Readability of non-financial information of French companies: impact of integration and consequences on the financial market

This article focuses on the determinants and consequences of non-financial information readability. Non-financial information is extracted from 1,531 registration documents published by French SBF 120 companies over the period 2003-2019. Our results confirm that strengthening disclosure obligations leads to more non-financial information being published, without necessarily guaranteeing better readability. They indicate that readability improves with the level of integration of financial and non-financial information within the same document. However, the positive effect of integration on readability is moderated by the quantity of non-financial information disclosed. Finally, the results suggest that readability increases the predictive value of non-financial information, reduces information asymmetry, and is positively associated with an abnormal volume of stock market transactions.