Integrated Reporting: The Relevance of Connectivity in Intellectual Capital Disclosures for Market Valuation

ABSTRACT We study the relevance of connectivity for market valuation. Connectivity describes the degree to which disclosures reflect interrelations between value drivers that help investors better understand the firm's value creation process. We analyze disclosures on the three intellectual capitals, their interactions, and a self‐constructed connectivity score that captures the degree to which disclosures reveal connections within the IC components and with the value creation process. We find significant associations between market value and the interactions of IC capital disclosures as well as our connectivity score. We also find an increase in market value explanatory power in the degree of connectivity.