we will examine a sample of voluntary eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) adopters, who are using the US Securities and Exchange Commission's Voluntary Filing Program. Ponte, Gallego, and Rodrguez (2009) tried to identify the factors that could have led North-American companies to voluntarily submit their information in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) under the XBRL Voluntary Financial Reporting Program. The motivation that led the authors to carry out this analysis was the fact that, despite the many benefits attributed to XBRL, only 137 companies (out of over 10.000 filers) decided to join the voluntary program issued by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). The results of the authors Delphi study showed that according to experts, factors such as to gain a deeper knowledge of XBRL and to acquire a company image as a pioneer in technology played an essential role in the process of voluntary adoption of the standard.

Go to the XBRL data for your favorite public company using the instructions in the lecture. Tell us the name of the company and what is on their Document and Entity Information page? Choose a different company than your classmates!

Dr Drakopoulou

Reference

Enrique B. Ponte, Virginia C. Gallego, Toms E. Rodrguez (2009). A Delphi Investigation to Explain the Voluntary Adoption of XBRL. The International Journal of Digital Accounting Research, ISSN 1577-8517, Vol. 9, N. 15, , pages 193-205