Corporate financial reporting on the internet: Evidence from New Zealand companies

Abstract

In this thesis, I examine companies that list on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and distribute financial information via the Internet. The types of financial information published on the Internet by these companies are identified, and the influence of firm size, financial performance, leverage, ownership spread, industry type, and the degree of internationalisation on the disclosure level of Internet financial reporting are investigated, based on the theoretical arguments of prior studies on this topic. It is found that, in general, companies place an electronic version of their printed material and some reorganised information on their websites. The results indicate that only firm size is significantly associated with the disclosure level of Internet financial reporting.