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Original Articles

An Investigation into Annual Report Readability and Corporate Risk-Return Relationships

Pages 285-294 | Published online: 01 Mar 2012

Keep up to date with the latest research on this topic with citation updates for this article.

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Wiwik Supratiwi, Dian Agustia, Wiwiek Dianawati & Tota Panggabean. (2022) Textual attributes on integrated reporting quality: Evidence in Asia and Europe. Cogent Business & Management 9:1.
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Hongkang Xu, Mai Dao, Jia Wu & Hua Sun. (2022) Political corruption and annual report readability: evidence from the United States. Accounting and Business Research 52:2, pages 166-200.
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Tsung-Kang Chen & Yijie Tseng. (2021) Readability of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements and Corporate Bond Yield Spread. European Accounting Review 30:1, pages 83-113.
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Vasiliki Athanasakou, Florian Eugster, Thomas Schleicher & Martin Walker. (2020) Annual Report Narratives and the Cost of Equity Capital: U.K. Evidence of a U-shaped Relation. European Accounting Review 29:1, pages 27-54.
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Min-ho Jang & Joon-hwa Rho. (2016) IFRS adoption and financial statement readability: Korean evidence. Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics 23:1, pages 22-42.
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Gerard William Stone. (2011) Readability of accountants’ communications with small business—Some Australian evidence. Accounting Forum 35:4, pages 247-261.
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David Hay. (1998) Communication in Auditors' Reports: Variations in Readability and the Effect of Audit Firm Structure. Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting 5:2, pages 179-197.
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Richard Mattessich. (1996) Academic Research in Accounting: The Last 50 Years. Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting 3:1, pages 3-81.
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Richard Pike, John Sharp & Jeffrey Kantor. (1988) The Role of Accounting Information in Valuing Unlisted Shares. Accounting and Business Research 18:71, pages 249-255.
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Articles from other publishers (97)

Bassam M. Abu-Abbas & Mostafa K. Hassan. (2024) Readability and banks’ risk-taking behavior: Evidence from GCC. Research in International Business and Finance 70, pages 102367.
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Hong-Quan Li, Yang Yang, Feng-Wan Xue & Zhi-Yi Liu. (2024) Annual report readability and trade credit financing: Evidence from China. Research in International Business and Finance 69, pages 102220.
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Zhao‐Yong Sun, Shu‐Ning Wang & Dongdong Li. (2023) Investor response to corporate social responsibility performance: The role of corporate social responsibility reports readability. Managerial and Decision Economics 45:3, pages 1280-1289.
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Jiaxu Du & Kangding Wang. 2024. Harnessing Technology for Knowledge Transfer in Accountancy, Auditing, and Finance. Harnessing Technology for Knowledge Transfer in Accountancy, Auditing, and Finance 203 226 .
Franz Eduard Toerien & Elda du Toit. (2023) Fighting through the Flesch and Fog: the readability of risk disclosures. Accounting Research Journal 37:1, pages 39-56.
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Miguel Pombinho, Ana Fialho & Jorge Novas. (2023) Readability of Sustainability Reports: A Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability 16:1, pages 260.
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Herenia Gutiérrez Ponce, Julián Chamizo González & Manar Al-Mohareb. (2023) Annual Reports Readability From Linguistic and Communication Perspectives: Systematic Literature Review. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly 86:4, pages 446-497.
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Hassan Mohammadzadeh Moghadam, Mahdi Salehi & Zohreh Hajiha. (2021) The relationship between intellectual capital and financial statements readability: the role of management characteristics. Journal of Facilities Management 21:2, pages 221-241.
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Arshad S Riyaz & Vijay Kumar Gupta. (2023) The effect of corporate governance on impression management within chairmen letter of Indian listed companies. SSRN Electronic Journal.
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Emin ZEYTİNOĞLU & Nasıf ÖZKAN. (2022) BORSA İSTANBUL’DAKİ ŞİRKETLERİN FAALİYET RAPORLARININ OKUNABİLİRLİĞİ: FİNANSAL PERFORMANS KAPSAMINDA BİR KARŞILAŞTIRMAREADABILITY OF ANNUAL REPORTS OF COMPANIES LISTED IN BORSA ISTANBUL: A COMPARISON WITHIN THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK. Ekonomi Maliye İşletme Dergisi 5:2, pages 262-274.
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Bernhard Stellner. (2022) Readability of Annual Reports on the Vienna Stock Exchange: A Test of Management Obfuscation Hypothesis. Central European Business Review 11:5, pages 49-66.
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George F. Nel, Sher-Lee Arendse-Fourie & Juan M. Ontong. (2022) The association between optimism and future performance: Evidence of impression management from chief executive officer and chairperson letters. South African Journal of Business Management 53:1.
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Fahd Alduais. (2022) Textual analysis of the annual report and corporate performance: evidence from China. Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting.
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Yanqi Sun, Jenny Jing Wang & Kevin Tairan Huang. (2022) Does IFRS and GRI adoption impact the understandability of corporate reports by Chinese listed companies?. Accounting & Finance 62:2, pages 2879-2904.
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Anne‐Marie Gosselin, Julien Le Maux & Nadia Smaili. (2021) Readability of Accounting Disclosures: A Comprehensive Review and Research Agenda*. Accounting Perspectives 20:4, pages 543-581.
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Gatot Soepriyanto, Sienny Tjokroaminoto & Arfian Erma Zudana. (2021) Annual report readability and accounting irregularities: evidence from public listed companies in Indonesia. Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting 19:5, pages 793-818.
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Eka Sari Ayuningtyas & Iman Harymawan. (2021) Negative Tone and Readability in Management Discussion and Analysis Reports: Impact on The Cost of Debt. Jurnal Manajemen Teori dan Terapan| Journal of Theory and Applied Management 14:2, pages 129.
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Hatem Rjiba, Samir Saadi, Sabri Boubaker & Xiaoya (Sara) Ding. (2021) Annual report readability and the cost of equity capital. Journal of Corporate Finance 67, pages 101902.
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Tamanna Dalwai, Gopalakrishnan Chinnasamy & Syeeda Shafiya Mohammadi. (2021) Annual report readability, agency costs, firm performance: an investigation of Oman's financial sector. Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies 11:2, pages 247-277.
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Federica Balluchi, Arianna Lazzini & Riccardo Torelli. (2021) Credibility of environmental issues in non-financial mandatory disclosure: Measurement and determinants. Journal of Cleaner Production 288, pages 125744.
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Phuong Thi Thuy Nguyen & Akihisa Kimura. (2020) How plain English use affects the length of annual reports: Evidence from the annual reports of foreign firms listed on the US stock exchange. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 39:6, pages 106773.
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Anete Pajuste, Elva Poriete & Reinis Novickis. (2020) Management reporting complexity and earnings management: evidence from the Baltic markets. Baltic Journal of Management 16:1, pages 47-69.
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Desi Adhariani & Elda du Toit. (2020) Readability of sustainability reports: evidence from Indonesia. Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies 10:4, pages 621-636.
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Dimu Ehalaiye, Fawzi Laswad, Nives Botica Redmayne, Warwick Stent & Lei Cai. (2018) Are Financial Reports Useful? The Views of New Zealand Public Versus Private Users. Australian Accounting Review 30:1, pages 52-64.
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Mondher Fakhfakh. (2020) The Islamic harmonization of consolidated auditors’ reports. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research 11:3, pages 647-673.
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Ashutosh Deshmukh & Xin Zhao. (2020) Audit Quality and Readability of the Annual Reports. International Journal of Strategic Decision Sciences 11:1, pages 76-90.
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Igor Semenenko & Junwook Yoo. (2019) Annual reporting, agency costs, and firm valuations. Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance 31:1, pages 72-82.
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Stephen Jackson, Nadia Vanteeva & Colm Fearon. (2019) An Investigation of the Impact of Data Breach Severity on the Readability of Mandatory Data Breach Notification Letters: Evidence From U.S. Firms. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology 70:11, pages 1277-1289.
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Richard Fisher, Chris J. van Staden & Glenn Richards. (2019) Watch that tone. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 33:1, pages 77-105.
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Amr Nazieh Ezat. (2019) The impact of earnings quality on the association between readability and cost of capital. Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies 9:3, pages 366-385.
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Peter Cleary, Martin Quinn & Alonso Moreno. (2019) Socioemotional wealth in family firms: A longitudinal content analysis of corporate disclosures. Journal of Family Business Strategy 10:2, pages 119-132.
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Jonas da Silva Oliveira, Graça Maria do Carmo Azevedo, Stéphanie Fernandes Pinheiro & Maria Fátima Ribeiro Borges. 2019. International Financial Reporting Standards and New Directions in Earnings Management. International Financial Reporting Standards and New Directions in Earnings Management 199 215 .
Jin-hui Luo, Xue Li & Huayang Chen. (2018) Annual report readability and corporate agency costs. China Journal of Accounting Research 11:3, pages 187-212.
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Alexander V. Laskin. (2018) The Narrative Strategies of Winners and Losers: Analyzing Annual Reports of Publicly Traded Corporations. International Journal of Business Communication 55:3, pages 338-356.
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Xianwei Liu, Markus Schuckert & Rob Law. (2018) Utilitarianism and knowledge growth during status seeking: Evidence from text mining of online reviews. Tourism Management 66, pages 38-46.
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H. Scott Asay, Robert Libby & Kristina Rennekamp. (2018) Firm performance, reporting goals, and language choices in narrative disclosures. Journal of Accounting and Economics 65:2-3, pages 380-398.
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Rashid Ameer & Radiah Othman. 2018. Accounting for Sustainability: Asia Pacific Perspectives. Accounting for Sustainability: Asia Pacific Perspectives 67 100 .
Elda du Toit. (2017) The readability of integrated reports. Meditari Accountancy Research 25:4, pages 629-653.
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Mondher Fakhfakh. (2017) The harmonization of audit reports of Islamic banks. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research 8:2, pages 203-228.
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Rasha Mahboub, Nehale Mostapha & Wagdy Hegazy. (2017) A study of discretionary narrative disclosure strategies of the most and least profitable MENA region banks. Corporate Ownership and Control 14:2, pages 258-267.
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Ingrid E. Fisher, Margaret R. Garnsey & Mark E. Hughes. (2016) Natural Language Processing in Accounting, Auditing and Finance: A Synthesis of the Literature with a Roadmap for Future Research. Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management 23:3, pages 157-214.
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Esther Cheung & James Lau. (2016) Readability of Notes to the Financial Statements and the Adoption of IFRS. Australian Accounting Review 26:2, pages 162-176.
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Rashid Ameer. (2016) Usefulness of ASSET4 ESG for Socially Responsible Investing in a Small Economy. The Journal of Investing 25:2, pages 125-135.
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Acklesh Prasad, Peter Green & Jon Heales. (2016) Do organisations in developing economies legitimise their level of profit? Evidence from Fiji. Accounting Research Journal 29:1, pages 59-80.
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Brian A. Rutherford. (2016) The struggle to fabricate accounting narrative obfuscation. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management 13:1, pages 57-85.
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Alonso Moreno & Araceli Casasola. (2015) A Readability Evolution of Narratives in Annual Reports. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 30:2, pages 202-235.
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Mondher Fakhfakh. (2016) Performance structurelle et informationnelle du rapport d’audit normatif des institutions financières islamiques : analyse qualitative et pertinence linguistique. La Revue Gestion et Organisation 8:1, pages 26-39.
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Mohd Noor Azli Ali Khan & Nur Basyila Zakaria. 2016. Regional Conference on Science, Technology and Social Sciences (RCSTSS 2014). Regional Conference on Science, Technology and Social Sciences (RCSTSS 2014) 675 686 .
Glenn Richards & Chris van Staden. (2015) The readability impact of international financial reporting standards. Pacific Accounting Review 27:3, pages 282-303.
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Lorenzo Patelli & Matteo Pedrini. (2013) Is Tone at the Top Associated with Financial Reporting Aggressiveness?. Journal of Business Ethics 126:1, pages 3-19.
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Janos J. Sarbo & Jessica H. Yang. 2015. Information and Knowledge Management in Complex Systems. Information and Knowledge Management in Complex Systems 10 19 .
Lorenzo Patelli & Matteo Pedrini. (2013) Is the Optimism in CEO’s Letters to Shareholders Sincere? Impression Management Versus Communicative Action During the Economic Crisis. Journal of Business Ethics 124:1, pages 19-34.
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Gerard Stone & Lee D. Parker. (2013) Developing the Flesch reading ease formula for the contemporary accounting communications landscape. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management 10:1, pages 31-59.
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Yen‐Jung Lee. (2012) The Effect of Quarterly Report Readability on Information Efficiency of Stock Prices*. Contemporary Accounting Research 29:4, pages 1137-1170.
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KRISTINA RENNEKAMP. (2012) Processing Fluency and Investors’ Reactions to Disclosure Readability. Journal of Accounting Research 50:5, pages 1319-1354.
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Indrarini Laksmana, Wendy Tietz & Ya-Wen Yang. (2012) Compensation discussion and analysis (CD&A): Readability and management obfuscation. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 31:2, pages 185-203.
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Charl de Villiers & Chris J. van Staden. (2011) Where firms choose to disclose voluntary environmental information. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 30:6, pages 504-525.
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Stephen Lee & Nick French. (2011) The readability of academic papers in the Journal of Property Investment & Finance . Journal of Property Investment & Finance 29:6, pages 693-704.
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Gerard Stone. (2011) Let ' s talk. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 24:6, pages 781-809.
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Aishah Sheikh Abu Bakar & Rashid Ameer. (2011) Readability of Corporate Social Responsibility communication in Malaysia. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 18:1, pages 50-60.
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Niamh M. Brennan, Encarna Guillamon‐Saorin & Aileen Pierce. (2009) Methodological Insights. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 22:5, pages 789-832.
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Hamadi Fakhfakh, Mondher Fakhfakh & María Consuelo Pucheta‐Martínez. (2008) The impact of harmonisation by the International Federation of Accountants. Managerial Auditing Journal 23:8, pages 824-859.
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Feng Li. (2008) Annual report readability, current earnings, and earnings persistence. Journal of Accounting and Economics 45:2-3, pages 221-247.
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Philip M. Linsley & Michael J. Lawrence. (2007) Risk reporting by the largest UK companies: readability and lack of obfuscation. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 20:4, pages 620-627.
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James Philpot & Don T Johnson. (2007) Mutual fund performance and fund prospectus clarity. Journal of Financial Services Marketing 11:3, pages 211-216.
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Manli Sun. (2007) An exploratory study of the understandability of listed companies’ annual reports. Frontiers of Business Research in China 1:1, pages 39-49.
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Thomas J. Phillips, Cynthia M. Daily & Michael S. Luehlfing. 2007. 311 318 .
Mark A. Clatworthy & Michael John Jones. (2006) Differential patterns of textual characteristics and company performance in the chairman's statement. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 19:4, pages 493-511.
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Malcolm J. Beynon, Mark A. Clatworthy & Michael John Jones. (2005) The prediction of profitability using accounting narratives: a variable‐precision rough set approach. Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management 12:4, pages 227-242.
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John K Courtis. (2004) Corporate report obfuscation: artefact or phenomenon?. The British Accounting Review 36:3, pages 291-312.
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Don T. Johnson. (2004) Has the Security and Exchange Commission’s Rule 421 made mutual fund prospectuses more accessible?. Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance 12:1, pages 51-63.
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Robin Sydserff & Pauline Weetman. (2002) Developments in content analysis: a transitivity index and DICTION scores . Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 15:4, pages 523-545.
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Don T. Johnson, Ronald J. Bauerly & Doug Waggle. (2002) Are mutual fund prospectuses written in plain English?. Managerial Finance 28:7, pages 43-55.
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Mark Clatworthy & Michael John Jones. (2001) The effect of thematic structure on the variability of annual report readability. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 14:3, pages 311-326.
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Carol David. (2016) Mythmaking in Annual Reports. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 15:2, pages 195-222.
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Jean T. Dorrell & Nancy S. Darsey. (2016) An Analysis of the Readability and Style of Letters to Stockholders. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 21:1, pages 73-83.
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Feng Li. (2006) Annual Report Readability, Current Earnings, and Earnings Persistence. SSRN Electronic Journal.
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Alonso Moreno & Martin Quinn. (2021) The Impact of Socioemotional Wealth on Corporate Reporting Readability in a Multinational Family-Controlled Firm. SSRN Electronic Journal.
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Vasiliki E. Athanasakou, Florian Eugster, Thomas Schleicher & Martin Walker. (2019) Annual Report Narratives and the Cost of Equity Capital: U.K. Evidence of a U-Shaped Relation. SSRN Electronic Journal.
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Hebatallah Badawy & Adel Nematallah Ibrahim. (2016) Is the Readability of Corporate Textual Disclosures Measurable?. SSRN Electronic Journal.
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Chi Keung Man. (2017) Succinct Survey of Financial and Nonfinancial Disclosure Quality: Definition, Classification and Analysis. SSRN Electronic Journal.
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Hamilton Scott Asay, W. Brooke Elliott & Kristina M. Rennekamp. (2016) Disclosure Readability and the Sensitivity of Investorss Valuation Judgments to Outside Information. SSRN Electronic Journal.
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Kristina M. Rennekamp. (2012) The Influence of Performance and Reporting Goals on Managers' Choice of Reporting Complexity in Disclosures. SSRN Electronic Journal.
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Kristina M. Rennekamp. (2012) Processing Fluency and Investors’ Reactions to Disclosure Readability. SSRN Electronic Journal.
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Aishah Abu Bakar Attamimi & Rashid Ameer. (2010) Readability of Corporate Social Responsibility Communication in Malaysia. SSRN Electronic Journal.
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Niamh Brennan, Encarna Guillamon Saorin & Aileen Pierce. (2008) Impression Management: Developing and Illustrating a Scheme of Analysis for Narrative Disclosures - A Methodological Note. SSRN Electronic Journal.
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