Company Reputations and Disclosures

Barone, Elisabetta, Cunningham, G. and Marnet, O. (2014) Company Reputations and Disclosures. In: Reclaiming Accounting's Lost Identity. Atremi, AB, Mjölby, Sweden, pp. 85-110. ISBN 978-91-7527-067-8

Abstract

Traditional financial reporting research focuses on information to the stock market. With increasing emphasis on environmental and social issues in accounting and finance research, though, issues of company reputation and disclosures have become significant. By implication, reputation and disclosures are related, but only two studies have examined the link. This paper reviews academic discourse of recent years related to reputation and disclosures, reaching a pessimistic conclusion that companies are largely indifferent to public disclosures and that there is wide-spread non-compliance with required disclosure standards by companies and their auditors. Instead, companies use back-channel private disclosures to maintain and enhance their reputations with perceived key constituents. The paper examines theories that have driven previous research and can be used for future research, and presents research questions for ongoing accounting and finance research.

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