The capital market benefits of integrated reporting (<IR>): evidence from adoption of <IR> in South Africa

This thesis is motivated by the gap between the significance of Integrated Reporting () in the development of corporate reporting and the empirical evidence substantiating the benefits associated with . Serving as a new reporting paradigm, encourages companies to outline their value creation process over the short, medium and long terms, using a ‘multiple capitals’ approach in a concise and coherent manner. is thought to be ‘the next step in the evolution of corporate reporting’(IIRC 2013a, 2014a), and is associated with many potential benefits. However, very few of these benefits have been substantiated by rigorous empirical research. This thesis comprises two related studies that provide coherent empirical evidence on the capital market benefits of . Study One examines whether companies producing higher-quality integrated reports enjoy lower cost of equity capital. Study Two focusses on the effect of integrated reports on analysts and investigates whether higher-quality integrated reports are beneficial in reducing analysts’ forecast error and dispersion. In addition, both studies explore whether independent assurance for integrated reports has an incremental effect in the capital market beyond the disclosure quality of integrated reports. Using a common sample of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa during the period of 2009–2012, before and after the introduction of an ‘apply or explain’ reporting requirement, Study One finds that improvement in the disclosure quality of integrated reports is associated with a subsequent reduction in the cost of equity capital, and this negative relationship is more significant among those companies with a lower analyst coverage, consistent with an improved information environment interpretation. Study Two reveals that the analysts’ earnings forecast error and dispersion are reduced by improved disclosure quality of integrated reports, which provides further support for the positive relationship between a company’s quality and its information environment. Assurance for integrated reports is not found to have a significant effect on either the cost of equity capital or the analysts’ earnings forecasts accuracy, although it is found to have a marginal effect in reducing analysts’ earnings forecast dispersion