Abstract
This chapter aims to investigate how regulatory change affects corporate disclosure. The explanations are based on institutional theory which provides an understanding of how organizations may react to a change in the regulatory framework. By conducting a content analysis, the chapter focuses on the information disclosed in the Management’s Reports prepared by the major Italian listed companies after the enactment of the 2007 law. This law extended companies’ disclosure obligations since management has to disclose information pertaining to risks and uncertainties, performance indicators, environment, and personnel. The new requirements not only lead to an increase in the information to be disclosed, but also to a change in the nature of the disclosed information. In addition to the more traditional financial information, also social, environmental, and strategic information should be provided. The main results of the content analysis allow to formulate some tentative reflections on companies’ receptivity to the 2007 regulatory change.
This chapter includes an edited version of the paper titled “IASB ED Management Commentary versus European Regulation: The Impact on Management’s Reports of Companies Listed on Italian Stock Exchange” and discussed at the Fifth International Workshop on Accounting and Regulation in 2010. Although this chapter is the result of shared research, Daniela Argento’s contribution is 60% and Roberto Di Pietra ’s contribution is 40 %. This paper was also presented at the 7th Workshop on European Financial Reporting, University of Bamberg (Germany, 8–9 September 2011), and the 34th EAA Annual Congress, Rome, 20–22 April 2011.
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Argento, D., Di Pietra, R. (2014). IASB ED Management Commentary Versus European Regulation: The Impact on Management’s Reports of Companies Listed on Italian Stock Exchange. In: Di Pietra, R., McLeay, S., Ronen, J. (eds) Accounting and Regulation. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8097-6_12
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