Summary annual reports: length, readability and content

摘要

This paper examines summary annual reports (SAR) as an alternative channel for communicating financial information. We use a sample of New Zealand local governments (councils) that are required to report auditedSAR. Using various measures, we compare document length and readability ofSARand annual reports (AR). We find thatSARare approximately 10 percent of theARlength and both have a ___very difficult___ readability score. We then use a disclosure index to examine the relation betweenSARreport length and the level of disclosures. After controlling for other factors that impact the level of disclosure, we conclude that the reduction inSARis driven by lower levels of content. We then discuss the policy implications of our findings.