Integrated Reporting and Agency Costs: International Evidence from Voluntary Adopters

Abstract

We examine whether the practice of integrated reporting (IR) can reduce agency problems between managers and investors, resulting in lower agency costs. We construct a sample of firms that voluntarily use IR in practice, drawn from 35 countries, and find that firms that apply IR practice more extensively (high IR firms) are associated with lower levels of agency costs and more negative year-to-year changes in agency costs compared to other IR firms (low IR firms). We also find that the relation between the level of IR practice and agency costs is more negative in countries with a stakeholder orientation than in countries with a shareholder orientation. Additionally, the effectiveness of IR is more pronounced in diversified firms that face greater agency problems. Our results are robust in a series of additional tests that address endogeneity. Overall, our evidence is consistent with IR having a disciplining role for managers. Full paper available at https://doi.org/10.1080/09638180.2020.1805342

Keywords: Integrated reporting, Agency costs, Corporate governance, Voluntary adoption