Browsing by Author "Nilsson, Axel"

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A touch of Integrated Reporting: An exploration of large Swedish companies’ compliance with the IIRC's six capitals
(2016-09-20) Nilsson, Axel; University of Gothenburg/Graduate School; Göteborgs universitet/Graduate School
Background and problem: In 2013, the IIRC issued a new framework on integrated reporting. Through the framework, the IIRC hopes to accelerate the adoption of integrated reporting around the world. Potential benefits of integrated reporting include greater efficiency, a more integrated focus on sustainability and better information. The six capitals concept is a central element to the IIRC's understanding of value creation. Prior studies of Swedish companies and integrated reporting have not focused specifically on the capitals concept, wherefore this study will be exploring this gap in the literature. Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to explore the reporting among large Swedish companies in relation to the IIRC’s six capitals concept. In order to gain a further understanding of the IIRC’s potential impact, two years, 2011 and 2015, will be studied. The study will focus on large companies as prior research has shown that larger companies disclose more and have more incentives to do so. Therefore, only Swedish companies listed on the OMXS30 will be included. Furthermore, only annual reports will be part of the study, as it is these that integrated reports might come to replace. Method: This study uses content analysis, in the form of a scoring system derived from the IR framework and previous studies, to analyse annual reports in order to explore the reporting of capitals among Swedish companies. A list of 25 items under study was derived from previous research and the IR framework and subsequently scored. 20 annual reports from large Swedish companies for each year, 2011 and 2015, were part of the study, resulting in 40 annual reports in total. Results and conclusions: The results show that financial capital scored the highest, followed by human, intellectual, social & relationship, natural and, finally, manufactured capital. Three capitals: human, intellectual and social & relationship, showed increases in their scores between the years. Natural capital showed a decrease while the remaining two were more or less stable. Most companies included in the study (14/20) and a majority of the items (14/25) scored higher during 2015. The total score increased by 11 % from 2011 to 2015, which is considered a relatively small increase. While this study does not answer the questions of why the reporting looks this way, links to previous studies are made in an attempt to provide information that can be of use for both researchers and practitioners.
Goodwill - tillgångens förändring mot eget kapital samt upplysningarnas omfattning över tid i svenska börsnoterade bolag
(2025-02-24) Nilsson, Axel; Stahlgård, Mathilda; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: År 2005 infördes regelverket IFRS 3 - Rörelseförvärv och ändringar skedde i IAS 36 - Nedskrivningar. Tillgången goodwill skulle inte längre skrivas av, utan istället prövas för nedskrivning årligen. Goodwill har genom detta ökat sedan 2005 och nedskrivningar har visat sig komma för sent samt i stora belopp. Om andelen goodwill i förhållande till eget kapital ökar medför det risker, eftersom nedskrivningar är en kostnad som påverkar resultatet och därmed minskar det egna kapitalet. För att intressenter ska kunna analysera tillgången goodwill finns det krav på upplysningar. Dessa visar sig inte efterföljas och bidrar till svårigheter i att bedöma tillförlitligheten i de uppskattningar som gjorts för att motivera beloppen för redovisad goodwill. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan goodwill som andel av eget kapital och omfattningen av upplysningar gällande goodwill i bolags årsredovisningar, samt hur utvecklingen och eventuell förändringen sett ut över tid. Metod: Studien tillämpade en kvantitativ metod som bygger på statistiska tester. Urvalet bestod av bolag noterade på Nasdaq Stockholm för perioden 2014–2023, totalt 1 513 observationer efter exkluderingar. Finansiell data hämtades från Capital IQ. Omfattningen för upplysningar gällande goodwill i relation till hela årsredovisningen togs fram i Nvivo. En regressionsanalys genomfördes för att undersöka om det förelåg ett samband mellan den beroende och de oberoende variablerna, samt för att se om sambandet var statistiskt signifikant. Analysen genomfördes i det statistiska analysprogrammet STATA. Resultat och slutsatser: Studien visar på ett statistiskt signifikant samband mellan goodwill som andel av eget kapital och omfattningen av upplysningar kopplade till goodwill i bolagens årsredovisningar. Både goodwill och eget kapital har ökat under perioden, medan upplysningarnas omfattning har minskat. Förslag till vidare forskning: Genom ett mindre urval skulle kvaliteten i upplysningarna kunna studeras. Vid fortsatt kvantitativ inriktning vore det intressant att endast studera omfattningen utifrån noterna, och inte hela årsredovisningen. Även andra länder och marknader skulle kunna studeras för att undersöka eventuella skillnader.
Goodwill Accounting -A study of public groups in Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom before and after IFRS
(2014-06-13) Artigas, Diego; Lorentsson, Martin; Nilsson, Axel; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
Background and problem: The European Union has worked to achieve accounting harmonization during the last decades. In 2005, IFRS became mandatory for public groups within the European Union when compiling their consolidated financial statements. Whether or not this has lead to harmonization in practise is a debated subject. One large change that the implementation of IFRS brought for many countries was the abolishment of goodwill amortizations in favour of annual impairment tests. This is an area where the accounting quality under IFRS has been frequently discussed. Purpose: The purpose of this study is twofold. The first one is to investigate whether there have been national differences concerning goodwill charges in public groups, and the second one is to investigate if certain financial factors have influenced goodwill charges in the three countries before and after the mandatory adoption of IFRS. Method: Financial data for the years 2001-2012 was retrieved from an online database and then divided into the three time periods 2001-2004, 2005-2008 and 2009-2012. A total of 15 multiple regression tests were performed, which concerned different time periods and different countries. Six of them were done to investigate differences between Sweden and the UK and Germany respectively, and the remaining nine were used to investigate what factors that have influenced goodwill charges. The results were interpreted and analyzed using the theories and standards that are described in the study. Results and conclusions: The regression tests show that there were differences between both Sweden and Germany and Sweden and the UK during the first period investigated (2001- 2004). However, the regression model could not find any differences during the two other periods. As for the tests regarding the influencing factors on goodwill charges, it was hard to find any general pattern as to what factors were influential to goodwill charges over time and between different countries. The conclusion is drawn that the factors affecting goodwill charges are many, varied and seemingly arbitrary. Suggestions for further research: A similar study could be conducted using a qualitative method, enabling factors that are not as easy to quantify, such as disclosure compliance, to be studied.