Gunnar Rimmel

Biodiversity reporting in Sweden : corporate disclosure and preparers' views

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide an account of the quantity, location and intentions behind companies’ biodiversity disclosure.Design/methodology/approach: This study applies a mi ...

Intellectual Capital in Japanese IPO Prospectuses

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to give an indication of the quantity of intellectual capital information in Japanese initial public offering (IPO) prospectuses from all stock exchange listi ...

Goodwill under IFRS: Relevance and disclosures in an unfavorable environment

Abstract The accounting treatment of purchased goodwill under IFRS has been severely criticized due to the extensive use of fair value accounting. The purpose of this study is to enrich the ongoing debate upon this issue by drawing attention to the market valuation implications of goodwill in a country outside the Anglo-Saxon accounting paradigm, where the application of fair value accounting has been seen as more problematic. The results indicate that, in the case of purchased goodwill, fair value accounting generates relevant accounting numbers but only in companies that comply highly with IFRS disclosure requirements.

Human resources disclosure in Danish intellectual capital statements: Enhancing comparability of business models a decade ago

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the human resources disclosure in Danish Intellectual Capital Statements to determine if these disclosures enhance the comparability of business mod ...

Outperforming markets: IC and the long-term performance of Japanese IPOs

Abstract This article studies the effects of disclosure practices of Japanese IPO prospectuses on long-term stock performance and bid–ask spread, as a proxy for cost of capital, after a company is admitted to the stock exchange. A disclosure index methodology is applied to 120 IPO prospectuses from 2003. Intellectual capital information leads to significantly better long-term performance against a reference portfolio, and is thus important to the capital market. Further, superior disclosure of IC reduces bid–ask spread in the long-term, indicating that such disclosures are important in an IPO setting. Analysts and investors can attain higher long-term returns by understanding IC.

Developing a Reporting and Evaluation Framework for Biodiversity

Biodiversity is no longer the sole realm and concern of natural scientists. Recently, accounting for biodiversity and its crisis has become subject of an increasing number of articles, books or special issues. One example is the special issue in the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (issue 5) in 2013. Many of the previous articles on biodiversity accounting had been rather explorative or descriptive, accessing contemporary accounting practice by merely focusing on the level of biodiversity disclosures in financial communication. The article by Samkin, Schneider and Tappin is taking this emerging stream of accounting research further by illustrating the development of a biodiversity reporting and evaluation framework. They apply their framework to annual reports issued by New Zealand’s Department of Conversation (DOC) over a time span of 23 years, from 1988 to 2010. DOC was established under New Zealand’s Conversation Act 1987, which recognises the concept of intrinsic value. Emphasis is given to the narrative parts of DOC’s annual reports by extracting the level of biodiversity disclosure using content analysis. In order to build their framework, the authors apply a deep, intermediate and shallow ecology taxonomy. The analysis of the annual reports shows that most of the biodiversity disclosures made had been consistent with deep ecology taxonomy. Another observation worth noting is the marked increase in biodiversity-related disclosures from year 2000 onwards, which coincides with the release of New Zealand’s biodiversity strategy in 2000. After having read this article, there are many questions that remain. Despite the absence of both a motivation and a research question, the purpose of the paper to illustrate the development of a biodiversity reporting and evaluation framework is clearly accomplished. The framework could be an inspiration to future research in this area, as many disclosure studies apply scoreboards that are based on standards, rules and regulations. Indeed, I would recommend this article to a large audience from academics to practitioners.

Book review: The Routledge Companion to Accounting, Reporting and Regulation, Carien van Mourik and Peter Walton (Eds.)

Book review: The Routledge Companion to Accounting, Reporting and Regulation, Carien van Mourik and Peter Walton (Eds.)