VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOWS INFORMATION AND COMPANY\u27S CHARACTERISTICS: EVIDENCE FROM THE CROATIAN CAPITAL MARKET

This paper focuses on the voluntary disclosure of cash flows information of Croatian large companies whose shares are listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, with the aim to identify characteristics of companies that provide extensive disclosures. In order to conduct the research and test the likelihood that company publicly announces wealth of information about cash flows, three groups of company’s features are defined as variables: accounting data, capital market information and company’s qualitative characteristics. Verification of empirical evidence was provided through the sample of Croatian listed companies using logistic regression analysis. Obtained results indicate that despite the desire of the regulatory authorities that capital market investors receive all relevant information, companies voluntarily disclose information about cash flows very rarely. Those companies are young (i.e. their shares are listed on an organized securities market for a short time) and profitable, with growing net income and growing cash flow from operating activities and usually use indirect method for operating cash flow report. The provision of features of Croatian companies that voluntary disclose cash flow information can be found as contribution of our research, because this topic in a cases of macro-oriented accounting system economies, i.e. bank oriented economies with emerging capital market is still unexplored

VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOWS INFORMATION AND COMPANY\u27S CHARACTERISTICS: EVIDENCE FROM THE CROATIAN CAPITAL MARKET

This paper focuses on the voluntary disclosure of cash flows information of Croatian large companies whose shares are listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, with the aim to identify characteristics of companies that provide extensive disclosures. In order to conduct the research and test the likelihood that company publicly announces wealth of information about cash flows, three groups of company’s features are defined as variables: accounting data, capital market information and company’s qualitative characteristics. Verification of empirical evidence was provided through the sample of Croatian listed companies using logistic regression analysis. Obtained results indicate that despite the desire of the regulatory authorities that capital market investors receive all relevant information, companies voluntarily disclose information about cash flows very rarely. Those companies are young (i.e. their shares are listed on an organized securities market for a short time) and profitable, with growing net income and growing cash flow from operating activities and usually use indirect method for operating cash flow report. The provision of features of Croatian companies that voluntary disclose cash flow information can be found as contribution of our research, because this topic in a cases of macro-oriented accounting system economies, i.e. bank oriented economies with emerging capital market is still unexplored

Utječe li produktivnost na profitabilnost poduzeća u industriji prerade mlijeka? Iskustva Slovenije, Hrvatske i Srbije

This paper provides insights into productivity in dairy processing companies in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia. The aim is to find out whether EBITDA per employee, as a measure of overall productivity as well as labour and capital productivity and their management positively affect company’s profitability. Literature review shows that this issue was relatively neglected, although increase in productivity is regarded as the most important factor in maintaining a competitive advantage in most developed countries. Results obtained show that comprehensive measure of productivity EBITDA per employee has statistically significant positive impact on company’s profitability, the same as productivity management components labour cost competitiveness and capital productivity.Ovaj rad pruža uvid u produktivnost poduzeća iz industrije prerade mlijeka u Sloveniji, Hrvatskoj i Srbiji, kako bi se utvrdilo postoji li pozitivan utjecaj ukupne produktivnosti, produktivnosti rada te produktivnosti kapitala na profitabilnost. Pregled dosadašnje literature pokazuje kako je ova problematika bila prilično zapostavljena, iako je povećanje produktivnosti i u najrazvijenijim zemljana naglašeno kao najznačajniji čimbenik u održavanju konkurentske prednosti. Istraživanjem je dokazan pozitivan utjecaj produktivnosti na profitabilnost, pri čemu je produktivnost mjerena sveobuhvatnom mjerom EBITDA po zaposlenom, te parcijalnim mjerama troškovna konkurentnost rada i kapitalna produktivnost

Obilježje računovodstvenih manipulacija u Hrvatskoj

Investors and other users of financial statements seek for the information that is less likely to be affected by possibilities of financial number games. Accounts manipulations have become an issue of critical importance in today’s capital markets and have been subject of many researches in several countries. However, their features in Croatia are still quite unexplored. In this paper a survey was made with auditors about most frequent areas of accounts manipulations in Croatia. The questionnaire was sent to 274 auditors, but only 54 of them filled it out correctly and return it back. After that, obtained results were compared with archival data extracted from auditor reports published in abbreviate prospects of listing public companies. Prospects of 238 companies listing on the Zagreb Stock Exchange and Varaždin Stock Exchange were reviewed, but only 136 or 57.14% of them provided all data necessary for the analysis. The evidence shows that accounting manipulations are very common praxis in Croatia, especially in area of depreciation policy, write-off of accounts receivable, asset impairments and long-term investments in financial instruments. Beside above mentioned items, auditors pointed out taxes, inventories, revenues, provisions and revalorization as very frequent areas of accounts manipulations.Svi korisnici financijskih izvještaja, a posebice ulagači u stalnoj su potrazi za informacijama koje su što manje podložne “igranju s brojevima”. U današnje vrijeme, računovodstvene manipulacije su postale važan problem na tržištima kapitala i stoga su predmet mnogih istraživanja u različitim zemljama. Međutim, njihova obilježja u Hrvatskoj su još uvijek nedovoljno istražena. U ovom radu su obrađeni rezultati ankete s revizorima o najčešćim područjima računovodstvenih manipulacija u Hrvatskoj. Upitnik je poslan na adrese 274 revizora, ali od vraćenih upitnika samo 54 su u potpunosti točno ispunjena. Nakon toga, rezultati dobiveni anketiranjem revizora su uspoređeni s povijesnim podacima izvedenim iz revizorskih izvješća objavljenih u skraćenim rospektima listanih poduzeća. Analiza povijesnih podataka obuhvatila je 238 poduzeća koja su listana na Zagrebačkoj burzi i na Varaždinskoj burzi, no samo je 136 (57,14%) pregledanih skraćenih prospekata sadržavalo sve podatke potrebne za analizu. Rezultati dobiveni u oba istraživanja pokazuju da su računovodstvene manipulacije vrlo učestala pojava u Hrvatskoj, posebno u područjima politike amortizacije, otpisa potraživanja, umanjenja vrijednosti dugotrajne imovine i dugoročnih ulaganja u financijske instrumente. Uz spomenuta područja, revizori su istaknuli poreze, zalihe, prihode, rezerviranja i revalorizaciju kao učestala područja računovodstvenih manipulacija

MOTIVES FOR ASSET REVALUATION POLICY CHOICE IN CROATIA

The aim of this paper is to research managers’ motives of accounting policy choice for long-term nonfinancial assets. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) allow managers to choose between cost and revaluation model for measurement after recognition. The assumption is that manager’s decision is opportunistic so they use the revaluation model as a device to improve perceptive borrowing capacity of a company, and consequently, to reduce debt cost. Prior studies were mainly conducted in developed, marketoriented economies, unlike Croatia. The contribution of this paper is the research of motives and determinants of asset revaluation policy choice in bank-oriented economies with inactive markets. Furthermore, multivariate logistic regression was not used as a research method in this field of accounting in transition and emerging economies till now. Empirical evidence is provided through the sample of Croatian listed companies and the results show that large, profitable companies with low liquidity ratio, low cash flow ratio and increasing debt are more likely to perform upward revaluation

The effects of company characteristics on financial reporting quality – the application of the machine learning technique

Purpose: The paper aims to determine the level of financial reporting quality (FRQ) in listed companies in Croatia, as an example of a macro-based accounting system with an underdeveloped capital market, and identify company characteristics that affect it. The paper systematizes the existing key knowledge of FRQ. Furthermore, it critically analyses the principles and direction of influence of various qualitative and quantitative as well as financial and non-financial characteristics of a company. Methodology: The empirical analyses involve joint testing of the machine learning technique (MLT) and the economic hypotheses. M5 algorithm is applied to identify the factors that influence the quality of voluntary reporting as well as the direction and intensity of their influence. Results: The results show that profitability, stock market listing duration (in years), and company size positively affect the level and extent of FRQ through voluntary disclosure of information in the annual financial reports of Croatian listed companies. In addition, differences in FRQ between different areas of economic activity and depending on the type of auditor were found. Conclusion: Croatian companies should adopt good reporting practices to meet the requirements of the global market and thus contribute to the improvement of the overall transparency system. The same is expected from the relevant regulatory authorities who should encourage full disclosure. The paper provides several scientific contributions: first, the spatial dimension of the research; second, the comprehensive literature review; and third, the MLT application in the research on FRQ. An important practical implication of these findings is that they will help financial statement users in the economic decision-making process

Compliance of the regulatory accounting framework of fixed assets in the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Predmet ovoga rada je utvrđivanje razine usklađenosti, odnosno harmonizacije primjenjivoga regulatornog okvira (računovodstvenih standarda) kod priznavanja i mjerenja različitih kategorija dugotrajne materijalne imovine u Republici Hrvatskoj (RH) te Bosni i Hercegovini (BiH). Provedenim istraživanjem utvrđena je 93 %-tna harmonizacija regulatornog okvira te je dokazano kako se regulatorni okvir računovodstvenog priznavanja i mjerenja dugotrajne imovine u RH i BiH poklapa u 13 od 14 analiziranih područja vrednovanja dugotrajne imovine. Empirijska verifikacija korištenih računovodstvenih politika među listanim poduzećima u RH i BiH potvrdila je postojanje značajnih razlika u računovodstvenim politikama vrednovanja nekretnina, postrojenja i opreme te poljoprivrede, konkretno biološke imovine. S druge strane, u području naknadnog vrednovanja ulaganja u nekretnine, primijenjenih metoda amortizacije te vrednovanju poljoprivrednih proizvoda proizišlih iz biološke imovine, utvrđeno je nepostojanje statistički značajnih razlika u korištenim računovodstvenim politikama između poduzeća u RH i BiH. Dobiveni rezultati bi u prvom redu trebali olakšati usporedivost financijskih izvještaja poduzeća iz RH i BiH, a time posljedično i pozitivno utjecati na povećanje tokova kapitala između ovih dviju susjednih zemalja. U znanstvenom kontekstu predmetno istraživanje značajan je doprinos oskudnoj literaturi navedene tematike.The subject of this paper is to determine the level of compliance or harmonisation of the applicable regulatory framework (accounting standards) in the recognition and measurement of various categories of fixed assets in the Republic of Croatia (RH) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The conducted research established a 93% compliance of the regulatory framework and proved that the regulatory framework of accounting recognition and measurement of fixed assets in the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina coincided in 13 of the 14 analyzed areas of valuation of fixed assets. Empirical verification of the used accounting policies among listed companies in the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the existence of significant differences in the accounting policies of valuation of real estate, plant and equipment and agriculture, in particular biological assets. On the other hand, in the area of subsequent valuation of real estate investments, applied depreciation methods and valuation of agricultural products derived from biological assets, we found that statistically significant differences in the used accounting policies between companies in the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina did not exist. The obtained results should primarily facilitate the comparability of financial statements of companies in the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thus consequently and positively affect the increase in capital flows between these two neighbouring countries. In the scientific context, this research represents a significant contribution to the scarce literature on this topic

DRAGOVOLJNO IZVJEŠTAVANJE U GODIŠNJEM IZVJEŠĆU - PRAKSA HRVATSKIH MENADŽERA

Predmet istraživanja ovog rada je utvrditi razinu transparentnosti na uzorku od 130 trgovačkih društava, odnosno dragovoljnog objavljivanja informacija u godišnjem izvješću u Hrvatskoj, pri čemu je razina dragovoljnog izvještavanja određena količinom dragovoljno objavljenih financijskih i nefinancijskih informacija u godišnjem izvješću. Dobiveni rezultati upozoravaju na nezadovoljavajuću razinu transparentnosti, jer su trgovačka društva su u godišnjem izvješću prosječno objavila svega 11 podataka od mogućih 38. Nadalje, predmetnim radom napravljena je dubinska analiza učestalosti dragovoljne objave podataka iz sedam ključnih područja poslovanja: podaci o poslovanju, analize menadžmenta, upravljanje rizicima, informacije o menadžmentu i vlasnicima, informacijska pozadina organizacije, informacije o nematerijalnoj imovini, te ostale korisne informacije. Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju da većina hrvatskih menadžera smatra kako u godišnjem izvješću treba objaviti samo izvješće Uprave, dok se informacije o nematerijalnoj imovini, posebice odnosi s investitorima, zaposlenicima, kupcima i dobavljačima najčešće ne objavljuju

Compliance of the regulatory accounting framework of fixed assets in the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Predmet ovoga rada je utvrđivanje razine usklađenosti, odnosno harmonizacije primjenjivoga regulatornog okvira (računovodstvenih standarda) kod priznavanja i mjerenja različitih kategorija dugotrajne materijalne imovine u Republici Hrvatskoj (RH) te Bosni i Hercegovini (BiH). Provedenim istraživanjem utvrđena je 93 %-tna harmonizacija regulatornog okvira te je dokazano kako se regulatorni okvir računovodstvenog priznavanja i mjerenja dugotrajne imovine u RH i BiH poklapa u 13 od 14 analiziranih područja vrednovanja dugotrajne imovine. Empirijska verifikacija korištenih računovodstvenih politika među listanim poduzećima u RH i BiH potvrdila je postojanje značajnih razlika u računovodstvenim politikama vrednovanja nekretnina, postrojenja i opreme te poljoprivrede, konkretno biološke imovine. S druge strane, u području naknadnog vrednovanja ulaganja u nekretnine, primijenjenih metoda amortizacije te vrednovanju poljoprivrednih proizvoda proizišlih iz biološke imovine, utvrđeno je nepostojanje statistički značajnih razlika u korištenim računovodstvenim politikama između poduzeća u RH i BiH. Dobiveni rezultati bi u prvom redu trebali olakšati usporedivost financijskih izvještaja poduzeća iz RH i BiH, a time posljedično i pozitivno utjecati na povećanje tokova kapitala između ovih dviju susjednih zemalja. U znanstvenom kontekstu predmetno istraživanje značajan je doprinos oskudnoj literaturi navedene tematike.The subject of this paper is to determine the level of compliance or harmonisation of the applicable regulatory framework (accounting standards) in the recognition and measurement of various categories of fixed assets in the Republic of Croatia (RH) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The conducted research established a 93% compliance of the regulatory framework and proved that the regulatory framework of accounting recognition and measurement of fixed assets in the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina coincided in 13 of the 14 analyzed areas of valuation of fixed assets. Empirical verification of the used accounting policies among listed companies in the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the existence of significant differences in the accounting policies of valuation of real estate, plant and equipment and agriculture, in particular biological assets. On the other hand, in the area of subsequent valuation of real estate investments, applied depreciation methods and valuation of agricultural products derived from biological assets, we found that statistically significant differences in the used accounting policies between companies in the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina did not exist. The obtained results should primarily facilitate the comparability of financial statements of companies in the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thus consequently and positively affect the increase in capital flows between these two neighbouring countries. In the scientific context, this research represents a significant contribution to the scarce literature on this topic

Utjecaj koncepta fer vrijednosti na mjere kvalitete objavljenih financijskih performansi

U računovodstvu je u posljednjih 20-tak godina došlo do značajnog zaokreta u konceptu mjerenja prema sve većoj primjeni računovodstva fer vrijednosti. Navedene promjene imaju značajne implikacije na ulogu i karakteristike stavki u objavljenim financijskim izvještajima. Osnovna pretpostavka predmetnog istraživanja je da primjena koncepta fer vrijednosti značajno utječe na kvalitetu financijskog izvještavanja. Naime, fer vrijednost je prvenstveno zasnovana na trenutnim tržišnim cijenama pa se nerazvijenost tržišta, tržišni poremećaji ili nedostatak tržišta mogu automatski reflektirati i u (ne)kvaliteti financijskih izvještaja poslovnih subjekata koji primjenjuju računovodstvo fer vrijednosti. Uzevši u obzir institucionalna obilježja zemalja istočne Europe koje su uglavnom bankovno orijentirane, te gdje tržišta nisu dovoljno razvijena i aktivna, u predmetnom radu se analizira kako izloženost računovodstvu fer vrijednosti utječe na prediktivnu sposobnost, perzistentnost i volatilnost objavljenih financijskih performansi. Empirijska verifikacija bit će napravljena na uzorku banaka čiji su vrijednosni papiri javno listani na organiziranim tržištima kapitala u 13 država istočne Europe u razdoblju od 2000. do 2011. godine. Rezultati pokazuju kako promjene fer vrijednosti, prikazane kroz ostalu sveobuhvatnu dobit, uglavnom smanjuju kvalitetu objavljene sveobuhvatne dobiti, dok promjene fer vrijednosti kroz neto dobit povećavaju prediktivnu sposobnost i perzistentnost neto dobiti