The influence of firm-specific characteristics on the extent of voluntary disclosure in XBRL: Empirical analysis of SEC filings
International Journal of Accounting & Information Management
ISSN: 1834-7649
Article publication date: 25 February 2014
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the influence of several firm-specific characteristics on the extent of voluntary disclosure in eXtensible business reporting language (XBRL).
Design/methodology/approach
A disclosure checklist consisting of 54 financial and non-financial items in XBRL format is developed to examine the extent of voluntary disclosure in the 2008 annual reports of 51 US listed firms.
Findings
The results show that firm size and firms' level of innovativeness are significantly and positively related to the extent of overall disclosures.
Research limitations/implications
There are, however, several limitations in the study. First, a relatively small sample size of 51 firms from the year 2008. Second, the construction of an unweighted disclosure index based on the elements, which were voluntarily disclosed, may not be the best measurement. It might be interesting to replicate this study based on a larger sample size from another voluntary filing program.
Originality/value
The findings of this study should be of interest to firms that prepare, “clients” that use and regulators that monitor financial reporting disclosures in XBRL.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Vladimir Buzdugan, Katerina Hellström, Klaus Henselmann, and Robert J. Kirsch for useful discussions and comments. In addition, the author appreciates the helpful comments of two anonymous reviewers and participants of the European Accounting Association Workshop, 2011 in Prague.
Citation
Kaya, D. (2014), "The influence of firm-specific characteristics on the extent of voluntary disclosure in XBRL: Empirical analysis of SEC filings", International Journal of Accounting & Information Management, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 2-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJAIM-05-2011-0007
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited