Integrated reporting is a new reporting tool that includes financial and nonfinancial information, which represents a natural evolution of the corporate reporting movement. Although this practice has gained increasing attention in recent years, both from an academic and professional perspective, the quality of the reports still represents a critical aspect due to inadequate investigation. Only a few studies have focused on integrated reporting quality, and contributions on the effects of quality have been even rarer. This study aims to investigate on the impact of integrated reporting quality on the firm's cost of equity capital, owing to the paramount importance of this parameter for firms and investors. Our results highlight that integrated reporting quality has a significantly negative association with the cost of equity capital, suggesting that integrated reporting quality represents an innovative way to reduce the cost of equity. To our knowledge, this is the first study that examines the relationship between integrated reporting quality and a firm's cost of equity.

PurposeThis study examines the effect that environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure generates on the cost of equity capital in the food and beverage (F&B) sector.Design/methodology/approachThis study analyses a sample of 171 international listed firms pertaining to the F&B sector and headquartered in North America, Western Europe and Asia Pacific (developed), forming an unbalanced panel of 1,316 observations, spanning the period 2010–2019. We run a fixed-effects panel regression model to test the relationship between ESG disclosure and the cost of equity capital.FindingsOur empirical outcomes suggest a significant negative relationship between ESG disclosure and the cost of equity capital. We find support for the notion that increased levels of ESG disclosure are linked to an improved access to financial resources for firms.Originality/valueThis is the first study that analyses the impact of ESG disclosure on the cost of equity capital in the F&B sector, taking existing literature a step further into more detailed and specific aspects of the relationship of focus.

A transition to natural and renewable resources is deemed necessary to preserve the environment and satisfy future energy needs globally. In this context, green economy can be considered a viable alternative paradigm that preserves growth expectations while protecting the earth's ecosystems.The objective of this study is to investigate whether "green" acquisitions represent a suitable way to support the green economy's growth, given that public subsidies alone do not suffice. To this end, we analyse bidders' post-acquisition performance (return on assets), based on data from the most recent deals, and try to decode whether bidders that "green" themselves find the potential to improve their financial performance and simultaneously enhance their corporate image.Results confirm that bidders opting for "green" deals can obtain better financial outcomes compared to firms that perform deals in other sectors. This implies that firms may favor such transactions both to foster their external growth and obtain better operating and financial results, while attributing a green identity to their corporate image and protecting the environment. These findings bestow and elevate confidence in the potential of relevant research, raising focus on unexplored Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) aspects of growing interest among investors worldwide.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of intellectual capital disclosure on the cost of equity capital in the context of integrated reporting, which represents the ultimate frontier in the field of corporate disclosure.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ content analysis to measure intellectual capital disclosure levels along with a panel analysis on a sample of 164 integrated reports.FindingsEmpirical outcomes indicate that intellectual capital disclosure levels have a significantly negative association with the cost of equity capital.Originality/valueThis study's major contribution lies in its originality in terms of empirical examination of the relationship between intellectual capital disclosure in integrated reports and the cost of equity capital.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the financial consequences of the level of human capital (HC) information disclosed by firms through integrated reports. Specifically, this work examines the effect of HC information on the cost of capital and firm value.Design/methodology/approachA manual content analysis is used to measure the level of HC information contained in integrated reports. A fixed-effects regression model is used to analyse 375 observations (a balanced panel of 125 firms for the period 2017–2019) and test the financial consequences of HC disclosure.FindingsThe empirical outcomes indicate that HC disclosure has a significant and negative effect on the cost of capital and a positive impact on firm value. Our results show that companies can reduce investors' perceived firm risk by improving HC disclosure, leading to a lower cost of capital. Moreover, our findings support the notion that increased levels of HC disclosure are linked to firms' improved access to external financial resources, consequently enhancing firm value.Originality/valueThis study is the first contribution to examine the financial consequences of HC disclosure and is one of the first to examine the level of HC information within integrated reports.