The Use of the Internet for Corporate Reporting and Investor Relations - A Discussion of the Issues and Survey of Current Usage in Finland
Puustelli, Susanna (2003)
Kuvaus
Kokotekstiversiota ei ole saatavissa.
Tiivistelmä
Due to recent developments in information technology, companies are beginning to disclose financial information on the Internet using their web sites. This paper examines in detail the current use of the Internet as a medium for investor relations by 200 Finnish companies randomly chosen from ETLA’s database. To gain an understanding of how the Internet is used by companies, the research focuses upon the provision of financial data, taking presentational aspects into account, and on relevant features of the Internet as a communication tool.
The first part of the research is a theoretical study, which consist of a critical overview of the relevant literature on the topic. Whilst the first part of the project provides an overview of the literature, the second part outlines the author’s own research. The empirical part of the study examines the influence of eight firm specific characteristics on the extent of financial disclosure on the Internet. The eight independent variables tested are firm size, share listing, overseas listing, profitability, rate of leverage, size of auditor, industry type and degree of foreign activity. Univariate tests, namely Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-square were used for running the statistical analysis.
The empirical evidence suggests that only firm size and share listing are statistically related to the level of information voluntarily disclosed by studied companies. These finding are consistent with the predictions of agency theory. In contrast the other studied variables do not appear to be important factors in explaining the extent of financial disclosure on the Internet. The statistical results obtained are partly in agreement with the results in the prior empirical disclosure literature. Furthermore the results show clearly that the Internet is considered as a medium for investor relations among surveyed companies.
The first part of the research is a theoretical study, which consist of a critical overview of the relevant literature on the topic. Whilst the first part of the project provides an overview of the literature, the second part outlines the author’s own research. The empirical part of the study examines the influence of eight firm specific characteristics on the extent of financial disclosure on the Internet. The eight independent variables tested are firm size, share listing, overseas listing, profitability, rate of leverage, size of auditor, industry type and degree of foreign activity. Univariate tests, namely Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-square were used for running the statistical analysis.
The empirical evidence suggests that only firm size and share listing are statistically related to the level of information voluntarily disclosed by studied companies. These finding are consistent with the predictions of agency theory. In contrast the other studied variables do not appear to be important factors in explaining the extent of financial disclosure on the Internet. The statistical results obtained are partly in agreement with the results in the prior empirical disclosure literature. Furthermore the results show clearly that the Internet is considered as a medium for investor relations among surveyed companies.