The effect of national cultural differences of board members on integrated reporting

Abstract

This research, based on stakeholder theory and the national cultural dimensions, aims to test the influence of foreigners on board and its size on Integrated Reporting (IR) practices. The analysis is based on a sample of 1,058 European companies from 18 different countries, who adopted or not the IR for the year 2015, and it relies on a Logit. The dependent variable is a dummy (presenting or not the IR) and the independent variables are represented by the board characteristics (foreigners and size). The impact of the critical mass on the presence of foreigners and the cultural dimension on the basis of directors’ nationality was tested relying on the masculinity/femininity dimension of Hofstede. Besides, the directors’ country of origin was considered, namely if they belong to the major European countries presenting a wider IR diffusion. The relationship between foreigners on board and IR is found to be negative. This means that companies with at least one foreigner are less inclined to adopt IR. The results show that the boards with more of three foreign administrators have a major propensity to adopt the IR. The membership of the directors in countries with a feminist culture also has a positive effect.