Bakom deras ryggar

: En studie om intern kontroll

Abstract

After the big scandals of the 21st century, internal control became a crucial role amongst most companies. According to previous research, strong internal control can protect companies from frauds, errors and mistakes. This study clarifies the variation in companies’ information concerning internal control. Furthermore, a quantitative method is used to successfully respond to this purpose and the information is composed from the annual reports of 235 listed companies in Sweden. This study has a theoretical framework that is based on previous research and several different theories. The theories that are used is legitimacy theory, agent theory, positive accounting theory and institutional theory. Consequently, based on this outline, five hypotheses are developed. Further, these hypotheses are tested using various statistical analyzes. The result of this study indicates that there are numerous of factors that may affect the company's information regarding internal control in the annual report. Conclusively, the study indicates that size, ownership structure and the application of the COSO framework affect the amount of disclosures in the company's annual reports. In addition, the study indicates that the quantity of information disclosed in the annual reports is not depended on the industry or audit firms used.