Content and quality of information: Analysis of the management discussion session in the Italian financial reports in the period 2003-2008

Abstract

Three events have affected the management of listed companies: (i) the increasing importance of the intangible assets; (ii) the accounting harmonisation and the management discussion regulation both at European and national level; (iii) the financial crisis. In this context, regulators view narrative disclosures as the key to achieving the desired step-change in the quality of corporate reporting. The paper wants to study the quantity of financial communication in the management discussion for each information category selected and its quality in terms of: time orientation, nature and mode of expression. Content analysis is applied. One of the main results, is that the quantity of information increases and this information is always related to the business and it is non-financial, narrative and historical.