Voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy: determinants and outcomes. An empirical study into the risks and payoffs of communicating corporate strategy.

Business leaders increasingly face pressure from stakeholders to be transparent. There appears however little consensus on the risks and payoffs of disclosing vital information such as corporate strategy. To fill this gap, this study analyzes firm-specific determinants and organisational outcomes of voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. Stakeholder theory and agency theory help to understand whether companies serve their interest to engage with stakeholders and overcome information asymmetries. I connect these theories and propose a comprehensive approach to measure voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. Hypotheses from the theoretical framework are empirically tested through panel regression of data on identified determinants and outcomes and of disclosed strategy through annual reports, corporate social responsibility reports, corporate websites and corporate press releases by the 70 largest publicly listed companies in the Netherlands from 2003 through 2008. I found that industry, profitability, dual-listing status, national ranking status and listing age have significant effects on voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. No significant effects are found for size, leverage and ownership concentration. On outcomes, I found that liquidity of stock and corporate reputation are significantly influenced by voluntary disclosure of corporate strategy. No significant effect is found for volatility of stock. My contributions to theory, methodology and empirics offers a stepping-stone for further research into understanding how companies can use transparency to manage stakeholder relations

A pre-operative scoring system for adnexal mass in children and adolescents to preserve their future fertility

International audienceSTUDY OBJECTIVE: To develop a predictive score for ovarian malignancy to avoid unnecessary adnexectomy in cases of adnexal mass in pediatric and adolescent girls.DESIGN: A population-based retrospective study on girls who underwent surgery for an ovarian mass with normal levels of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) and alpha fœtoprotein (aFP) between 1996 and 2016.SETTING: Rennes University Hospital, Rennes, France.PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-one patients operated on for ovarian tumor.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measure was the rate of malignant and borderline tumor. A pre-operative scoring system was constructed after multivariate analysis.RESULTS: The rate of malignant ovarian tumor was 7%, borderline tumor was 9% (i.e., outcome measure: 16%), and benign tumor was 84%. In a univariate analysis, the characteristics significantly associated with malignancy were early puberty, palpable mass, size and content of the tumor, and positive epithelial tumor markers [CA 125, CEA, and CA 19-9]. The predictive malignancy score was based on two variables obtained after multivariate analysis: tumor size and cystic content. The score defined 3 groups at risk for malignancy: low risk, middle-risk and high-risk. The sensitivity for detecting malignancy was 1.3% (95%CI: 0.1–18.4), 26.2% (95%CI: 11.6-49.0) and 53.1% (95%CI: 29.1–75.8), respectively.CONCLUSION: We set up a simple predictive score of malignancy based on objective criteria to help decision making on whether or not ovarian-sparing surgery is feasible in case of children and adolescents with ovarian tumors and normal hCG and aFP levels while ensuring oncologic safety

Impact of Non-financial Disclosure Scores on the Cost of Equity Capital: Evidence from European Data in the Light of the Subprime Crisis

International audienceThis chapter explores the relationship between social, governance and environmental disclosure scores, on one hand, and the cost of capital, on the other. Its originality is the focus on the quality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure by studying global CSR at the same time as its three constituent dimensions. The empirical data it uses comes from Euronext SBF 120 companies over the period 2006 through 2011. The longitudinal study covers two separate periods (2006–2008 and 2009–2011). The corporate social responsibility disclosure scores (global, environment, social or governance) have an influence on the cost of capital. Moreover, financial analyst recommendations did, on the other hand, help lower the cost of capital. Lastly, the study shows that since 2009, financial analysts have increasingly taken the quality of CSR information disclosure into account in their Euronext SBF 120 stock recommendations

A review of economic factors influencing voluntary carbon disclosure in the property sector of developing economies

Global warming has consequences on the environment and economy; this led to the establishment of United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol. These two agreements were to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions which are responsible for climate change and global warming. Developing countries under the protocol are not obligated to reduce or disclosure GHG emission, so their participation in the protocol is on voluntary mitigation bases. This study intends to examine economic factors that influence voluntary carbon disclosure in the property sub-sector of developing countries based on annual report of listed property companies in Malaysia. Signaling theory addresses the problem of information asymmetry in the society. Disclosure is an effective tool to overcome information imbalance among different market participants. The study hypothesizes that the economic factors that influence voluntary carbon information disclosure in developing countries are: [1] the company's size; this is because a large-sized company have more resources to cover the cost of reducing pollution. [2] The company's gearing status; where there is no sufficient information disclosure in a highly geared company will result to an increased agency cost. [3] Profitability; profits grants companies a pool of resources for mitigation activities and environmental reporting. Also, carbon disclosure acts as a means for achieving public confidence and legitimacy. [4] Liquidity: Companies that are highly liquid will disclosure more information to distinguish themselves from other companies that are less liquidity. This is correlated to environmental disclosure. [5] Financial slack affects companies' ability to participate in green technology projects that enable a reduction in emission