Company-investor Communication via Internet: Analysis of Companies Listed on the Zagreb and Sarajevo Stock Exchanges

The importance of company-investor communication and corporate disclosure as a means of reducing the existing information asymmetry has been emphasized in the light of the recent regulatory initiatives in the European Union which focus on promoting the active role of investors in corporate governance. Company-investor communication is important and provides present and potential investors with an accurate portrayal of a company's performance and prospects, which is crucial for the efficient functioning of capital markets. Several previous studies in accounting, finance, and economics investigate the quality of corporate reporting via internet, mostly on developed markets. On the other side, only a small part of the existing research in marketing focuses on the shareholders as the audience of crucial significance. In this paper, a unique interdisciplinary approach to the topic is introduced combining methodologies from the previous studies. Based on the analysis and comparison of the content of web sites of the companies listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange and Sarajevo Stock Exchange conclusions are derived on the level of company-investor communication and corporate disclosure via internet, and means for their improvement for the purposes of promoting good corporate governance practices.