This study aims to investigate the association between voluntary Integrated Reporting (IR) disclosures and firm-specific determinants of Indian listed companies.
In this study, Integrated Reporting Disclosure Index (IRDI) is constructed by using manual content analysis. Also, panel data methodology is used to determine the relationship between IRDI and its determinants of 64 companies per year. A total of 448 observations (64 companies * 7 years) were collected from 2017–2018 to 2023–2024.
The results indicate that leverage, return on asset (ROA), growth, cash, liquidity ratio, size, age and tobin’s Q are essential determinants of IR. It also suggests an upward trend in IR disclosures over the period of seven years.
This study is exclusively focused on the Indian context, i.e. only Indian listed companies are evaluated. Therefore, future research should analyse on cross-country data.
This study provides insights into the factors that influence IR disclosures within the Indian context, which is crucial for regulators to design targeted policies addressing the needs of Indian stakeholders. More broadly, these insights are valuable for creating policies that tackle the unique challenges faced by developing countries in adopting IR.
This study makes a valuable contribution to the existing literature by investigating determinants of IR disclosures and categorizing them into both qualitative and quantitative types within the Indian context. It integrates past literature, multiple theories (legitimacy, agency and stakeholder’s theory) and statistical techniques (regression analysis and content analysis) to dispense practical insights into how firms respond to the needs of stakeholders in voluntary disclosure setting.
