Degree of internet corporate reporting : A research framework

Introduction. This paper is concerned with the extent to which Internet corporate reporting has been practiced by firms which use this innovation, and whether it is related to certain characteristics of these firms. Method. We surveyed a number of theories on technology innovation/adoption, and applied them to hypothesise the relationships between several characteristics of corporate firms and their degrees of Internet corporate reporting. Analysis. Grounded on the diffusion of innovation theory, expectation-confirmation theory, corporate governance theories and learning/experience curve theories, we conjectured that the degree of adopting Internet corporate reporting is related to the firm's corporate governance, system openness, size, revenue, stock trading activity and experience of adoption. Results. A generic framework is developed to study the degree of Internet corporate reporting in corporate Websites. Together with the research questions and hypotheses presented in this paper, our work forms the essential theoretical basis on which empirical studies can be performed. Conclusions. Our research framework and its associated research questions/hypotheses are generic and, hence, are useful to researchers for follow-up theoretical or empirical studies on the adoption of Internet corporate reporting in a variety of contexts. © the authors, 2012.