Market reactions around the first-time issuance of integrated reporting - evidence from early adopting companies

We examine the market reaction to two events associated with voluntary integrated reporting adoption of companies participating in the pilot programme of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). Compared to a matched sample of non-initiators of integrated reporting, we find a positive market reaction to the announcement of a firm to participate in the IIRC pilot programme. The second event we examine is the release of the first integrated report of participants of the IIRC pilot programme. We do not find evidence, that investors value the disclosure of an integrated report as opposed to the disclosure of an annual report. However, for those companies who issued their first integrated report after the release of the <IR> framework in December 2013, we find significantly higher market valuations than earlier integrated reporting initiators and matched non-initiators. This suggests that the guiding principles of the <IR> framework support initiators of integrated reporting in communicating their ability to create value over time by providing incremental information to investors.