The annual report: an exercise in ignorance?

Linda Simpson

Accounting Forum, 2000, vol. 24, issue 3, 231-247

Abstract: The connection between the informative function of company annual reports and the maintenance of ignorance in society would traditionally be regarded as remote. In this paper it is argued, however, that the use of imagery in company annual reports is linked to maintaining levels of ignorance in society which are essential for companies to maintain their existence, and for society to maintain stability and order. Further, the connection between societal ignorance and the objectives of accounting education are briefly discussed. The paper concludes that in an environment of increasing regulatory requirements for disclosure and transparency, companies may be seeking to maintain ignorance, distract the reader and blur some facts through the use of imagery, in order that competition, and the survival of the company is maintained.

Date: 2000
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/1467-6303.00039 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:accfor:v:24:y:2000:i:3:p:231-247

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/racc20

DOI: 10.1111/1467-6303.00039

Access Statistics for this article

Accounting Forum is currently edited by Carol Tilt

More articles in Accounting Forum from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().