The influence of integrated thinking on information asymmetry: the moderating role of the level of individualism
Keywords
No Thumbnail Available
Authors
Issue Date
2020-07-07
Language
en
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This study posits that differences in the level of individualism across countries in which firms are headquartered explain variations in the effectiveness of integrated thinking in reducing information asymmetry. First, the direct effect of integrated thinking on information asymmetry is tested. In addition to the direct effect of integrated thinking on information asymmetry, this study investigates the moderating effect of the level of individualism in the country in which a firm is headquartered on the expected association between integrated thinking and information asymmetry. A panel dataset of 15078 firm-year observations is used, covering 2513 listed companies worldwide for the period of 2013–2018. Two main results were identified. First, integrated thinking negatively affects information asymmetry, indicating that the process of integrated thinking effectively reduces information asymmetry. Second, the results show that the association between integrated thinking and information asymmetry is moderated by the level of individualism in the country in which a firm is headquartered. Specifically, this indicates that firms headquartered in countries with a collectivistic national culture are more successful in reducing information asymmetry through integrated thinking than are firms headquartered in countries with an individualistic national culture.
Keywords: Integrated thinking, Information asymmetry, Integrated reporting, National culture, Individualism, Collectivism
Description
Citation
Supervisor
Faculty
Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen