Corporate financial disclosures in the UK, 1920–50: the effects of legislative change and managerial discretion
Corporate financial disclosures in the UK, 1920–50: the effects of legislative change and managerial discretion
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英国公司财务披露，1920-50：立法变革和管理自由裁量权的影响
DOI：
10.1080/00014788.2002.9728951
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发表时间：
2002
影响因子：
1.7
通讯作者：
D. Matthews
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
A. Arnold;D. Matthews
摘要在1920-50年间，英国对公司财务披露的立法方法发生了转变。尽管这些变化已经在文献中得到了很好的报道，但反映立法要求和管理层自由裁量权影响的英国公司披露的实际变化水平和模式却相对较少引起关注。本文的主要目的是为得出关于上个世纪第二季度英国信息披露实践的结论提供可靠的经验基础。为此，本文基于对1920年、1935年和1950年的大量和广泛的公司数据的详细分析，对英国公司披露的变化进行了结构化的讨论。这两个日期分别提供了一个在20世纪第一季度有关英国信息披露的主要现有研究范围内的起点，一个允许评估1928-199年《公司法》和1931年皇家邮政案件影响的中间点，以及一个结合1948年法案影响的结束日期。政府与金融界及其各个机构之间的关系显然很重要，鉴于爱德华兹认为，1931年皇家邮政事件的曝光引发的批评，对公布数据质量的影响可能比截至那一天的所有公司行为都更大，因此特别关注管理自由裁量权对信息披露的影响。
Abstract During the period 1920–50, the legislative approach to corporate financial disclosure in the UK was transformed. Although the changes have been well covered in the literature, the actual levels and patterns of change in UK corporate disclosures, which reflect the effects of both legislative requirements and managerial discretion, have attracted relatively little attention. The main purpose of this paper is to provide a sound empirical basis for conclusions about disclosure practices in the UK across the second quarter of the last century. To that end, the paper provides a structured discussion of changes in corporate disclosures in the UK, based upon detailed analysis of a substantial and broadly based body of corporate data for the years 1920, 1935 and 1950. These dates provide, respectively, a starting point that falls within the coverage of the main existing studies of UK disclosures of the first quarter of the twentieth century, a mid-point that allows for evaluation of the effects of the Companies Acts 1928–9 and the Royal Mail case of 1931 and a closing date that incorporates the effects of the 1948 Act. The relationship between the state and the financial community and its various agencies are clearly of importance, and particular attention has been paid to the effects of managerial discretion on disclosures, given Edwards' view that criticisms aroused by the revelations of the Royal Mail case of 1931, ‘probably had a greater impact on the quality of published data than all the Companies Acts passed up to that date’.