Voluntary Financial Reporting on the Internet: Analysis of the Practice of Stock-Market Listed Croatian and Slovene Joint Stock Companies

An investigation into Internet financial reporting carried out in June 2005 that focused on stock-market listed Croatian and Slovene joint-stock companies has two basic aspects, comparative and explanatory. The comparative aspect of the research showed that Slovene corporations have a statistically significant higher level of financial reporting (as measured with IFR score). The average IFR score for 55 corporate entities from Croatia came to just 6.85, while the average IFR score for 30 Slovene firms was 17.63. The second aspect of the investigation was explanatory, and at the level of each state and sample the intention was to find the variables that affect IFR scores significantly. With respect to the Croatian sample it was shown that the IFR score was statistically significantly and positively correlated with size, profitability, number of shareholders, and amount of traffic on the stock markets. Then regression analysis showed that majority foreign ownership had a positive effect on the IFR score. A statistically significant but negative correlation was established for two sectors, tourism and marine transport. For the Slovene sample, comprising 30 firms, the size, profitability and number of stockholders were not significant variables. However, official listing, proportion of market capitalisation and ratio of market to book values of shares were statistically significantly and positively correlated with the IFR score. Only one sector, transport, was significantly and negatively correlated with the IFR score