The significance of R&D Reporting as an element of Corporate Governance: Normative implications and empirical evidence from Germany

Investment activity in research and development (R&D) represents a central component of a company policy directed toward shareholder value maximation. This article discusses business reporting about the corporate R&D activity, in which in addition to the depiction in the (consolidated) balance sheet the authors concentrate on the management reporting. As a result of the restrictions on recording R&D expenditures in the balance sheet according to the German law (“Handelsgesetzbuch” (HGB)) and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), (consolidated) management reporting as the information interface between financial accounting and voluntary value reporting takes on a key position in corporate governance.