Bikram Chatterjee

Culture and corporate voluntary reporting: A comparative exploration of the chairperson's report in India and New Zealand

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the cultural underpinnings of accounting practices through a comparative analysis of India and New Zealand, using the chairpersons report, which is increasingly becoming one of the most important segments of the corporate annual report. Design/methodology/approach - The annual reports of Indian and New Zealand companies from 2001 to 2005 were selected to investigate the extent and nature of information disclosure in their chairpersons report. “Content analysis” is the main methodological orientation of the paper. Findings - The paper argues that, contrary to propositions based on Hofstedes cultural framework, Indian companies provide more disclosure in their chairpersons report than their New Zealand counterparts. This leads to the conclusion that voluntary disclosure, more generally, is a complex phenomenon and cultural variables alone may not be sufficient predictors of the voluntary disclosure practices of a country. Originality/value - Using India and New Zealand, two countries with significant cultural differences, according to Hofstedes typology, the paper extends the literature by focusing on the chairpersons report, a more recent accounting phenomenon which is gaining popularity across the globe.

Highlights in annual reports: its perceived usefulness

Purpose – This paper seeks to investigate whether the “financial highlights” section of annual reports of a sample of Indian companies satisfy the information requirements of investors.Design/methodology/approach – The research method involves the preparation of a check‐list from those items that have been suggested as significant to be disclosed in annual reports by both the “sophisticated” and “non‐sophisticated” investors as suggested in the study of Joshi and Abdulla. After the preparation of this check‐list, “financial highlights” section of a sample of companies listed on any of the Indian Stock Exchanges has been examined to investigate whether this section contains that information, which has been considered as significant by the investors, in the study by Joshi and Abdulla.Findings – Most of the companies do not disclose information items that are perceived by users of financial information in India as being significant under the “financial highlights” section.Research limitations/implications – ...

Factors determining social and environmental reporting by Indian textile and apparel firms: a test of legitimacy theory

Purpose - – The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors determining the social and environmental reporting (SER) of Indian textile and apparel (TA) firms. Design/methodology/approach - – The 2010 annual reports of a sample of top 100 Indian TA firms listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange were examined to assess the extent of SER. SER was assessed based on the Global Reporting Initiative index applicable to the TA industry. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the determinants of SER. Findings - – This study reports a low extent of SER in the annual reports of Indian listed TA firms, with a mean disclosure of 14 per cent. On average, firms reported more extensive environmental information, with a mean disclosure of 18.4 per cent, compared to social information, with a mean disclosure of 10.7 per cent. Most firms reported social information relating to “labour practices and decent work”, while the reporting of information relating to “human rights” was sparse. Overall, the SER patterns provide support for legitimacy theory. Consistent with legitimacy theory expectations, corporate size, brand development and audit committee size are significant factors determining the variation in SER. No significant relationship was found between board independence, level of ownership and SER. Originality/value - – There is no existing study specifically on SER by TA firms in India. In fact, there is surprisingly little research on SER in the Indian context in general. Given the dearth in research on corporate social reporting in the Indian context, the study extends prior literature on corporate SER by concentrating on SER of TA firms in an emerging economy. The theoretical contribution of this study is the testing of legitimacy theory in the context of an emerging economy. This study contributes towards practice by delineating the relationship between governance structure and SER, particularly with regard to issues such as child labour. These findings have implications for the future development of reporting standards and regulations in regard to corporate governance in India. The dearth of social reporting by Indian TA firms has implications for foreign purchasers of branded products, as international companies have been implicated in sub-optimal social or environmental practices or incidents.

Political competition and environmental reporting: evidence from New Zealand local governments

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between “political competition” and “environmental reporting” by New Zealand local governments. Design/methodology/approach - – The research method includes a longitudinal analysis of environmental reporting by New Zealand local governments in their annual reports for the financial years 2005-2006 to 2009-2010. “Content analysis” was used to attach scores to the extent of environmental reporting. The “number of candidates divided by the number of available positions at the previous election” was used as the proxy for “political competition”. Findings - – The study reports a positive relationship between “political competition” and “environmental reporting” in 2007-2008. The number of local governments reporting voluntary environmental information increased in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 compared to 2005-2006, followed by a reduction in such numbers following the 2007-2008 financial year. This trend in disclosure can be attributed to the local government elections in October 2007. This finding is consistent with the expectation of “agency theory” and provides insight into the pattern of perceived agency costs. The study also finds a dearth in reporting “monetary” and “bad” news. Originality/value - – The study contributes towards the previous literature on environmental reporting by concentrating on the public sector and New Zealand, together with investigating the relationship of such reporting with “political competition” through a longitudinal analysis. The theoretical contribution of this study is the adoption of “agency theory” in the context of public sector voluntary reporting and investigating the significance attached by agents to environmental reporting to minimise agency cost. The practical contribution of the study is in the area of future development of reporting standards in regards to environmental reporting.

Infrastructure reporting by New Zealand local authorities – perceptions and expectations

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify the contextual factors affecting infrastructure reporting by New Zealand local authorities. Design/methodology/approach - The paper includes a survey and interview of Annual Report Recipients (ARRs) and Infrastructure Information Preparers (IIPs), together with an assessment of the extent of infrastructure information disclosure in the annual reports of New Zealand local authorities. Findings - This study finds that contrary to the expectations of Luder’s contingency model ( Originality/value - The paper contributes towards theoretical development by adopting Luder’s (

The current status of related party disclosure in India: A longitudinal analysis

Purpose – This study investigates the status of related party disclosure in an emerging economy, that is, India. The reason behind concentrating on India is due to its opening of the economy in 1991 to attract foreign investment. Hence, it is significant that investors are provided with credible information. The accounting value of ‘secrecy’ underlying India and the voluntary nature of detailed reporting about related parties in this country further motivated the present study. Methodology/Approach – The research method includes a content analysis of the ‘related party disclosure’ section of annual reports of a sample of Indian companies for the financial years 2002–2006. Findings – Indian companies disclosed more than the required minimum level of related party disclosure as required in the Indian accounting standard. No association between related party disclosure with market capitalization, industry affiliation and foreign listing was found for the year 2006. However, when the scores of all the five years 2002–2006 were considered manufacturing and automotive companies disclosed more about related parties than diversified, service and technology. Research Limitations – The limitations of our findings rests upon the fact that we have not examined the effect of factors such as the composition of management of each company and the presence of Indians/Non-Indians in management. Originality/Value of the Paper – Most studies exploring disclosure practices are directed towards developed countries. The disclosure practices in developing countries is an under researched area. This paper contributes towards the existing literature by taking the case of an emerging economy, that is, India.