TY - JOUR
T1 - A plain English measure of financial reporting readability
AU - Bonsall, Samuel B.
AU - Leone, Andrew J.
AU - Miller, Brian P.
AU - Rennekamp, Kristina
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2017/4/1
Y1 - 2017/4/1
N2 - We propose a new measure of readability, the Bog Index, which captures the plain English attributes of disclosure (e.g., active voice, fewer hidden verbs, etc.). We validate this measure using a series of controlled experiments and an archival-based regulatory intervention to prospectus filing readability. We also demonstrate the importance of understanding the underlying drivers of quantity-based measures of readability. In particular, we caution researchers that a vast amount of the variation in Form 10-K file size over time is driven by the inclusion of content unrelated to the underlying text in the 10-K (e.g., HTML, XML, PDFs).
AB - We propose a new measure of readability, the Bog Index, which captures the plain English attributes of disclosure (e.g., active voice, fewer hidden verbs, etc.). We validate this measure using a series of controlled experiments and an archival-based regulatory intervention to prospectus filing readability. We also demonstrate the importance of understanding the underlying drivers of quantity-based measures of readability. In particular, we caution researchers that a vast amount of the variation in Form 10-K file size over time is driven by the inclusion of content unrelated to the underlying text in the 10-K (e.g., HTML, XML, PDFs).
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jacceco.2017.03.002
DO - 10.1016/j.jacceco.2017.03.002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85018610985
SN - 0165-4101
VL - 63
SP - 329
EP - 357
JO - Journal of Accounting and Economics
JF - Journal of Accounting and Economics
IS - 2-3
ER -