Resumen
The article investigates the speed with which accounting reports are posted at corporate Web sites. The contrast between the nearly instantaneous dissemination of stock quotes, online news wires, and online analyst conference calls at Web sites, and the lag in updating annual financial reports, is dramatic. Firm profitability and dedication to the Internet reporting appear to be particularly important in explaining the length of the lag period. The role of profitability raises some potentially troubling issues, since investors looking for information about firms with poorer results may not find this information as promptly as they would like. Although these slower posters also tend to provide Electronic Data Gathering and Retrieval (EDGAR) links, the EDGAR documents are generally much more extensive, technical, and difficult for non-professional investors to understand. Commitment to the Internet reporting is a concept that deserves more research because advances in internal report generating technology will eventually bring the potential for real-time reporting closer to reality.