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This study investigates managerial ability's effect on firms' earnings response coefficients (ERCs). We find that ERC increases with managerial ability, suggesting that investors more favorably perceive earnings from competent managers. Further, managerial ability influences ERC via the information environment; the influence is positive only for firms with better information environments. Meanwhile, since foreign investors have incentive to improve the information environment to overcome their informational asymmetry, the positive managerial ability-ERC association is more pronounced when firms have higher foreign ownership. These results indicate that managerial ability is an important determinant of ERC and that the information environment explains their relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine whether dividends serve as substitutes or complements to accounting information in firm valuation. Consistent with dividends substituting for earnings information, we find that dividend paying firms have 11%–15% lower earnings response coefficients (ERCs) than non-payers. We find more substitution when the dividend provides a stronger signal of permanent earnings: when the firm is less likely to cut the dividend, when the firm is likely to fund the dividend out of earnings rather than cash reserves, or when the dividend is larger. We then show that dividend payers have lower absolute returns, less trading volume, and fewer analyst forecasts at the earnings announcement (EA), suggesting that dividend payers attract less attention to their less informative EAs. Finally, we show that the lower EA attention translates into less earnings management and fewer earnings-related disclosures for dividend payers relative to non-payers. Collectively, this evidence suggests that dividends supply information about permanent earnings and, although costly, could be an efficient way for some firms to satisfy investors' demand for earnings information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of strategic communications rose to prominence especially with the events linked to the Crimea annexation and Russian intervention in Eastern Ukraine. As such it has been mostly related to the reactive fight against disinformation and propaganda or other elements of the hybrid campaign. This paper aims to point to the much broader potential for the tool of strategic communications in support of goals in the realm of national security and defence, while it is understood as proactive efforts and specific mindset using the information effect to advance national interests. Based on the literature review, benefits of strategic communications beyond hybrid campaigns are identified also in the fields of foreign military operations, counterinsurgency, counter-terrorism, deterrence and crisis management. It describes the informational, particularly, the cognitive, dimensions of these security threats as well as of the measures to counter them.

The article reveals the problems of the information space of Kazakhstan, which is undergoing significant changes related both to the political events that have recently occurred in the world and to the rapid development and widespread use of new Internet technologies. Today, the telecommunications services sector is one of the main directions of the economy, on the effective operation of which the functioning and coordinated work of all state systems depend. The development of the telecommunications services sector is not only a key factor of economic growth but also a necessary condition for the development of the country’s economy in the context of globalization. The purpose of the study is to analyze the data of the main agents of the information environment, the level of development of the subjects of the telecommunications sector and to determine the main trends in the development of the Internet space. The methodological basis of the study was made by general scientific methods of economic, statistical, logical, and analytical analysis, the system method, synthesis. Based on the conducted research, it turns out that the development of the information environment is an intersectoral, interdepartmental, and state task that requires coordination of the actions of many participants in this process. The influence of the information environment on the business community of the country and the economy of Kazakhstan has increased and requires an understanding of the trajectories of its development. The interest to researchers of the information environment and business practitioners interested in the market of Kazakhstan.

This article discusses the transformation of the information environment, which allows an adversary to exploit cyber-enabled psychological and information operations. It presents the options currently available to an adversary to exploit the vulnerability of the information environment, chiefly the cognitive vulnerabilities of target groups. Thus, hostile interests are often pursued through manipulation, using disinformation, propaganda, algorithms and artificial intelligence. In the light of these developments, the article defines a society-centric approach, in which societal and human resilience are emphasised.

AbstractCapital market plays an important role in attracting and circulating market liquidity and directing it to efficient economic sectors. Management forecast is one of the most important sources of information in the stock market, while its misrepresentation leads to more idiosyncratic risks and consequently inappropriate investment decisions by investors. In this study, management forecast errors were considered as a proxy for disclosure quality to investigate the relationship between information disclosure quality and idiosyncratic risk, as well as the effects of Information environment on these two variables in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). To this goal, a sample of 160 listed firms in TSE was examined from 2009 to 2017. The results indicated that the management forecast errors were positively related to idiosyncratic risks, while they were less positively related in a good information environment. IntroductionCapital market participants rely on ongoing information to assess the risks and prospects of companies for accurate stock pricing. Due to the wide range of risks and economic, social, and political adverse events occurring in the world with the passage of time, uncertainty about the future and the need for managing all types of risks have increased. Idiosyncratic risk is one of the important risks for firms. This risk is unique to a specific company or industry. Management reporting is one of the voluntary information disclosure mechanisms, through which a company provides the information and signals related to its expected performance. Accordingly, improving the quality of financial reporting reduces information asymmetry and idiosyncratic risks. In addition to financial reporting, management forecasts are an important channel for disclosing information, while management biases can affect the idiosyncratic risks of companies. This paper used management forecast error as a proxy for disclosure quality to investigate the relationship between disclosure quality and idiosyncratic risk. Analytical models in accounting usually assume that information noise can be lowered by signals. This assumption suggests that the effect of one signal will be lessened if other signals are more correlated with a firm’s “true” value. On the one hand, a poor information environment is indicative of little alternative information (other than accounting information) for predicting a firm’s future cash flow. Therefore, high-quality accounting information can alleviate investment noise. On the other hand, if the information environment is rich, investors can easily have access to other information sources and reduce their uncertainty. In such a situation, investors may pay less attention to the disclosed information. Accordingly, this study emphasized on the effects of the information environment on disclosure quality and idiosyncratic risk as a necessity. The evidence showed that no studies had been conducted on the interactive relationship between management forecast and idiosyncratic risk, as well as the effects of information environment on these two variables in TSE. In addition, the parameters of measuring the information environment had been localized based on the available data in Iran and selected by relying on the importance and availability of information. Recognizing this phenomenon and making the right decision about this issue were the innovative features of this research, thus making it different from other parallel studies. Method and DataTo test the research hypotheses, a sample of 160 listed firms in TSE was examined from 2009 to 2017 by using a multivariate regression model and panel data. FindingsThe research results indicated that the management forecast errors were statistically significant for the listed companies in TSE. They were also shown to be positively correlated with idiosyncratic risks. Finally, the evidence demonstrated that management forecast errors were less positively related with idiosyncratic risks in firms with a better information environment. Conclusion and discussion According to the results, management forecasts could be erroneous in Iran and sometimes had a high deviation from the realized revenues. As we know, investors need forward-looking information to make decisions based on risk and future return predictions by companies. Nevertheless, Iranian investors were found to only rely on retrospective information and management forecasts, which made them not have optimal decisions due to the presence of errors in those reports and this could increase their investment risks. Based on the findings, proper disclosure of financial information, such as on-time and accurate forecasts, could reduce the risks and augment stock liquidities of the companies. Therefore, the higher the information transparencies of the companies were, the higher their degrees of confidence could be and the lower their investment risks were thus witnessed. Finally, the results indicated that management forecast errors are less positively related to idiosyncratic risks in a relatively good information environment. Larger companies with more capitals are generally associated with a higher quality information environment. In addition, the existence of information asymmetry between a company’s internal managers and investors reduces the risk of conflicting choices. In other words, higher levels of information symmetry are associated with a lower bid-ask spread.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine whether and how analysts’ foreign ancestral origins would have an effect on analysts’ earning forecasts in particular and ultimately on firms’ information environment in general. Design/methodology/approach By inferring analysts’ ancestral countries based on their surnames, this study empirically examines whether analysts’ ancestral countries affect their earnings forecast errors. Findings Using novel data on analysts’ foreign ancestral origins from more than 110 countries, this study finds that relative to analysts with common American surnames, analysts with common foreign surnames tend to have higher earnings forecast errors. The positive relation between analyst foreign surnames and earnings forecast errors is more likely to be observed for African-American analysts and analysts whose ancestry countries are geographically apart from the USA. In contrast, this study finds that when analysts’ foreign countries of ancestry are aligned with that of the CEOs, analysts exhibit lower earnings forecast errors relative to analysts with common American surnames. More importantly, the results show that firms followed by more analysts with foreign surnames tend to exhibit higher earnings forecast errors. Originality/value Taken together, findings of this study are consistent with the conjecture that geographical, social and ethnical proximity between managers and analysts affect firms’ information environment. Therefore, this study contributes to the determinants of analysts’ earnings forecast errors and adds to the literature on firms’ information environment.

В данной работе рассматривается роль аккумулятивной функции языка в формировании и развитии английской юридической лексики, а также способы ее перевода на русский язык. Поднимается проблема взаимосвязи памяти и языка как двух неразрывных составляющих юридического дискурса. Материалом для анализа послужили выдержки из Уголовного и Трудового кодексов Австралии. Цель данной работы заключается в рассмотрении корневой основы отдельных терминов в диахроническом ключе с целью анализа их применимости в современной документации. Основными задачами исследования являются выделение семантической идентичности между современными терминами и терминологией прошлых столетий, а также поиск возможных способов их перевода на русский язык.

In this article, we investigate the effect of insider ownership on analyst forecast properties and find a significant nonlinear relationship between the two. Specifically, in the low to medium range, a rise in insider ownership improves analyst forecast properties (making them more accurate and less dispersed), but a further rise in insider ownership beyond moderate levels leads to deteriorating forecasts. We also find that this nonlinear relationship is attenuated for firms in countries with better investor protection. We interpret our findings as evidence that the role of insider ownership as an interest alignment or entrenchment mechanism is diminished in these countries due to their stronger investor protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid penetration of the Internet into our lives has a profound effect on the reading habits of young people, and the concept of access to information is gradually becoming synonymous with the concept of reading. Until the last twenty years, young people have traditionally met their information needs through reading. It was formed as a result of long historical traditions. There has always been a significant difference between "heard information" and "read information". The percentage of "read information" by young people with higher education should have been higher than the percentage of "listened to information". This percentage determined the intelligence of the young man and expressed his social and cultural qualities. Surveys show that young people spend "time reading" on the Internet and are content with getting "episodic" information instead of classical reading. Also, reading is not one of the main activities in the organization of leisure. Here, too, the main place is occupied by the Internet. Over the past twenty years, the "time" spent on the Internet has been growing dynamically and is crowding out various traditional activities for young people. Students of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts created a working group to study the classical reading skills of young people, conducted surveys and obtained interesting results. To study the classic reading habits of young people belonging to different categories, and to compare the results obtained, it is necessary to have certain standards and norms. Unfortunately, although the results are not comparable with other regions, in a country with a population of ten million and 54 universities, the attitude of young people towards classical reading reveals a certain pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is no longer possible for China's economy to grow by relying on the rapid expansion of manufacturing. On the one hand, China's previous rough manufacturing development pattern seriously harmed the environment. On the other hand, China's manufacturing productivity and international competitiveness have decreased as a result of the disappearance of demographic dividends and growing labor costs. China's manufacturing firms must simultaneously increase productivity while lowering environmental pollution. This study, which takes intelligent manufacturing pilot demonstration projects as a quasi-natural experiment, investigates the impact of intelligent manufacturing (IM) on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance using data from 2149 listed manufacturing firms in China from 2009 to 2021. The results indicate that ESG performance of the listed firms could be improved using IM. The heterogeneity test reveals that IM in non-state-owned firms helps to improve ESG performance at the 1% significance level, while the effect is not significant in state-owned firms. Moreover, the effect in eastern China is significant at the 1% level and at the 5% level in western China, but not significant in central and northeastern China. The two channels through which IM improves corporate ESG performance are promoting innovation investment and improving the quality of the information environment. This study also verifies that both internal and external supervision could strengthen the positive impact of IM on corporate ESG performance, which provides empirical evidence for strengthening the supervision of manufacturing firms. The conclusions of the study reveal the internal force of manufacturing firms to improve ESG performance and also provide theoretical support for their implementation of IM projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the value relevance of the options market by focusing on convertible bond pricing. Pricing convertible bonds requires essentially the same set of information necessary to price options. Using a regression discontinuity design based on minimum stock price requirements for option listings, we find that the availability of stock options helps issuers attract more convertible bond buyers and reduces convertible issuers' cost of financing. Our results highlight that the availability of individual stock options can add value to security issuers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose: The author aims to clarify and introduce the information ecosystem paradigm into the analysis of information warfare environments and demonstrate its usefulness. Methods: The author employed literature analysis and criticism methods, supported by the snowball sampling technique. Additionally, the conceptual analysis method and elements of the observational method were utilized. Results and conclusions: Information warfare ecosystems demand sustained attention from those responsible for the security of individuals, communities, states, and societies. The study identifies the essential components and interdependences of these ecosystems, with a particular emphasis on the information practices and behaviors of the participants. Value: The presented approach implies proposals for changes in the field of information science: enriching the study of the human information environment in general through exploring information ecosystems, understanding which can contribute to more efficient remedial actions; it is also crucial to broaden attention to social (community) information practices and behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multidimensionality of the current operational environment is a given by the number and quality and characteristics of various actors: state actors, non-state actors, sponsor states, as well as multiple threats manifested in the physical environment with a conventional character (conventional military forces), non-conventional (nuclear forces, special operations forces, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons - CBRN and industrial toxic materials - ITM, improvised explosive devices - IED), asymmetric (guerrillas, insurgent and separatist groups, terrorist organizations or selfradicalized individuals and criminal organizations) and cyber (virtual, informational environments), all engaged in a combined and coordinated battle against an adversary with superior military means and capabilities. Infl uence, disinformation and psychological operations have been part of modern military strategies for decades. The malign use of information to intoxicate and manipulate the enemy, or to impact the civilian population, increased in the second half of the 20th century, especially in the context of new forms of hybrid warfare, and proved to contribute greatly to the political victories of various state and non-state actors. In addition to classical methods and tools, technological development has brought major changes with the acceleration of communication through the use of virtual space and social media platforms forming a whole new battle space, called the informational environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we examine the relation between managerial ability and the quality of a firm's information environment. An emerging stream of research has identified managerial ability as an important determinant of accruals quality and management forecast quality. However, our understanding of the impact of managerial ability on a firm's broader information environment is incomplete because it captures more than these specific financial reporting disclosures. Using a composite index based on various proxies for a firm's information environment, we find a positive relation between managerial ability and a firm's information environment. Consistent with our argument that managers' equity incentives improve disclosure quality, we find that the quality of a firm's information environment improves when managers have higher levels of equity incentives. We contribute to the literature by providing more complete and conclusive evidence about the impact of managerial ability on a firm's broader information environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote work has become increasingly popular and important after the spread of COVID-19, but its impact on the financial market is in dispute. Using a unique dataset of analyst visits in China and multiple regression, we examine the impact of remote work on the financial market by comparing the market reaction to analysts' online and offline visits. Results show that online visits have a significantly greater impact on stock prices than offline visits, as discussion depth, information sharing, and information dissemination are enhanced. Additionally, online visits can predict the changes in funds' holdings and firms' future performance. Overall, our findings suggest that remote work improves the information environment of the financial market during COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Special Military Operation conducted in Ukraine showed not only the unsatisfactory state of the information support of the operation, but also revealed some new features that need to be taken into account. The article does not set the task of analyzing the reasons for the weak information support of the operation. However, attention is drawn to the fact that at the level of doctrinal documents, namely the Military Doctrines of Russia in 2010 and 2014, there is a negative trend in the objectivity of assessments of the features of modern military conflicts in terms of their information support. Among the manifested features of information support of operations, attention is drawn to a sharp reduction in the time of effectiveness of disinformation measures and the inadmissibility of substituting information operations planning with propaganda activities. The effectiveness of using the consolidation of the capabilities of space systems for various purposes in support of one of the conflicting parties and capable of having a significant impact on the success of military operations is noted. A number of recommendations aimed at bringing in line with the requirements of the time of planning and organization of information operations in Russia are formulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes a strategy for dominating the digital political information environment: attention populism. Dissonance in the information environment is a significant trend that is forcing political communication to change. Strategies of political communications experts aimed at dominating the dissonant information environment, and thereby winning the support of various civic and electoral groups, are becoming increasingly apparent, especially among populist parties. We use discourse analysis in a case study to describe the communication strategy of the former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Andrej Babiš. We focus on his weekly long posts on Facebook that open with the greeting, "Hi, folks!" The case study demonstrates how attention populism works in contemporary political communication practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2005, the SEC mandated that firms disclose risk factors to provide useful information about firm risk. An unintended effect of the mandate is that mandatory risk factor (RF) disclosure may constitute "meaningful cautionary language" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, and may therefore provide legal protection for forward-looking statements (FLSs). Using both a difference-in-differences design and a two-stage least squares approach, we find that, following the mandate, firms that had not previously disclosed risk factors (late RF disclosers) became more willing to provide qualitative FLSs, particularly positive ones, than other firms. This finding is consistent with our prediction that, for late RF disclosers, the mandate reduces managers' perceived litigation risk. We also find that these firms experience improvement in their information environment. A path analysis reveals that the mandate improves firms' information environment not only directly but also indirectly by prompting more disclosure of positive FLSs, illustrating an unintended benefit of the 2005 RF mandate. Cross-sectional tests show that the RF mandate induces a larger increase in positive FLSs for firms whose managers perceive a higher level of benefit from safe harbor protection arising from meaningful cautionary statements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that a firm's likelihood of committing corporate fraud is affected by the local information environment. We use the density of local bank branch networks as a proxy for the local information environment. We show that denser bank branch networks increase the likelihood of fraud detection, accelerate the detection of fraud, and decrease the fraud propensity of local firms. Our results cannot be explained by the clustering of firms in urban areas, geographic proximity to regulators, or other location effects. Overall, our study identifies a spatial dimension in the detection and prevention of corporate fraud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of journalistic functions fulfillment by the modern mass media is considered. The authors examined a number of news reports in socio-political online media and found some cases where the classic functions of journalism such as informing and controlling were substituted by PR functions. The content analysis revealed an alarmingly large number of pseudo journalistic reports, which mainly aimed to create and maintain a positive image. The reason why journalism is losing its value is the lack of professionals representing the public interest. The analysis shown a high number of publications, based on (practically unchanged) press releases, that is common to a number of media and clearly illustrates the unprofessionalism of the authors of pseudo news. The regional media have to monetize its activity, so the matter of finance wins over the matter of beliefs. However, the media and, in particular, journalism is quickly losing public credibility. In general, we are witnessing the undermining of classical journalistic creativity and the merging of this concept with other wider categories of public relations.

The paper presents the definition and components of the Information Environment, its dimensions and occurring phenomena described as challenges and threats. Moreover, it includes characteristics of such terms: disinformation, misinformation and propaganda as constituting elements threatening democracy as well as mitigation measures that need to be taken in order to eliminate the negative consequences of the above-mentioned phenomena.

This paper examines the effect of customer geographic proximity on supplier tax avoidance. Based on 5135 Chinese firm–year observations from 2009 to 2020, we find a positive association between customer geographic distance and supplier tax avoidance. Moreover, this association is robust after studying endogeneity concerns. We further find that information asymmetry and detection risk are underlying mechanisms. We also find that this positive relation is more pronounced in suppliers with high financial risk, competitive industrial sectors, and weak marketization environments. Overall, our findings suggest that customer geographic localities within a country are an important factor affecting a supplier's motivation for tax avoidance. Our research sheds light on how the change in a supplier's information environment caused by differences in customer geographic proximity impacts its tax strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A CFO gap arises when the CFO position is left vacant for a period between the departure of the old CFO and the appointment of a new CFO. We find that CFO gaps are fairly common; over the sample period 2004–2016, approximately one-third of CFO turnovers are associated with a CFO gap, lasting, on average, two quarters and two months. CFO gaps are more likely for firms that face more labor market search frictions and with financial reporting and performance issues, and are less likely for firms with succession plans and with greater growth opportunities. While CFO gaps are not associated with significant changes in firms' financial reporting quality, they are associated with significantly negative changes in firms' voluntary disclosure frequency and analysts' forecast quality. Our findings shed light on the factors that influence top executive gaps and the impact of such gaps on firms' information environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of financial statement comparability on stock liquidity. Drawing from information asymmetry arguments, we posit that greater comparability increases financial transparency, which improves the information environment and increases stock liquidity. Our results show a positive relationship between comparability and stock liquidity. However, the effect of comparability on stock liquidity is only significant for non state-owned enterprises. Additionally, institutional ownership strengthens the impact of comparability on stock liquidity. Our findings suggest a more pronounced comparability effect on stock liquidity for firms with greater information opacity. Overall, our study indicates that higher comparability decreases information asymmetry and facilitates investors' decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information security of Ukraine and Poland with the beginning of the Russian Federation's armed aggression against Ukraine is sensitive to various forms of information threats. Information attacks by the aggressor country accompany the challenges of the full-scale war that exploded within Eastern Europe. Active military actions on the territory of Ukraine, the migrant crisis on the border with Poland --all this tests both countries' information environment for resilience. Journalists play an essential role in the process of information defense. In the study, we compare legal acts and governmental regulations of Ukraine and Poland in the field of information security in order to identify the current state of information security environment in both countries. In our work, we analyze the concept of "information security" in scientific studies of Ukrainian and Polish researchers, as well as in normative legal acts. Journalists and editors of leading Ukrainian and Polish media outlets were questioned about their attitudes toward existing information security doctrines and strategies. It was found that journalists of both countries (n = 46, α(ua)=0.75; α(pl)=0.78) find the tools of protection against information threats insufficient, consider the participation of journalists in the formation of information policy significant, and also consider as risky the possibility to adopt documents that would describe the social responsibility of journalists in conditions of information aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of the processes of widespread digitalization and globalization of the world economy has led to a significant expansion of the global information environment. The modern information environment is dynamically active, and changes in it are indicators of changes in the material world. This specificity can be used for investment analysis purposes. However, at the time of this research, a universal methodology for analyzing the information environment has not yet been formed. The purpose of this study is to develop tools for quantifying the information environment and testing them as investment predictors. The key result of this study is a stock price forecasting model based on information environment quantifiers and its critical analysis. The results obtained will be useful both for investors of different skill levels and for researchers of the information environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical Infrastructure (CI) is an area that has historically been rife with vulnerabilities, open to foreign and domestic threats. Recent events such as the Colonial Pipeline and JBS Foods provider ransomware attacks highlight the need for better security and resiliency from cyber threats. However, within the Information Warfare (IW) constructs that have become increasingly refined by peer adversaries like China and Russia, the areas of Electromagnetic Warfare (EW), Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), and Information Operations (IO) have become equally important to consider in the panoply of IW. This raises the important question regarding whether CI assets are adequately protected from the full complement of IW threats. Each IW area will be discussed from a threat perspective and examples will be presented to show how these threats can be combined to disrupt, deny, and destroy CI and CI assets with special attention given to peer and non-peer adversaries and the asymmetric advantages of each. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When do scandals hurt candidates? In this study, we employ a candidate conjoint experiment to understand the conditions under which candidates are most penalized for scandals. Survey respondents evaluate candidates in election scenarios that vary candidate partisanship, the presence and type of negative news about the candidate, and the amount of other information available to voters about the candidates, such as issue positions and demographics. Averaging across respondents and the distribution of candidate attributes, the results show scandal decreases the probability of voting for a candidate, but the size of this negative effect varies by context. The negative effects of scandal on voting decisions are mitigated by the amount of other information available to voters. Our findings also reveal that it is not always the case that voters are blind to the moral failings of scandal-plagued candidates in the presence of other information; voters may continue to rate scandal-plagued candidates negatively in terms of morality but prefer these candidates in terms of partisanship and shared political views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relevance of integrated reporting quality (IRQ) to capital markets. We investigate whether IRQ benefits capital market participants by improving a firm's information environment, using analyst earnings forecast accuracy as a proxy. Our study focuses specifically on companies that publish integrated reports on a voluntary basis. Based on a scoring model, we assess IRQ and its effects with data from 2015 to 2019 of 101 companies. The results indicate no significant relationship between IRQ and analyst earnings forecast accuracy. Thus, IRQ does not appear to improve a firm's information environment, at least not currently in a voluntary setting. Drawing on previous literature in the field, this study further concludes that integrated reporting (IR) in general has not yet reached its full potential in benefitting capital markets. Potential implications of our results are that the standard setters should work to improve the specificity and rigor of their guidelines, and analysts should become more involved in developing IR guidelines to make them more relevant to their information needs. IR seems to unfold its benefits better in mandatory settings, which could call for regulators to make IR mandatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The publication considers the main features of the development of the modern information space and the formation of information technologies, which today are being directly combined with the formation of a risk-oriented system of financial provision. The role of information technologies in society is constant and incessantly extends to further areas of application – science, education, business, transport, communication, public administration, defense, political life, culture, everyday life, etc. However, at the methodological level, some questions arise regarding the identification and adaptation of potential information technologies to ensure positive economic development. An important influence on the development of the world market of IT technology is carried out by non-governmental organizations, in particular, associations of national associations of IT companies – the World Alliance of Information Technologies and Services, as well as others. Thus, the permanent deployment of scientific and technical progress and the impact of globalization on the IT industry determine the need to improve the mechanisms of economic, organizational and legal regulation of the global information technology market. In this direction, the universality of regulatory economic and legal norms of the world IT industry does not always work when used by a separate country as market participant due to the imperfection of its national legislative framework together with the economic and organizational regulators in the information base. At this, the countries that join the process of harmonizing their economic and legal IT regulatory mechanisms with the world standards must implement three important groups of measures: 1) measures in the sphere of information services development, 2) measures for the development of information technologies as such; 3) measures to protect and provision producers of IT products and services. Risk-oriented management in the process of ensuring the development and implementation of information technologies for the enterprise is aimed at ensuring the implementation of the company’s strategy and its sustainable development with integration into business processes and managerial decision-making. The above-described directions of integration of a risk-oriented approach into the activities of enterprise make it possible to specify steps to implement this approach with maximum efficiency for an economic entity.

Nowadays the volume of information is exponentially increasing, and users have many options to access the information they need. Thus, the dissemination of information on the web needs to be done more carefully and based on specific principles. If organizations want to satisfy their websites’ users, they have to understand the needs and behaviors of users, and have a clear understanding of their business goals and the type of content they intend to present on the web. To this end, information elements must be properly organized and labeled so that they can be easily accessible and understandable by users. Such challenges are the subject of information architecture as a field of practice and research. The role of information architecture in the applicability of information environments on the one hand and the organizations’ and businesses’ needs to create information platforms for purposeful and productive interaction with their audiences and users and to serve them on the other hand, highlight the importance of applying the information architecture principles in organizations. In this regard, we first introduce and explain the different components of the information architecture system. Then, we propose a framework for evaluating information architecture for websites as the main platform for interacting with users using library research and expert panel. The proposed framework considers the information architecture system in a larger space called the information environment. The information environment consists of three components: context, content, and user. The user seeks to exploit the content, and the content generates value for the context of the information environment that represents the organization and its business. On the other hand, the context seeks to improve the content, and the content is also effective in attracting users. By recognizing each of these components and paying attention to their relationships, the needs of the information environment are identified and integrated into the information architecture system. The information architecture system consists of four subsystems namely, organization, labeling, navigation, and search systems that interact and contribute to each other. The organization system defines the information structure and classification in a website. The labeling system describes the information sorted by the organization system with the help of labels. The navigation system helps the user navigate the site and access the content and information they need. The search system refers to the search bar and its features on a web site. To evaluate each of the information architecture subsystems within the proposed framework, a checklist is provided, which is obtained by consensus of experts. Finally, the assessor can evaluate the information architecture of the website by identifying the components of the information environment and using these checklists.

• We examine how the information environment affects the association between North Korea...s threats and the cost of equity financing. • The adverse effect of North Korea's threats on the cost of equity capital is more significant for companies in less transparent information environments after controlling for other factors. • The information environment affects geopolitical risk. We examine how the information environment affects the association between North Korea's threats and the cost of equity financing. Using a sample of Korean publicly-listed firms from 2012 to 2019, we find evidence that the adverse effect of North Korea's threats on the cost of equity capital is more significant for companies in less transparent information environments after controlling for other factors. Our findings contribute to the literature by identifying that the information environment affects geopolitical risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]