Defining and measuring readability in the context of financial disclosures becomes important with the increasing use of textual analysis and the SEC's plain English initiative. We propose defining readability as the effective communication of valuation relevant information. The Fog Index — the...

Public companies in the United States are required to file annual reports (Form 10-K) that, among other things, disclose the risk factors that might negatively affect the price of their stock. The risk of a pandemic was well known before the current crisis and we now know the impact for...

Using the emerging technology of large-scale textual analysis, this study examines use of the term ‘customer satisfaction' and its variants in the annual reports issued by publicly-traded U.S. corporations and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as Form 10 K. We document the...