Title:
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Exploring integrated reporting : accountant's understanding and sell-side analysts' and fund managers' information use
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Integrated reporting has emerged at a point where corporate reporting has been criticised for
evolving into a separate sustainability and financial reporting aiming to integrate both.
Academic research on it point to a complexity both in its meaning and aims, trying to
transcend two reporting worlds seen as incompatible and at different stages of their
institutionalisation and development. Yet, its promoters aim at information for providers of
financial capital to aid capital allocation decision making. This has been criticised by social
and environmental accounting academics. Employing a qualitative research design in which
data was collected majorly through semi structured interview, this study explores the views of
UK accountants on what integrated reporting is and the motivation behind its emergence. It
then went on to explore how UK analysts and fund managers make use of IR information
and perceive its decision usefulness as well as why they use it the way they do . The study
provides evidence of integrated reporting having emerged with the aim of mitigating varying
information asymmetry in capital allocation decision making under enlightened shareholder
value maximisation. This may be attributed mainly to the changing nature of capital
allocation decision making in 21st century firms. In these firms, intangible assets are now
seen as the most important assets for value creation by corporations. However the use of its
information, seen as, an amalgam of information none of which is owned by the promoters
does not point to a resolution of this information asymmetry. This is due to the fact that
sustainability information being integrated, now framed as capitals is expected to be
financialised i.e. quantifiable, measurable and monetisable. Only in this form does it help in
first order or primary mitigation of information asymmetry. Where it is not financialised, it is
still seen as being useful in mitigating information asymmetry but only in a second order or
secondary way. As in previous studies, it again highlights the complex nature of integrated
reporting, questions the coordinating role of IIRC and makes recommendations for its future
positioning and role in corporate reporting.
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