Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of intellectual capital (IC) disclosures in annual reports (mandatory and voluntary) and draw attention to the specific issues related to the methodology used i.e. content analysis. The focus is to incorporate all forms of IC disclosurenarratives, numbers, and visual images -into the analysis as well as highlight the need to study both quantity (extent) and quality of disclosure. Design/methodology/approach -Using content analysis, this paper analyzes 30 of Malaysia's largest public-listed companies from the IC disclosure of 2008 annual reports. The results are used to discuss specific methodological issues such as the usage of an IC index, choice of unit of analysis, quantity versus quality, presence/absence versus multiple disclosures, and the usage of narratives, numbers, and visual images. Findings -This paper proposes that themes are the most appropriate recording and counting unit to analyze IC information combining narratives, numbers, and visual images. The discussion finds, among others, that while quantity and quality are highly related, quality of disclosure provides the most insights into the disclosure behavior adopted by companies. Practical implications -This paper provides methodological guidelines to future IC researchers interested in analyzing the quantity and quality of IC disclosure. Originality/value -To the best of the authors' knowledge, so far there are no studies published that provide a detailed discussion on ways to capture the quantity and quality of IC information disclosed in annual reports using all three forms of disclosure -narratives, numbers, and visual images.
This research examines the carbon disclosure of 75 electricity generation companies in Asia. Using a self-developed carbon disclosure index to assess the disclosure made in the annual reports for the year 2013, we find low level of disclosure among the sample companies (i.e., average score = 12%). The highest level of disclosure is 60%, while 27 reports made no reference to climate change or carbon emissions. The level and extent of disclosure can be attributed to the companies' country of origin with Japan and Hong Kong reported the highest. Most of the disclosure were related to risks and opportunities and plans and strategies to reduce emissions. However, there still lack of quantitative data and, when disclosed, the data were not externally verified. This scenario indicates the need to revisit the reporting requirements pertaining to carbon information. Index Terms-Asia, carbon disclosure, electricity companies. I. INTRODUCTION The electricity sector accounts for a significant share of global carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions. In year 2013, the industry accounted for 42-percent of CO 2 emissions which has seen an increase of 70 percent since year 1990 [1]. It is also documented that two-thirds of global emissions for 2013 originated from just ten countries in which six of them are Asian, namely China (ranked 1 st), India (3 rd) , Japan (5 th), Korea (7 th), Islamic Republic of Iran (9 th), and Saudi Arabia (10 th) [1]. Since greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is the factor contributing to climate change (of which 77% is CO 2 emissions) [2], it is rational to pay special attention to the electricity sector and Asian countries. Carbon disclosure is the provision of information by corporations emphasising on concerns, initiatives, or performance related to carbon emissions/climate change [3]. This can be done using various media including annual reports, stand-alone sustainability reports, and corporate websites. Furthermore, legitimacy theory posits that companies would be more likely to provide disclosures when their operations are perceived as inconsistent with societal expectations [4]. Due to reputation as 'dirty' companies, it is expected that electricity companies in Asia would be more forthcoming in disclosing carbon disclosure. However, most Manuscript
An effective disclosure of corporate information has increasingly becoming more critical as the world market begins a long shift toward a higher share of market-based financing. In the future, IR is expected to play a bigger role in promoting understanding of interdependencies between various capitals that a company has and support integrated thinking, decision-making and actions that focus on the creation of value over the short, medium and long term. Motivated by the gap among prior IR related studies particularly the one conducted within Southeast Asian region, this study provides evidence, through content analysis, on the extent of IR information being reported by the top 60 (30 each) Malaysian and Singapore public listed companies. The evidence suggests that public listed companies in both countries have incorporated some elements of IR in their annual report with each country focuses on different elements of IR. Despite Singapore being a pioneer in IR within Southeast Asian region, the results show there is no significant difference between these two countries when it comes to the IR information presented in their companies' reports.
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