TY - JOUR
AU - Fulkerson, Cheryl L.
AB - Graphical presentation of financial and non-financial information represents arelatively low-cost means by which companies can enrich their annual reports.Graphics focus readers' attention. Further, graphics may facilitate understandingand enhance recall.This study compares the relative incidence and measurement distortion ofgraphics contained in a matched sample of U.S. and non-U.S. companies listed ontwo major U.S. stock exchanges. A sample of 270 annual reports and 2,270graphs from 12 countries was examined. While both U.S. and non-U.S. companiesrely heavily on graphics, the annual reports of non-U.S. companies contain a significantly higher number of graphics. Both groups fail to comply with many of theguidelines for good graphics as set forth in previous literature. Most notably,graph discrepancy indices (GDIs) reveal that both U.S. and non-U.S. companiespresent graphics that may be misleading to users. The incidence of graphic distortion was higher for non-U.S. companies.The findings are potentially important for policy development. At a minimum,they suggest that it may be appropriate to educate business professionals regardinggraphics construction. On a broader level, they suggest that international standardsetters concerned with uniformity of financial presentation, as well as U.S. regulators concerned with investor protection, may consider the development and implementation of guidelines for graphical presentation of financial information.
TI - The Incidence and Quality of Graphics in Annual Reports: An International Comparison
JF - The Journal of Business Communication (1973)
DO - 10.1177/002194360103800308
DA - 2001-07-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/sage/the-incidence-and-quality-of-graphics-in-annual-reports-an-zokH0TLjAT
SP - 337
EP - 357
VL - 38
IS - 3
DP - DeepDyve
ER -