Does IFRS and GRI adoption impact the understandability of corporate reports by Chinese listed companies?

This study examines whether the adoption of IFRS and GRI impacts the readability and conciseness of corporate reports. We investigate the corporate reports of the top 100 A-share listed Chinese companies from 2014 to 2018. Our results suggest that both readability and conciseness of the corporate reports are at a low level and indicate a downward trend over our sample period. We also find that IFRS adoption results in a longer and more readable report, whereas GRI adoption leads to a longer but less readable report. Our findings are of interest to academics, management, investors, and regulators.