Integrated Reporting and Investor Clientele

Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Volume 27, Number 2. Spring 2015.

49 Pages Posted: 14 Jan 2014 Last revised: 13 May 2015

Date Written: January 14, 2014

Abstract

In this paper, I examine the relation between Integrated Reporting (IR) and the composition of a firm’s investor base. I hypothesize and find that firms that practice IR have a more long-term oriented investor base with more dedicated and fewer transient investors. This result is more pronounced for firms with high growth opportunities, not controlled by a family, operating in ‘sin’ industries, and exhibiting commitment to IR. I find that the results are robust to the inclusion of firm fixed effects, controls for the quantity of sustainability disclosure, and alternative ways of measuring IR. Moreover, I show that investor activism on environmental or social issues or a large number of concerns about a firm’s environmental or social impact leads a firm to practice more IR and that this investor or crisis-induced IR affects the composition of a firm’s investor base. Finally, firms that report more information about the different forms of capital or follow more closely the guiding principles as described in the IR Framework of the IIRC exhibit a more long-term oriented investor base.

Keywords: integrated reporting, sustainability, disclosure, short-termism, investor clientele, investor activism

JEL Classification: M4, G2, G3, M14

Suggested Citation

Serafeim, George, Integrated Reporting and Investor Clientele (January 14, 2014). Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Volume 27, Number 2. Spring 2015., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2378899 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2378899

George Serafeim (Contact Author)

Harvard Business School ( email )

Boston, MA 02163
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=15705

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