Integrated reporting in investment decision-making: bibliometric analysis of scientific landscape

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to form approaches to understanding integrated reporting in the investment decision-making process, as well as the identification of scientific schools in this area with the subsequent visualization of the scientific landscape using bibliometric maps. Methodology / approach. The methodological basis of the study is terminological, bibliometric and cluster analysis, graphical and tabular methods of systematization of definitions of the concept of “integrated reporting”. The data source was publications from the Scopus database, for 1986–2020, processed by VOSviewer software. Results. The approaches to the interpretation of the economic essence of “integrated reporting” are generalized and analyzed. Terminological, bibliometric and cluster analysis of foreign scholar’s publications on integrated reporting was performed for the first time, which was supplemented by the analysis of domestic publications on this topic. The most significant is the cluster, which considers integrated reporting in the context of intellectual capital, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, information disclosure. Studies of this cluster are the most recent (modern) in chronology. For the first time, it is established that there are two basic scientific schools, uniting representatives of the USA, Great Britain, Australia and the EU in the study of integrated reporting. The rating of the most cited articles of these authors is presented. The author’s definition of the concept of “integrated reporting” is proposed as a new type of reporting, which discloses the company’s information in economic terms, financial, environmental, social, production and management indicators and fully reflects its strategies, risks, sustainability of the business model, and which is designed to meeting the information needs of all stakeholders of the enterprise, in particular investors. Originality / scientific novelty. Clustering of research in the field of integrated reporting allows identifying the most typical approaches to its understanding in world opinion and to outlining the scientific landscape in this area, which enables to form own, practice-oriented approach to its definition. Its feature is a combination of terminological, cluster and bibliometric analysis, which increases the validity of the author’s approach. Practical value / implications. The application of the author’s approach by Ukrainian enterprises will increase the importance of integrated reporting in their disclosure of information on sustainable development, financial and non-financial aspects.

Keywords

• integrated reporting
• sustainable development
• stakeholders
• bibliometric analysis
• clusters
• investment decision