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

Old interiors in Holland

Con 100 colotipia

Session Q-4: "European FDI and globalization: 1945-2005" - XV World Economic History Congress (Utrecht, 3rd to 7th August 2009) [CONGRESSO]

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has become a central issue in economic and business history. The flow of international (portfolio and direct) investments was a well-entrenched feature of the World economy already before WW1, to a such extension that it is possible to talk in this case of a "first globalization". However, it has been after WW2 and especially since the 1970s that the flow of FDI has gone through a rapid and sustained growth which has made it the driving force of today's globalization. As the available statistics clearly show, increasingly FDI have been directed to developed, market economies. In this framework, Europe assumed the role of one of the main home as well as host macro-regions for international investment activity.This session intends to analyse the evolutionary dynamics in European FDI from the end of WW2 to the present days. Thus, one relevant topic will be the role of the "Rome Treaty" and the European integration process in promoting the flow of international investments both between European countries and between Europe and other regions. The organizers of this session are also interested in receiving papers on the role of multinationals in prompting the European integration and their impact on national business systems. Papers focusing in historical perspective on any other issues relevant to the analysis of European FDI are welcome too, e.g.: levels and determinants of both inward and outward FDI; regional, sectoral and firm cases; and policy implications