Integrated Reporting promotes a more cohesive and efficient approach to corporate reporting and aims to improve the quality of information available to providers of financial capital. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the determinants of readability and optimism which build the disclosure style of integrated reports. Our research draws on impression management theory and legitimacy theory, while also taking into consideration the cultural system of Hofstede with its further developments by Gray. Our sample consisted of 30 annual reports, extracted randomly from the Integrated Reporting examples database set up by the International Integrated Reporting Council. For the purposes of our investigation, we have carried out a multivariate regression analysis. Firstly, our results show that the higher the revenues of the reporting company, the more balanced their integrated reports, while younger companies use a more optimistic tone when reporting. Additionally, optimism seems to be inversely correlated with the length of the reports. Secondly, entities based in countries with a stronger tendency towards transparency surprisingly provide less readable integrated reports. It was also revealed that companies operating in non-environmentally sensitive industries, as well as International Financial Reporting Standards adopters deliver foggier and thus less readable integrated reports.

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the discussion of how large companies in the agri-food sector cope with the growing pressure to perform sustainably and how they disclose sustainability-related information to their stakeholders. To achieve this goal, we used the case study method. We analyzed Cargill’s specific approach to sustainability reporting, who is a company with a 150-year history and worldwide activities. We used reports from the year 2014 and 2018. The core of our analysis lies in the content analysis of the text using 39 corporate social responsibility (CSR) keywords (Cohen, 2010). The frequency of keywords related to the three aspects of CSR was measured to reveal the areas that the company considers most important and those upon which it draws the attention of users. To complement this analysis, we then investigated the linguistic features of Cargill’s sustainability reports, which employed the LIWC2015 program (LIWC–Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count) and focused on four features of disclosure (analytical thinking, clout, authenticity, and emotional tone). The findings of our research confirmed that the dominant companies in the agri-food business have reacted to challenges of their social environment and changed their attitude to keep up with the current stage of social development. Sustainability reporting is elaborated and covers all aspects of the company’s activity in sufficient detail. This attitude developed continuously despite it not always being appreciated by Cargill’s stakeholders. The main limitation of our study lies in the method which did not allow even with the greatest effort to eliminate subjectivity. The other limitation relates to the specific features of the company and its position within the world economy and also to its long history, which determined the form and extent of reporting. However, our findings are indicative and inspiring for future research. Our results contribute to the debate concerning the form, content, and evolution of sustainability reporting. Moreover, our results can be used in practice by corporate management, when designing their marketing strategy, plans, and programs. We claim that the biggest challenge for big multinationals like Cargill in these days is to effectively protect the nature and respect the law in jurisdictions where there is traditionally low incentive to obey the rules because of poor regulations and many opportunities to misuse their dominant position.

Sustainability bonds enable capital-raising and investment for those projects that have both a positive impact on the environment and a positive social outcome. This study examines the stock market reaction to the announcement of sustainability bonds issuance. The present research is designed as follows: first, an event study that examines the market reaction and second, a highlight of drivers influencing this market reaction via a linear regression with cluster-robust standard errors. Overall, small and negative sample-wide reactions to sustainability bond issue announcements were found. Additionally, the study finds significant negative abnormal returns before the publication in June 2018 of The Sustainability Bond Guidelines by the International Capital Market Association. Specifically, the size of the bond issue, whether the bond is callable or not, the announcement of the issue as a single event in a day, the company’s Return on Assets, the firm’s social disclosure score, and the issuance of the bond prior or after June 2018 are statistically significant factors that influence the stock returns of issuers.

Operational risk has been acknowledged as a major source of material failures in financial firms. Despite the increased concern of financial institutions and their stakeholders on this topic, the literature that deals specifically with the operational risk disclosure in the banking system is scarce. The present research investigates the readability in transparency reports of Romanian banks, and focuses in particular on the operational risk disclosures. The sample consists of 13 commercial banks operating in Romania in 2017. A concise transparency report is characterized by clarity in the expression of concepts, usage of as few words as possible, limited use of technical terms and avoidance of highly generic disclosures. Drawing upon prior research, we expect that banks with lower levels of performance are foggier (i.e. less concise) in order to improve the image resulting from their transparency reports. Additionally, it is expected that the longer an entity has been established, the higher the quality of disclosures, thus the transparency reports of older banks are more concise compared to the recently established banks. Moreover, we posit that larger banks are more likely to provide more readable reports. The research is part of the larger debate related to disclosure and its various impacts on both the recipient and the giver of information. The main contribution is the innovative approach consisting in the textual analysis of transparency risk reports. To the best of our knowledge, we are not aware of any study that examined conciseness in the setting of operational risk disclosure by banks.

Titles on IAS 41 are not very common in the literature and in this sense there is a limited understanding of the standard and the agri-business, especially when connected with accounting and sustainability. Far too many scholars when taking into consideration natural capital, place too much emphasis on abiotic products (wind, solar, etc) which have a different economic behaviour than the biotic ones (biological assets). The topic of IAS 41 is important, as agriculture is one of the strategic sectors for human living and it needs to be accounted for in careful manner. Our article connects accounting with agriculture, sustainability and non-financial reporting for an integrated perspective. There are certain intrinsic challenges that IAS 41 presents, especially when dealing with FVA, but there are also greater needs for materiality in the sustainable agricultural development in the EU legislation. Authors think that there is place for improvement whiten the standards and the future of EU farming should not leave accounting behind, making a call for a more integrated approach and understanding.