International Journal of Business and Economics Volume 8, No. 1 April​, 2009

Business Reporting on the Internet: Development of a Disclosure Quality Index

Siti Rosmaini Bt Mohd Hanafi

Accounting Department, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia

Mohd Ariff Bin Kasim

Accounting Department, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia

Muhd Kamil Bin Ibrahim

Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

Dawson R. Hancock

Department of Educational Leadership, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, U.S.A.

Abstract

The rapid growth of the internet has significantly influenced business reporting practices and accounting communication of companies. Studies of internet business reporting apply various indexes to measure disclosure practices. However, existing indexes suffer weaknesses in the scope covered, which is mainly limited to financial disclosure. The present study develops a new index—the Internet Business Reporting Quality (IBRQ) index—to measure the quality of internet business reporting practices. Detailed consideration was made about weights in the index. Results from multi-rater reliability test indicate that the index is a valid and reliable instrument. The index was also reviewed by prominent researchers. The IBRQ index addresses a significant gap in the literature.

Keywords：financial reporting, business reporting, internet, reporting quality index, IBRQ.

JEL Classifications：G39, M49.

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