Corporate Authenticity and Taking a Moral Stand on the Russian War in Ukraine as Part of Financial Reporting by German Companies

Description

The study empirically examines the alignment between corporate rhetoric and corporate actions. We analyze the content and tone of German companies' references to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and compare these statements with the firms' actions. Using content analysis of annual reports issued by DAX (Deutsche Aktienindex) companies in 2022 and 2023, we develop an empirical approach to evaluating corporate authenticity. The analysis is based on a coding framework comprising three rhetorical indicators: semantic intensity, moral intensity, and actionable intensity. The dependent variable is a firm's level of engagement in the Russian market. The source of data for the dependent variable is the database of the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) “SelfSanctions / LeaveRussia” project aimed at collecting data on foreign companies operating in the Russian market.

Institutions

• CBS International Business School

  North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne

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