CHALLENGING THE CAPITALS: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE CONCEPT OF CAPITALS IN THE <IR> FRAMEWORK

David  ALEXANDER; Teodora Viorica  FĂRCAȘ; Tudor  OPRIȘOR; Adriana  TIRON-TUDOR

Authors

David ALEXANDER Professor PhD, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Email: d.j.a.alexander@bham.ac.uk.
Teodora Viorica FĂRCAȘ Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: teodora.farcas@econ.ubbcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3113-3343
Tudor OPRIȘOR Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: tudor.oprisor@ubbcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2549-9501
Adriana TIRON-TUDOR Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: adriana.tiron@econ.ubbcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5530-5635

Keywords:

IIRC, capitals, framework, disclosure

Abstract

This paper investigates the concept of capitals, as used in the IIRC conceptual framework, and their application in practice. We discuss the various concepts and definitions presented by the IASB, IPSASB, and IIRC conceptual frameworks. Afterwards, we undertake a case study approach, by analysing some published integrated reports against a standard checklist. The paper is exploratory, as it analyzes the capitals from the viewpoint of four front-running companies from the IIRC database. The findings show that the requirements of the Framework are inherently followed in the reporting practice by the entities, but the level of real information disclosure is questionable. The analyzed entities prioritize the capitals (as a fundamental concept of integrated reporting), but they sometimes have different interpretations. Therefore, another doubt is if the framework is sufficiently explicit.

JEL Classification: M40, M48, M49

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