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Why do you speak English (in your annual report)?

Author

Listed:
  • Hervé Stolowy

    (GREGH - Groupement de Recherche et d'Etudes en Gestion à HEC - HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Thomas Jeanjean

    (GREGH - Groupement de Recherche et d'Etudes en Gestion à HEC - HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Cédric Lesage

    (GREGH - Groupement de Recherche et d'Etudes en Gestion à HEC - HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

The dominance of English as a lingua franca in international business exchanges is so commonly accepted that there has been no investigation into the use of English as an external financial reporting language in non-English speaking countries. In this study we analyze the factors associated with the publication of an English-language annual report in non-English-speaking countries. Using a sample of 3,994 firms from 27 countries in 2003, we find that about 50% of the sample firms issue annual reports in English. Our findings suggest that the decision to publish an English annual report is related to the internationalization process (via foreign sales), language barriers (via language distance and language importance), governance (via ownership structure) and financial concerns (via the need for external financing, capital market size and cross-listing).

Suggested Citation

  • Hervé Stolowy & Thomas Jeanjean & Cédric Lesage, 2008. "Why do you speak English (in your annual report)?," Working Papers hal-00578372, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00578372
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    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Stolowy, Hervé & Jeanjean, Thomas & Erkens, Michael, 2011. "The economic consequences of increasing the international visibility of financial reports," HEC Research Papers Series 957, HEC Paris.
    3. Drago, Carlo & Ginesti, Gianluca & Pongelli, Claudia & Sciascia, Salvatore, 2018. "Reporting strategies: What makes family firms beat around the bush? Family-related antecedents of annual report readability," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 142-150.
    4. Vismaya Gangadharan & Lakshmi Padmakumari, 2024. "Fogging the firm performance: an empirical examination of the annual report readability in India," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(2), pages 211-226, June.
    5. Laaksonen, Jenni, 2022. "Translation, hegemony and accounting: A critical research framework with an illustration from the IFRS context," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Chen, Jason V. & Li, Feng, 2015. "Discussion of “Textual analysis and international financial reporting: Large sample evidence”," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 181-186.
    7. Moreno, Alonso, 2024. "Impression management in bilingual corporate reporting: An analysis of textual characteristics in Spanish and English," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PA).
    8. Lang, Mark & Stice-Lawrence, Lorien, 2015. "Textual analysis and international financial reporting: Large sample evidence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 110-135.
    9. Peter Iliev & Darius P. Miller & Lukas Roth, 2014. "Uninvited U.S. Investors? Economic Consequences of Involuntary Cross‐Listings," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 52(2), pages 473-519, May.
    10. Zhongliang Wang & Kanglong Liu, 2024. "Linguistic Variations Between Translated and Non-Translated English Chairman’s Statements in Corporate Annual Reports: A Multidimensional Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, May.
    11. Thomas Jeanjean & Hervé Stolowy & Michael Erkens, 2012. "Economic consequences of adopting English for annual reports," Post-Print hal-00690931, HAL.
    12. Edith Leung & Arnt Verriest, 2015. "The Impact of IFRS 8 on Geographical Segment Information," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3-4), pages 273-309, April.
    13. Nobes, Christopher, 2018. "Lessons from misclassification in international accounting," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 239-254.

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    JEL classification:

    • G39 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Other

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