The Political Economy of Transparency: What Makes Disclosure Policies Effective?

The mediating effect of transparency in the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate reputation

“…The interaction between the firm and its stakeholders allows the identification of their expectations or demands for information (Piechocki, 2004). The company that aspires to be transparent must disclose information to respond to those expectations by ensuring the transmission of new, crucial and accurate information, regardless of the nature of the information, that is, positive or negative events (Fung, Weil, Graham, & Fagotto, 2004;Ortiz Martínez & Crowther, 2008). Relevance of information disclosed has a quantitative part, since economic agents that receive information believe that social information is not sufficient to make a reliable assessment of the company (García-Meca & Martínez 2005), and a qualitative part provided by the standardization through the development of social information according to recognized standards or by the certification and assurance of disclosed information .…”

“…Failure to provide information at a time, place or format available to stakeholders (Fung et al, 2004) makes the previously described characteristics of relevance and understandability less important, which turns timeliness into a key issue for social and financial information (Jensen, Marshall, & Pugh, 2006). Measurement of timeliness is one of the most challenging issues for researchers, who have focused on frequency or information in good time when trying to measure it (Penno, 1997).…”

Ethical Issues in Financial Reporting: Is Intentional Structuring of Lease Contracts to Avoid Capitalization Unethical?

“…Fung et al (2004) note that transparency systems have emerged as a mainstream regulatory tool in a variety of settings including nutritional labeling, public school report cards, restaurant grading systems, toxic pollution reporting, fuel economy ratings, corporate financial reporting, and many others. The call for greater transparency in financial reporting is the primary driver of additional financial disclosures.…”

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“…La literatura relacionada con el concepto de transparencia se centra en una perspectiva utilitaria, en la que se consideran los beneficios tangibles para la sociedad y, a largo plazo, los beneficios para aquel que proporciona información (Vaccaro y Madsen, 2009). También nos encontramos con el otro lado de la moneda, donde se sugiere que la transparencia no tiene por qué ser óptima (Fung et al, 2004;Prat, 2005) y se defiende el derecho corporativo a la privacidad. De este modo, aunque en principio la transparencia es universalmente admirada, su aplicación puede entrar en conflicto con otros valores sociales o intereses políticos (Fung et al, 2004).…”

“…También nos encontramos con el otro lado de la moneda, donde se sugiere que la transparencia no tiene por qué ser óptima (Fung et al, 2004;Prat, 2005) y se defiende el derecho corporativo a la privacidad. De este modo, aunque en principio la transparencia es universalmente admirada, su aplicación puede entrar en conflicto con otros valores sociales o intereses políticos (Fung et al, 2004). Así, los efectos de la transparencia se observan en diferentes dimensiones como la eficiencia de mercado o el gobierno corporativo (Nelson, 2001) y la falta de transparencia aparece como un coste de agencia y un riesgo que resulta en una menor valoración de la compañía (Oxelheim, 2008).…”