Risk reporting in financial crises: a tale of two countries
International Journal of Accounting & Information Management
ISSN: 1834-7649
Article publication date: 16 October 2020
Issue publication date: 11 May 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the attributes and information content of risk reporting in two different institutional and regulatory, namely, Canadian and German, settings during the period surrounding the financial crisis of 2008.
Design/methodology/approach
For a matched sample of manufacturing firms in the period 2006–2010, this study conducts a detailed content analysis of annual reports to assess and compare the volume and patterns of risk disclosures. Panel regressions are used to explore how risk disclosures related to corporate risk proxies and performance indicators.
Findings
Over the sample period, Canadian and German firms increase the volume but largely maintain the patterns of risk disclosures. Risk disclosures relate to corporate risk proxies but are not incrementally informative to assess firm performance.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to research on risk reporting by providing detailed cross-country evidence for a period particularly shaped by significant risk. The findings have implications for the regulation and usefulness of risk reporting.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the International Research Acceleration Program (Office of the Vice President, Research) at the University of Ottawa, the CPA Accounting and Governance Research Centre, University of Ottawa, Canada and the Dresdner Forum für Revision und Steuerlehre, Germany.
Citation
Lajili, K., Dobler, M., Zéghal, D. and Bryan, M.J. (2021), "Risk reporting in financial crises: a tale of two countries", International Journal of Accounting & Information Management, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 181-216. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJAIM-03-2020-0034
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited