Understanding corporate disclosures is important for accounting researchers, as information plays a central role on financial markets. A generation of accounting and finance researchers has shown how readability of different financial and nonfinancial disclosures affects our understanding of organizational behaviors. We review 138 papers from 1950 to 2020 using the five Ws analysis method (Who, What, HoW, Why, and to Whom) developed by Culiberg and Mihelic ˇ(2017). We organize the literature into a comprehensive framework, the readability wheel, which provides an overview of existing studies, helps with understanding the complexity and issues of readability, and outlines an agenda for future research. We also use the readability wheel to discuss the evolution of these studies.

Blocks of shares are typically traded at a premium for the buyer. The academic literature shows that anticipated private benefits are the main determinant of this premium rather than the projected value of future synergies. The results of this study indicate that a target's litigation risk has a significant impact on the control premium. Acquirers tend to lower block premia significantly in anticipation of potential litigation related to financial disclosure or the target's market value. Legal shareholder protection also plays a significant role in countering shareholder expropriation. Block buyers pay higher premia to acquire targets that operate in protective legal environments.

Purpose This paper draws on prior studies on the readability of corporate financial disclosures to discuss why readability should be a concern for firms. Guidance and recommendations are offered to help firms improve their financial disclosures. Design/methodology/approach The authors base their analysis on the management and accounting literature on readability. Findings This paper presents the main causes and consequences of complexity in corporate disclosures and identifies four disclosure writing styles: obfuscation, informativeness, deception and avoidance. This paper suggests that firms concerned about the readability of their communications use a balanced strategy and proposes some practical actions for its implementation. Originality/value This paper makes several contributions by offering insights into questions that should be raised by top management and the board of directors, including: Why care about readability? What are the causes and consequences of low readability? What strategies can we adopt and how should we implement them?

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