Risk Information in Non-Financial Disclosure

This paper aims to research the topics related to risk included in non-financial disclosure (NFD) of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) and explore factors that influence the risk topics ratio in NFD. We applied a content analysis using topic modeling to discover latent risk topics in NFD. Next, with Ward’s clustering, we identified four groups of companies with a homogenous risk topic mixture. For causal analysis, to explain the differences in risk topics ratio, we used qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), which allowed us to obtain three paths (variable configurations) leading to the high ratio of risk topics in NFD. Our results suggest that companies disclosing risk information extensively in their NFDs concentrate almost solely on social risk matters. In contrast, companies talking briefly about environmental and social (E&S) risk prepare their NFDs with a more balanced distribution of E&S topics and their financial implication. In general, the companies’ exposure to E&S risk and the use of NFD standards and guidelines as well as the type of NFD impact the space dedicated to risk information. This paper contributes to academics and regulators, filling the gap about risk disclosure in the NFD, identifying the nature of corporate risk disclosures, and upgrading research about determinants of risk information in non-financial disclosure

Intellectual capital reporting in universities as a tool of accountability : the worldwide practices

Universities worldwide are going through the important transformation processes aiming to make them more autonomous, economically efficient and competitive. However, at the same time they have to prove efficient resource management, disclose properly their outcomes, and demonstrate high level of transparency and accountability in support of clearly defined and feasible goals. One of the main approaches to the assessment of performance, ensuring control and promoting accountability in the universities has become intellectual capital reporting. The first objective of this paper is to present the accountability request geared towards universities and IC measurement and reporting as the answer to it. The second one is the review and discussion of the qualitative and quantitative empirical research in IC reporting of universities worldwide. The conclusions of the research confirm that the practical implementation of IC reporting in universities is still a challenge for a practice. The pioneer initiatives concerning application of IC reporting in universities are important steps towards greater accountability; however they lag behind the needs of stakeholders and should be improved in order to be more comprehensive, comparable and systematic. Greater awareness and effective implementation of IC reporting in universities could improve their future potential, quality and competitiveness

La elección del tono de la dirección en las cartas a los accionistas: sinceridad, sesgo e incentivos: Management’s choice of tone in letters to shareholders: sincerity, bias and incentives

This paper aims to identify the drivers of management reporting choices in a setting characterized by ownership concentration and weak enforcement. Previous research indicates, that tone of the letter to shareholders is correlated with performance. However, tone can be biased towards the positive when a company is highly responsive to stock market incentives or controlled by majority investors. Bias can be reduced by the monitoring activities of institutional investors in closely held companies. There are two major implications of the study. First, when managers bias the text, they lose the ability to communicate positive news about their company. Under rational expectations investors can detect bias based on known situational incentives and disregard the biased information. Second, the results suggest that managers manipulate tone strategically, rather than unconsciously, to satisfy the needs of key shareholder groups.El objetivo de este artículo es identificar los factores que impulsan las decisiones de los directivos en materia de información en un entorno caracterizado por la concentración de la propiedad y la escasa aplicación de la ley. Investigaciones anteriores indican que el tono de la carta a los accionistas está correlacionado con los resultados. Sin embargo, el tono puede estar sesgado hacia lo positivo cuando una empresa es muy sensible a los incentivos del mercado de valores o está controlada por inversores mayoritarios. El sesgo puede reducirse gracias a las actividades de supervisión de los inversores institucionales en las empresas de capital cerrado. El estudio tiene dos implicaciones importantes. En primer lugar, cuando los directivos sesgan el texto, pierden la capacidad de comunicar noticias positivas sobre su empresa. En el marco de las expectativas racionales, los inversores pueden detectar el sesgo basándose en los incentivos situacionales conocidos y desestimar la información sesgada. En segundo lugar, los resultados sugieren que los directivos manipulan el tono estratégicamente, y no de forma inconsciente, para satisfacer las necesidades de los principales grupos de accionistas

La elección del tono de la dirección en las cartas a los accionistas : sinceridad, sesgo e incentivos

This paper aims to identify the drivers of management reporting choices in a setting characterized by ownership concentration and weak enforcement. Previous research indicates, that tone of the letter to shareholders is correlated with performance. However, tone can be biased towards the positive when a company is highly responsive to stock market incentives or controlled by majority investors. Bias can be reduced by the monitoring activities of institutional investors in closely held companies. There are two major implications of the study. First, when managers bias the text, they lose the ability to communicate positive news about their company. Under rational expectations investors can detect bias based on known situational incentives and disregard the biased information. Second, the results suggest that managers manipulate tone strategically, rather than unconsciously, to satisfy the needs of key shareholder groupsEl objetivo de este artículo es identificar los factores que impulsan las decisiones de los directivos en materia de información en un entorno caracterizado por la concentración de la propiedad y la escasa aplicación de la ley. Investigaciones anteriores indican que el tono de la carta a los accionistas está correlacionado con los resultados. Sin embargo, el tono puede estar sesgado hacia lo positivo cuando una empresa es muy sensible a los incentivos del mercado de valores o está controlada por inversores mayoritarios. El sesgo puede reducirse gracias a las actividades de supervisión de los inversores institucionales en las empresas de capital cerrado. El estudio tiene dos implicaciones importantes. En primer lugar, cuando los directivos sesgan el texto, pierden la capacidad de comunicar noticias positivas sobre su empresa. En el marco de las expectativas racionales, los inversores pueden detectar el sesgo basándose en los incentivos situacionales conocidos y desestimar la información sesgada. En segundo lugar, los resultados sugieren que los directivos manipulan el tono estratégicamente, y no de forma inconsciente, para satisfacer las necesidades de los principales grupos de accionista

An integrated vision of electric vehicles' consumer behaviour: Mapping the practitioners to consolidate the research agenda

It is well proven that the research on electric vehicles (EV) offers an outstanding contribution in identifying the variables that influence consumers' behaviour in support of sustainable mobility. Therefore, the study aims to investigate the main factors that can significantly influence consumers' purchasing choices. The analysis intends to examine and enrich what academics have already observed based on the observations within practitioners' publications. This study moves in this direction by conducting a content analysis through Leximancer of 3254 articles connected to consumers' behaviour in the market of electric vehicles. The comparison between academics and professionals better identifies positive and negative aspects that affect consumers’ willingness to buy electric vehicles, as well as detecting common factors, practical or theoretical gaps, and valuable evidence for future developments. Based on the findings, the study contributes to the international debate on EVs by providing new perspectives to support public policy and academic studies with possible implications for practitioners' activities

Voluntary Disclosure and Relational Connectivity – The Case of the Polish Bond Market

The purpose of our research is to evaluate the voluntary disclosure strategy and effective communication between issuers and investors on the Polish bond market Catalyst. We conducted a questionnaire among issuers on the Catalyst. To evaluate the data and find answers to the research questions, we used the Qualitative Comparative Analysis. As our analysis shows that management board engagement seems crucial for effective communication, we claim that in relatively smaller capital markets, personal engagement of board members in preparing voluntary disclosure should be considered a proxy of a high disclosure strategy quality. We prove that companies use dialogue with investors in private rather than in public to understand their communication expectations. This finding indicates the essential limitations of previous research evaluating relational connectivity through social media. We point out the existence of many paths to achieve a high level of companies’ perception of investors’ voluntary disclosure needs and companies’ relational connectivity regarding voluntary disclosure. We developed a new approach to measuring relational connectivity, which can be successfully applied to other markets and stock exchanges, allowing verification of previous findings and the development of a new approach to conducting research. We claim that it is necessary to put more pressure on the management board’s engagement in preparing the financial report as it is crucial for understanding investors’ voluntary disclosure needs. Our conclusions question the growing societal pressure on engaging in activity in social media as a key concept of effective communication