The purpose of this study is to examine whether or not voluntary disclosure made by Indian listed companies are value-relevant in the capital market. The sample consists of top 100 non-financial, non-utility companies based on market capitalization listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) over the period 2014-2017. Data regarding voluntary disclosure level has been collected by analyzing the contents of annual reports. In order to investigate the impact of voluntary disclosure on firm value, fixed-effect panel data regression model is employed. Furthermore, Two Stage Least Squares (2SLS) regression model with instrumental variables is used as a robustness test to alleviate the endogeneity issue. The findings of the study reveal that voluntary disclosure is value-relevant, i.e., impacts the firm value. The more the voluntary disclosure made by the companies, the higher the value they have in terms of market capitalization. Therefore, this finding provides impetus to managers to disclose more information voluntarily to meet the information needs of the stakeholders. By evaluating the value relevance of overall voluntary disclosure, the study contributes to the relevant literature, as there is paucity of studies regarding how the market participants perceive voluntary disclosure in an emerging market such as India, which is subjected to market imperfections.

While the traditional accounting model is widely believed to inadequately account for intangibles, managers can voluntarily provide information about them. Based on a sample of companies from East Asia, this thesis investigates the role of voluntary non-financial disclosure about intangibles in a valuation context. Given the proprietary nature of intangibles, the value of the information may not be perceived to be useful by investors. First, this thesis examines the relationship between voluntary disclosure of intangibles and market value. Consistent with the capital market incentives argument, the evidence shows that voluntary disclosure of intangibles contains value relevant information. Second, this thesis investigates the effect of managerial ownership on the value relevance of voluntary disclosure of intangibles. The results show that the value relevance of intangibles is lower in companies with high managerial ownership, supporting the view that high managerial ownership is associated with greater levels of entrenchment. Third, this thesis analyzes the effect of institutional environments on the disclosure of information about intangibles and the subsequent valuation of that information. At comparable levels of managerial ownership, the value relevance of intangibles is greater for companies in countries that have strong institutional environments. This evidence is consistent with strong legal institutions having a positive effect on financial reporting and corporate valuation. Overall, the findings suggest that a strategy of voluntary disclosure could be beneficial in resolving information asymmetry surrounding intangibles. In addition, the effectiveness of voluntary disclosure of intangibles is conditional on the internal corporate governance infrastructure and the external legal environment.

This paper examines if the level of voluntary disclosure affects the association between current returns and future earnings. Economic theory suggests that firms might find it advantageous to provide additional pieces of information (i.e., voluntary disclosure) to investors and analysts (Verrecchia 1983). Our results indicate that more voluntary disclosure does not improve the association between current returns and future earnings; i.e. current returns do not reflect more future earnings news. This finding raises the question whether voluntary information in the annual report contains value relevant information about future earnings or if investors are simply not capable of incorporating voluntary information in the firm value estimates. Key words: Disclosure, future earnings, informativeness.

The paper aims to assess the level of voluntary disclosure in companies listed on the Italian Stock Exchange and understand the relationship between the quality of voluntary disclosure and market value of Italian listed companies. Voluntary disclosure refers to the discretionary release of financial and non-financial information, which companies are not obliged to disclose by accounting standard setting bodies. In particular, this paper analyzes the effect that disclosure of voluntary information could have on the stock market value of Italian listed companies. To do this, 203 annual reports of Italian listed companies for the year 2012 were analyzed. A voluntary disclosure index index is created to measure the extent of disclosure. The index is used in an ordinary least squares model, as a dependent variable, to understand relationships between the above-mentioned determinants. The disclosure score is composed mainly of 38 items per firm.A total of 7,714 items were collected and analyzed.Results show the level of voluntary disclosure provided by Italian listed companies in their 2012 annual reports positively and significantly affect the value relevance of Italian listed companies.

What is my theory? How do I choose a theory? Why and how should I employ a particular method for collecting the empirical data? These basic questions concern everyone involved in research. A research study can be a voyage of discovering or choice of theoretical perspective as well as gathering empirics or facts on a problem or situation. This book provides a good guideline as to why and how to choose a particular theory or method to study an organisational phenomenon such as accounting. All the chapters provide both retrospective and contemporary views by scholars in the field. Each chapter documents the latest developments and research in accounting and control systems and provides valuable insights into methodological perspectives in accounting research. This second edition has also introduced a number of new chapters covering strategy-management control as practice, grounded theory approach, institutional logic and rhetoric, social interaction theory, actor-network theory and practice theory. The book is primarily intended for research students and academic researchers. It can also be used for undergraduate Honours course as well as postgraduate accounting and business methodology courses. Research organisations and consulting firms in accounting and business fields may also find this book useful. The principal aims of this second edition are (1) to update the chapters previously published in 2006 and (2) to introduce new chapters documenting recent developments in accounting research.

This book provides a critical analysis of the evolution of corporate disclosure. Building upon prior academic literature, it assesses the most important changes in mandatory corporate disclosure, the growing relevance of social and environmental disclosure, and revolutionary new forms of corporate communication, in particular social media. It also includes empirical analyses that shed further light on the impact of voluntary communication, i.e. social and environmental reporting and corporate social media communication, on managerial and investment decisions. Lastly, it discusses new directions for accounting and corporate governance research on the theoretical and empirical challenges of corporate disclosure. Offering a wealth of relevant and timely advice, the book will help regulators design policies that allow businesses to overcome current and emerging economic, social, and technological challenges.

Purpose: Enhanced Business Reporting (EBR) seeks to address the information needs of investors when making company valuations for investment decisions. The paper analyses the relevance for market valuation of EBR disclosures that are directly related to firm valuation (Value Based Reporting, VBR).Design/methodology/approach: Data are hand collected from annual reports of German publicly listed companies over 5 years. The content analysis is based on the valuation-related disclosure framework of the German Schmalenbach Society of Business Administration. A 2SLS approach accounts for potential endogeneity.Findings: Share-based compensation, leverage, corporate size, and share volatility are significant determinants of VBR. The level of VBR is significantly associated with market values and provides additional market value explanatory power, indicating its relevance to investors in the process of valuation and decision making. Also, the relevance of book value and earnings for explaining market values increases for firms with better VBR. Findings are robust to the exclusion of banks and assurance companies and to alternative model and variable specifications.Research limitations/implications: The research contributes to the literature on voluntary disclosures by testing an EBR framework explicitly derived from valuation theory. The results provide indirect evidence of investors' use of respective valuation techniques in decision making. A contribution is made to the value relevance literature by showing that valuation-related disclosures constitute a suitable proxy for 'other information' in the Ohlson (1995) model. Such disclosures complement traditional accounting metrics, i.e. book value and earnings, as basis for valuations. Potential caveats relate to the content analysis of annual reports and the endogeneity of voluntary disclosures.Originality/value: This paper informs the debate on further developments of EBR in helping to identify important components thereof.