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This study aims to investigate the extent and variety of voluntary intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) by listed private firms in India. It also compares the level of ICD of firms in the high‐IC‐intensive and low‐IC‐intensive industry sector. In addition, it evaluates the effect of firm size on ICD levels. Consistent with previous ICD research, the results show that relational capital (in particular about “brands and customers”) is the most frequently reported, followed by human capital, and lastly structural capital. In addition, the extent and variety of voluntary ICD by large firms is higher than that of small firms. Again, consistent with prior research, high‐IC‐intensive firms disclose significantly higher IC than low‐IC‐intensive firms. The findings of this study can have implications for regulators, who may want to be aware of how voluntary ICD influences and informs users. This study is one of the few that examines the extent of firms' voluntary ICD in India. It is the first to investigate the extent and variety of voluntary ICD by incorporating two different measures—count and presence—of each component of ICD.

Corporate reporting provides insights into how a company views itself and its role in society by communicating the company's performance in both financial and non-financial terms (Krzus, 2011). Growing business complexity and the globalised business environment have increased pressure on companies to be more transparent in reporting their business performance and value propositions by adopting a forward-looking approach, which led to the evolution of integrated reporting (IR) as a new corporate reporting reform. The central idea of 'value creation' in IR

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the value relevance of corporate social responsibility disclosures (CSRDs) in English language annual reports in Japanese companies. Based on the stakeholder theory framework, the long-term effects of CSRD on financial and market performance are examined. There is relatively little research dealing with actual CSR reporting in Japanese companies. Design/methodology/approach Using modified versions of those given by Ohlson (1995) and Ruf et al. (2001), six dimensions of CSRD based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines and three different measures of performance data are used to examine the relationship between CSRDs and performance in 101 dual-language-reporting Japanese firms. Findings The paper finds that the more a company discloses CSR on labour, human rights and product safety and health in the company’s annual report, the more it is rewarded with a higher level of financial and market performance. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to provide evidence of the incremental value of GRI-based CSRD to both financial and market performance in companies with dual-language reporting in Japan, a country with a high tendency to follow the Western practice of CSRD.

Purpose This study investigates how a globally-oriented, developing country enterprise formulates and implements ethics strategies, policies and behaviours with respect to its stakeholders, and how the case company discloses and utilises its ethics strategies, policies and behaviours to gain competitive advantage and create stakeholder value. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal single case study is presented featuring a tea producer and marketer in Sri Lanka, one of the country’s largest exporters, that is targeting a global consumer market. Applying Spiller’s (2000) framework for ethical business practices, this research analyses data collected in a series of interviews in combination with content analysis of company annual reports and sustainability reports covering 2010 to 2019 supplemented by on-site observation. Findings Analysis reveals that the company maintains ethical strategies, policies and behaviours with respect to its prominent stakeholders, and strategically discloses those practices. The firm’s proactive disclosures of its business and sustainability ethics practices enabled it to establish and sustain competitive advantage over its competitors. The findings are discussed in light of their theoretical and practical implications, identifying areas for future studies. Originality/value This is the first ethics study to include both longitudinal documentary analysis and personal interviews in a single case study based in Sri Lanka. It contributes to discussion regarding balancing ethics and sustainability as parts of business strategies for reputation building and value creation through identifying salient stakeholders and ethics-based non-financial disclosures by contemporary business organisations.