The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

karin jonnergård. Photo.

Karin Jonnergård

Professor emerita

karin jonnergård. Photo.

Information environment : an exploration and clarification of the concept based on prior literature

Informationsmiljö : en begreppsmässig undersökning och klarläggande baserad på tidigare litteratur

Author

  • Karin Jonnergård
  • Christopher von Koch
  • Ola Nilsson

Summary, in English

In the accounting and finance literature, the concept of the information environment (IE) is widely used, but its meaning varies across different articles. Given the considerable presence of the IE concept, it seems relevant to clarify the concept and allow a clearer path forward for future research. With this ambition, this paper reviews articles that apply the concept of IE. Our sample consists of 248 articles published within the accounting and finance field between 2000 and 2017. We confirm an increasing trend in the use of the concept over time and discuss the lack of distinctness in the concept's general meaning. Several definitions of IE appear parallel to one another in the literature; in many cases, these definitions are also inconsistent. To analyze the concept, we use a two-step approach with the following subordinated aims: 1) to identify and clarify different types of IE, and 2) to identify and clarify the components that constitute the firm's IE. We find that the description preceding the term IE signals a border between different types of information or between different societal levels of IE. Also, the concept appears as a “system concept,” and its inclusion of different actors, the relations among these actors, and the effect of these relations on information asymmetry are core aspects that need to be described in future research.

Department/s

  • Accounting and Corporate Finance

Publishing year

2020

Language

English

Publication/Series

Advances in Accounting

Volume

50

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Business Administration

Keywords

  • Information environment
  • Literature review

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0882-6110