Business strategies and annual report readability

© 2018 Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand. This study investigates the association between firm-level business strategy and the readability of narrative disclosures in annual reports. As business strategy affects the information environment and financial performance of f...

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Main Authors: Habib, A., Hasan, Mostafa
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73053
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author Habib, A.
Hasan, Mostafa
author_facet Habib, A.
Hasan, Mostafa
author_sort Habib, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2018 Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand. This study investigates the association between firm-level business strategy and the readability of narrative disclosures in annual reports. As business strategy affects the information environment and financial performance of firms, we expect the readability of narrative disclosures to vary with the particular business strategy that a firm pursues. In accord with this expectation, we find that firms with prospector-type business strategies produce less readable narratives, while those with defender-type business strategies produce more readable narratives. We also document that the association between strategy and readability is partially mediated by organisational performance, although the mediation effect is rather modest. These findings are robust when subjected to a series of sensitivity tests. Accounting and Finance
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:55:05Z
format Journal Article
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:55:05Z
publishDate 2018
publisher Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia
recordtype eprints
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-730532018-12-13T09:35:40Z Business strategies and annual report readability Habib, A. Hasan, Mostafa © 2018 Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand. This study investigates the association between firm-level business strategy and the readability of narrative disclosures in annual reports. As business strategy affects the information environment and financial performance of firms, we expect the readability of narrative disclosures to vary with the particular business strategy that a firm pursues. In accord with this expectation, we find that firms with prospector-type business strategies produce less readable narratives, while those with defender-type business strategies produce more readable narratives. We also document that the association between strategy and readability is partially mediated by organisational performance, although the mediation effect is rather modest. These findings are robust when subjected to a series of sensitivity tests. Accounting and Finance 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73053 10.1111/acfi.12380 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia restricted
spellingShingle Habib, A.
Hasan, Mostafa
Business strategies and annual report readability
title Business strategies and annual report readability
title_full Business strategies and annual report readability
title_fullStr Business strategies and annual report readability
title_full_unstemmed Business strategies and annual report readability
title_short Business strategies and annual report readability
title_sort business strategies and annual report readability
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73053