Abstract
The project's overall objective is to analyse the impact of diversity and inclusion within the finance function on companies' accounting information. We start from the fundamental premise that while top management team and board of directors play a pivotal role in shaping accounting information and the overall company's disclosure, the development of accounting information lies within a specific function of a business company, i.e., the finance and accounting function (IFAC 2020). Nonetheless, the accounting literature has ignored this function's fundamental role. Therefore, this project aims to understand how the surface-level diversity, deep-level diversity, and degree of inclusiveness of the finance-account function improve accounting information's efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability. Accordingly, the project intends to pursue the following sub-objectives: (a) Map accounting and finance functions within organisations (i.e., Italian companies), (b) Develop a measure of diversity and inclusion within the finance function, and (c) Empirically investigate the effects of diversity and inclusion on accounting information and corporate disclosure.
Results achieved
The PRIN 2022 project “The impact of diversity and inclusion on management control and corporate disclosure: the role of finance” aims to analyse the impact of diversity and inclusion within the finance and accounting function on companies’ accounting information, both financial and non-financial. Moving beyond the traditional focus on board-level diversity, the project investigates surface-level and deep-level diversity, and inclusion climate within the finance function, examining their effects on (i) financial reporting quality; (ii) management control systems; (iii) non-financial (ESG) reporting. To achieve these objectives, the project combines field studies (interviews and business cases) with a large-scale survey administered to Italian companies, complemented by archival ESG and financial databases. The overall goal is to demonstrate that diversity and inclusion within the finance function can influence both managerial and financial accounting systems, sustainability reporting practices and firms’ performance. The University of Bologna Research Unit has substantially achieved the objectives set out in the approved proposal. The Unit administered a structured survey to Italian listed companies (FTSE All Share index) collecting matched responses from CFOs and HR Directors. Survey data were integrated with archival information drawn from Refinitiv EIKON and from additional international databases, enabling the construction of a rich dataset covering DEI practices, financial governance composition, and ESG indicators, on which the Unit is currently working to develop the empirical analyses envisaged by the project.Dettagli del progetto
Responsabile scientifico: Lorenzo Dal Maso
Strutture Unibo coinvolte:
Dipartimento di Scienze Aziendali
Coordinatore:
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore(Italy)
Contributo totale Unibo: Euro (EUR) 51.466,00
Durata del progetto in mesi: 24
Data di inizio
28/09/2023
Data di fine:
28/02/2026
