findings also suggest that companies disclosed forward-looking information without fully understanding the implications of the disclosure of such kind of information. This is evident in that, except for Old Mutual, no disclaimers or any notes were made by companies to cover themselves from litigations that could arise as a result of such disclosure. This could also suggest that Zimbabwe is not a litigious country in as far as reporting by companies is concerned. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / MBL