Catja Dickmann Ermessensspielräume bei der Berichterstattung finanzieller Leistungsindikatoren im Lagebericht

About this book

The dissertation entitled „Areas of discretion for reporting financial performance indicators in the management report. Hermeneutical Interpretation in the Regulatory Context, Empirical Investigation of Reporting Practice and Evidence on the Perception of Management Report Addressees“ examines the existence and effects of areas of discretion in the reporting of financial performance indicators under GAS 20 as part of an integrated research design. The starting point of this research is the identification of areas of discretion in the application of GAS 20 to the financial performance indicators in the management report under commercial law. The content analysis of management reports of DAX and SDAX companies for the years 2016 and 2017 shows that the corresponding reporting practice is currently still heterogeneous. It is also shown that this inconsistency has an effect on the perception of the plausibility of financial performance indicators by the knowledgeable addressees of the management report.

The research results obtained form the basis for the recommendations to the DRSC for revising the provisions of GAS 20 on reporting on financial performance indicators de lege ferenda. In addition, the systematically presented results provide a comprehensive overview of best practice in reporting corporate practice.

The holistic approach to the investigation adds new insights to the existing research literature on the management reporting of financial performance indicators and contributes to the current debate on the transparency of management indicators used for external reporting.