Abed, S. and Al-Najjar, Basil (2016) Measuring annual report narratives disclosure: empirical evidence from forward-looking information in the UK prior the financial crisis. Managerial Auditing Journal 31 (4/5), ISSN 0268-6902.
Abstract
PURPOSE: The study aims to investigate empirically the common alternative methods of measuring annual report narratives. Five alternative methods are employed, a weighted and un-weighted disclosure index and three textual coding systems, measuring the amount of space devoted to relevant disclosures. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: We investigate the forward looking voluntary disclosures of 30 UK non-financial companies. We employ descriptive analysis, correlation matrix, mean comparison T-test, rankings and multiple regression analysis of disclosure measures against determinants of corporate voluntary reporting. FINDINGS: The results reveal that while the alternative methods of forward-looking voluntary disclosure are highly correlated, important significant differences do nevertheless emerge. In particular, it appears important to measure volume rather than simply the existence or non-existence of each type of disclosure. Overall, we detect that the optimal method is content analysis by text-unit rather than by sentence. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This paper contributes to the extant literature in forward-looking disclosure by reporting important differences among alternative content analyses. However, the decision regarding whether this should be a computerised or a manual content analysis appears not to be driven by differences in the resulting measures. Rather the choice is the outcome of a trade-off between the time involved in setting up coding rules for computerised analysis, versus the time saved undertaking the analysis itself.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Business and Law > Birkbeck Business School |
| Depositing User: | Basil Al-Najjar |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Apr 2016 14:34 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:23 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/15043 |
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