This study focuses on users of online reporting rather than corporations. It examines the extent to which users find online reporting important as a source of corporate information, and whether they perceive it useful and easy to use in making their investment decisions. To achieve this, 2,229 online questionnaires were sent to professional and private investors asking them about their perceptions of online reporting. Based on 162 responses, an Online Reporting Acceptance Model (ORAM) was established to investigate variables that drive users' acceptance of online reporting, proxied by actual usage. Empirical results revealed that there is a room for improving the quality of online reporting in the UK as users are in favour of having more information and technological facilities available on corporate web sites. Furthermore, users find online reporting so useful in making their investment decision that it has become the most important source of corporate information. The Online Reporting Acceptance Model provided evidence that both usefulness and ease of use are major determinants of actual usage. The study also examines the impact of online reporting quality on analysts' behaviour. It proposes a thematic multidimensional online reporting index to measure the quality of online reporting by FTSE 350 listed firms. It is found that companies with higher online reporting quality are more likely to be followed by financial analysts. However, the study found no impact of the quality of online reporting on either error or dispersion of analysts' EPS forecasts and common uncertainty in their information environment. One possible explanation for the insignificant relationship between online reporting quality and properties of analysts' forecasts is herding behaviour by analysts. Consistent with prior studies, results provided evidence of herding behaviour by financial analysts in the UK.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:641461 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Saleh, Ahmed |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=225329 |
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