Intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) has experienced a substantial increase in recent decades and many frameworks and guidelines have been issued to provide directions with regard to what constitutes “good” ICD. Companies can use Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) to “build” their own intellectual capital (IC) reports. This digital format has both technical and operating characteristics suitable for reporting non-financial information. This paper reports the findings of a survey of the views of 37 Italian preparers on the scope, the taxonomy, and the assurance of IC reporting via XBRL. It was found that respondents favor the adoption of an IC reporting framework and the standardization of IC indicators. Preferences reveal uncertainty about the level of flexibility for tagging IC information, while supporting the main benefits of XBRL and indicating a marked inclination for tagged information certified by an independent audit. Overall, despite a low awareness of XBRL, the importance placed on standardization of IC information and on the usefulness of the comparability and the speed attribute of XBRL supports the appealing features of this language for developing IC reporting.
Exploring the Usefulness of XBRL for Reporting Intellectual Capital: Evidence from Italian Preparers
PAPA, Marco;LUISI, Floriana
2014-01-01
Abstract
Intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) has experienced a substantial increase in recent decades and many frameworks and guidelines have been issued to provide directions with regard to what constitutes “good” ICD. Companies can use Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) to “build” their own intellectual capital (IC) reports. This digital format has both technical and operating characteristics suitable for reporting non-financial information. This paper reports the findings of a survey of the views of 37 Italian preparers on the scope, the taxonomy, and the assurance of IC reporting via XBRL. It was found that respondents favor the adoption of an IC reporting framework and the standardization of IC indicators. Preferences reveal uncertainty about the level of flexibility for tagging IC information, while supporting the main benefits of XBRL and indicating a marked inclination for tagged information certified by an independent audit. Overall, despite a low awareness of XBRL, the importance placed on standardization of IC information and on the usefulness of the comparability and the speed attribute of XBRL supports the appealing features of this language for developing IC reporting.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
