Disclosure Discourse: A Shift in Estonian Public Companies’ Interim Report Commentaries during the Turn towards Recession

Abstract

The paper aims to map a discursive shift in Estonian public companies’ interim report commentaries in 2007-2008, which are defined by four qualitative variables. While earlier studies focusing on the role of information use quantitative methods (index studies, thematic content analysis, etc.), the current paper is based on a qualitative approach, using Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis. The paper identifies a three-stage shift in the discourse of these commentaries, as the complexity of sentences, keywords, references, and the perceived nature of the environment change. In contrast to earlier studies that find a correlation between complexity of sentences and weaker economic performance, the paper suggests that complexity accompanies perceived uncertainty under changing macroeconomic conditions.