Towards a Systemic Approach in Financial Communication Research: Evidence from Exploratory Case Studies

Abstract:     
Accounting literature adopts a variety of approaches to the analysis of financial communication, mainly focusing on determinants, attributes and effects of specific kinds of disclosure and documents. This study adopts a framework based on information theory elements taking the perspective that financial communication is a bidirectional and multi-channel process, which can be conveniently analysed as a complex system.

The primary purpose of this paper is to explore that system shifting the focus on the corporate perspective and on activities carried out to prepare messages to be disclosed to the financial community. The analysis of that topic involves actors’ roles and corporate procedures, which seem of particular interest in order to advance the current understanding of financial communication. In particular, the paper investigates activities related to preparation and issue of specific documents and other financial messages so to understand whether these operations are managed as a coordinated process. This could shed light over an issue little investigated by existing literature and deliver insight into corporate financial reporting policies, providing a basis for further research. The communication process is explored adopting the case study method, which is a not common choice in disclosure studies even though it is a highly suitable strategy when research is aimed at achieving in-depth understanding of complex phenomena.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 23

Keywords: financial communication, financial disclosure, case study

JEL Classification: M40, M49

working papers series