Factors which Influence Disclosure about Human Resources. An International Comparison Based on Disclosure Issued in Form 20-F and Annual Reports

Summary

At the present moment global capital markets need an international consensus about disclosure requirements in different stock exchanges. We are now witnessing a wide range of disclosure that does not belong to the fmancial statements but is issued with them. Recently the US-Securities Exchange Commission (US-SEC) has adopted international disclosure standards for foreign private issuers that will become mandatory for annual reports relating to fiscal years ending on or after September 30^th, 2000.

Bearing in mind all of the above, we have examined 84 Annual Reports and Forms 20-F for 1998 and 1999 of European companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), in order to analyse with correspondence analysis, whether the disclosure policy about human resources depends on different factors. The results obtained show that there is a wide range of variety in this disclosure and that the most important difference is the one which distinguishes between the kinds of reporting, even though factors such as firm’s country of the origin shape the disclosure policy.

This work is part of the research project financed by the DGI: Influencia de la diversidad contable en el anáElisis financiero internacional. Un estudio empIrico (SEC2000-0410) in collaboration with Analistas Financieros Internacionales and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.