Laura Bini, Francesco Dainelli and Francesco Giunta
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate business model (BM) disclosure. As the BM shows how a company creates and captures value, its communication in the Annual Report is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate business model (BM) disclosure. As the BM shows how a company creates and captures value, its communication in the Annual Report is considered a necessary background for a dynamic analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of the intellectual capital (IC) contribution to a company’s competitive advantage.
Design/methodology/approach
Focusing on a sample of listed UK companies operating in high-technology industries, this paper runs a content analysis of BM disclosure presented in the Strategic Report (SR). To develop the analysis, it refers to an ontological approach that encompasses the main research contributions to this topic.
Findings
The analysis of SRs revealed that few companies use their BM disclosure to highlight the contribution of their IC to create and capture value. BM descriptions are not always clearly distinguishable from other strategic concepts and poorly illustrate the interactions among the BM components, which help understand how IC is entangled in a company’s value creation process.
Practical implications
This paper answers the Financial Reporting Council’s call for comments about its Guidance on SR. More in general, it contributes to the issue of the regulation of narrative information in the Annual Report.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a methodological framework for the analysis of BM disclosure quality. Thanks to this framework, it points out some critical issues of BM disclosure and offers some hints useful for its regulation.
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Paola Cardamone, Concetta Carnevale and Francesco Giunta
This paper aims to test whether the publication of a social report provides information about the firm's market value. Its intention is to understand if investors believe the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to test whether the publication of a social report provides information about the firm's market value. Its intention is to understand if investors believe the social report has a role equal to that traditionally attributed to accounting variables, i.e., whether the social report is value‐relevant in assessing a firm's market value.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is deductive. It tests two main hypotheses: first, the social report is value relevant because it explains firm value; second, the social report influences the value‐relevance of accounting variables. The study applies the value‐relevance analysis on a sample of 178 Italian companies listed on the Milan Stock Exchange.
Findings
The estimates show a significant negative correlation between the publication of a social report and the stock price. Furthermore, book value per share accounting information is more relevant for the companies that publish a social report, whereas the relevance of earnings per share does not change for these companies.
Originality/value
This paper increases the understanding of the value that markets assign to the social report. It contributes to enriching the literature on the value‐relevance analysis applied to non‐financial variables and to social report in particular.
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Inakshi Kapur, Pallavi Tyagi and Neha Zaidi
Purpose: This chapter aims to identify and evaluate the various components of business model disclosures in an Integrated Report and ascertain how the notion of business model is…
Abstract
Purpose: This chapter aims to identify and evaluate the various components of business model disclosures in an Integrated Report and ascertain how the notion of business model is perceived among practitioners.
Need for the Study: According to previous research, the International Integrated Reporting Council’s (IIRC) objective of improving corporate reporting by encouraging organisations to disclose their business model has not found the desired recognition. Therefore, the study elaborates on the various components of business model reporting and their implications on corporate reporting in general.
Methodology: A review of literature was conducted to identify and analyse research based on business models and their disclosures in integrated reporting. A narrative review was undertaken for selected literature.
Findings: The findings suggest that most large-sized organisations use integrated reporting for impression management and are not inclined to disclose too much about their business models for fear of competition. There is still a lack of clear understanding of what a business model should entail.
Practical Implication: This study adds to the research on business model disclosures in integrated reporting. Voluntary disclosure and a better understanding of such disclosures will prepare organisations of all sizes and industries for an event when Integrated Reporting becomes statutory.
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Se Heine non giunse fino a Roma, in compenso vi arrivarono altri non meno illustri tedeschi, il cui genio si immortalò nel campo musicale. Per non parlare di Händel, che visit�…
Abstract
Se Heine non giunse fino a Roma, in compenso vi arrivarono altri non meno illustri tedeschi, il cui genio si immortalò nel campo musicale. Per non parlare di Händel, che visitò Roma nel 1707, nè di Gluck, che vi venne nel 1756, ricorderemoper il'700 — Wolfango Amedeo Mozart e — per 1'800 — Riccardo Wagner.
Warwick Funnell, Valerio Antonelli, Raffaele D’Alessio and Roberto Rossi
The purpose of this paper is to understand the role played by accounting in managing an early nineteenth century lunatic asylum in Palermo, Italy.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the role played by accounting in managing an early nineteenth century lunatic asylum in Palermo, Italy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is informed by Foucault’s studies of lunatic asylums and his work on governmentality which gave prominence to the role of statistics, the “science of the State”.
Findings
This paper identifies a number of roles played by accounting in the management of the lunatic asylum studied. Most importantly, information which formed the basis of accounting reports was used to describe, classify and give visibility and measurability to the “deviance” of the insane. It also legitimated the role played by lunatic asylums, as entrusted to them in post-Napoleonic early nineteenth century society, and was a tool to mediate with the public authorities to provide adequate resources for the institution to operate.
Research limitations/implications
This paper encourages accounting scholars to engage more widely with socio-historical research that will encompass organisations such as lunatic asylums.
Originality/value
This paper provides, for the first time, a case of accounting applied to a lunatic asylum from a socio-historical perspective.
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THREE hundred years ago, on January 28th, 1613, the death occurred of Sir Thomas Bodley, whose name is immortalized in the library that he restored and which bears his name…
Abstract
THREE hundred years ago, on January 28th, 1613, the death occurred of Sir Thomas Bodley, whose name is immortalized in the library that he restored and which bears his name. Oxford's famous library, though originally founded by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, owes its establishment to Thomas Bodley, who was born at Exeter in 1545.
Marco Bellucci, Giacomo Marzi, Beatrice Orlando and Francesco Ciampi
This article aims to provide a bibliometric and systematic literature analysis of studies published in the Journal of Intellectual Capital (JIC) from 2014 to 2018 in order to…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to provide a bibliometric and systematic literature analysis of studies published in the Journal of Intellectual Capital (JIC) from 2014 to 2018 in order to highlight emerging themes and future trends.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis focused on 187 papers published on JIC over a period of five years. A scientometric approach to data mining enabled the detection of patterns in the dataset. Precisely, the investigation was conducted by integrating a bibliometric analysis on VOSviewer with a systematic literature review.
Findings
Four main streams of research on JIC emerged in the years of the analysis: reporting and disclosure of intellectual capital; intellectual capital research in universities, education and public sector; knowledge management; intellectual capital, financial performance, and market value.
Research limitations/implications
The study offers valid insights to the topics covered by the Journal of Intellectual Capital by identifying the main research gaps and trends, along with future research avenues.
Originality/value
Prior scholars mostly focused on systematic literature reviews, whilst the use of bibliometric methods generally seems to be a missing tile in the research domain. Also, none of the extant studies has focused on the Journal of Intellectual Capital with reference to the 2014–2018 period. The use of both bibliometric and systematic approaches to literature review delivered extremely fine-tuned results in terms of factors such as citations, contents and evolution of clusters over time.
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Marco Fazzini and Lorenzo Dal Maso
This paper aims to provide insight into how environmental information is reflected in the market value of listed Italian companies. In particular, it investigates the value…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide insight into how environmental information is reflected in the market value of listed Italian companies. In particular, it investigates the value relevance of voluntary environmental information disclosed by companies and the influence of environmental policies assurance.
Design/methodology/approach
The method used is the accounting-based valuation model used by Cormier and Magnan (2007), analogue to the one developed by Ohlson (1995), which considers market value of equity as a function of book value, accounting earnings and environmental indicators as provided by Bloomberg. The analysis in this paper is based on the environmental disclosure score (i.e. proxy of a company’s transparency in reporting environmental information) and the assurance practice (i.e. whether or not the company’s environmental policies were subject to an independent assessment for the reporting period).
Findings
Results partially support initial conjectures, i.e. the environmental voluntary disclosure represents value-relevant information positively correlated with firms’ market value. Furthermore, when such information is subject to an independent assessment for the reporting period, an incremental benefit deriving from the assurance of such information cannot be found. This is similar to the findings of Cho et al. (2014), i.e. the market perceptions on assurance may need to be developed before the environmental report assurance market in Italy can develop.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations are related to the small sample located in a single country, meaning that results may not be generalisable. The implications are that other methods may provide further value, but these may need to be based either on different data or larger samples (i.e. cross-country analysis).
Originality/value
The increasing importance of environmental issues for economic decision-making and the presence of ethical investors create incentives for environmental information disclosure, which is becoming increasingly significant for comprehensive firm valuation. However, for this information to serve its role, disclosure must be credible. Hence, there are many companies that resort to voluntary assurance of environmental policies, motivated by a need to demonstrate credibility with external stakeholders. Notwithstanding, the influence of verification practice over environmental disclosure on a low regulation country has not yet been completely explored. This paper aims to fill this gap.