eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

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The quality of the Investor Relations information can be different from company to company and from country to country. The aim of the thesis is to examine the differences small investors face when evaluating companies in different countries within the OMX stock exchange (Finland, Sweden, Demark and Baltic countries) and the differences on the level of the Investor Relations information in certain companies within these countries on three different levels: legal, timeliness and overall applicability.

Due to the fact that IR is still a fairly new area of scientific research the thesis used an exploratory method to describe the differences between the regions. The materials used in the thesis included scientific literature as a starting point for examining the IR function as well as best practice guidelines from the practical field. Empirical section included several company website examples as well as different IR surveys and rankings.

The thesis found that legal frameworks and implementation of regulation varies greatly from country to country even within the countries in OMX stock exchange and that small investors are greatly dependent on companies in certain areas of the information, since no other sources exists. In summary the level of IR information is dependent on local implementation of regulations and infrastructure of the financial systems and the technologies used to present and display information towards small investors

Implications of the thesis are connected to small investors evaluating companies outside their home market, governments and legal entities to push technology and financial infrastructure for improved level of Investor Relations information and people working with Investor Relations.