Background and Problem: Sustainability reporting is a growing interest in today’s organizations and it is essential to report on non-financial matters. Many of the existing frameworks have been criticized for being used only of symbolical reasons which is why the concept of integrated reporting and the <IR> framework have been developed. One of the cornerstones in the <IR> framework is human capital which is one of the most valuable assets in an organization. Traditionally, employee costs have only been treated as an expense and there have been limited disclosures in corporate reports. In the current business world it is instead seen as an investment in human resources. Since previous studies have shown an increase of human capital disclosures when corporate reports become integrated, integrated reporting might be the solution to this problem. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine if there are differences in human capital disclosures between integrated reports and separate annual and sustainability reports in companies listed at OMXS30. Delimitations: This study’s empirical examination is limited to include the companies listed at Stockholm OMX30. Only corporate reports issued for the year 2014 are treated. Methodology: For this study a self-constructed disclosure scoreboard with human capital- related items has been used to collect data from the companies’ corporate reports. Also additional information beyond the pre-determined items has been collected to extend the data collection. Empirical Results and Conclusion: The results show that human capital seems to be a subject that is relatively little reported about. The integrated reporting companies do not disclose more information compared to non-integrated reporting companies. However, the results show that integrated reporting companies seem to have a more future-oriented focus and that the disclosures are more dispersed throughout the reports. It can be concluded that company sector and size do not affect the amount or type of information.

It is generally acknowledged that human capital intangibles are major value drivers in the new economy characterised by information and technology. The main purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange disclose information on human capital related issues. The study combined both qualitative (literature reviews and content analysis) and quantitative (survey questionnaire) methods to collect data of 60 corporate annual reports (CARs) of listed companies in South Africa from survey questionnaires administered on various categories of preparers and users of these CARs. The study made use of 91 human capital disclosure checklists developed from literature reviews for the purpose of data collection. The data analysis was done with the aid of Atlasti-a qualitative data analysis software and SPSS- a quantitative data analysis software. The findings show that majority of the items on the disclosure checklist are not yet disclosed in the CARs even though most of the items on the checklist are adjudged to be useful for organisational value creation. In view of the initial findings of this study, a human capital disclosure framework is recommended. / Business Management / D. Accounting Science

It is generally acknowledged that human capital intangibles are major value drivers in the new economy characterised by information and technology. The main purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange disclose information on human capital related issues. The study combined both qualitative (literature reviews and content analysis) and quantitative (survey questionnaire) methods to collect data of 60 corporate annual reports (CARs) of listed companies in South Africa from survey questionnaires administered on various categories of preparers and users of these CARs. The study made use of 91 human capital disclosure checklists developed from literature reviews for the purpose of data collection. The data analysis was done with the aid of Atlasti-a qualitative data analysis software and SPSS- a quantitative data analysis software. The findings show that majority of the items on the disclosure checklist are not yet disclosed in the CARs even though most of the items on the checklist are adjudged to be useful for organisational value creation. In view of the initial findings of this study, a human capital disclosure framework is recommended. / Business Management / D. Accounting Science