Integrated reporting (IR) represents a transformative initiative in corporate reporting, merging financial and non-financial information to provide a holistic view of an organization’s value creation strategy. This study investigates the effects of voluntarily released integrated reports on financial stakeholders, particularly focusing on analyst forecasts across diverse institutional contexts. Through a comprehensive quantitative analysis spanning three years, the research explores the relationship between IR release and analysts’ forecast accuracy, considering the moderating role of country-level institutional characteristics. The study sample comprises 218 companies—139 that adopt IR and 79 that do not—identified using the IIRC’s IR Examples Database. Findings indicate that analysts predict earnings per share with greater accuracy for companies that adopt IR, especially in environments characterized by strong institutional enforcement, whereas in weak institutional settings, IR release is not beneficial for the forecast accuracy. However, in settings marked by high regulatory quality and pluralistic societies, the informativeness of IR diminishes, suggesting that mandatory disclosures may overshadow the benefits of voluntary reporting. This research contributes to existing literature by demonstrating that the advantages of IR are not uniform across countries and are significantly influenced by institutional frameworks. Moreover, it underscores the importance of ESG-linked incentives for management in driving IR adoption. The implications extend to policymakers and regulators, emphasizing the necessity for enhanced enforcement of non-financial disclosures to foster responsible corporate behavior. Future research should further investigate how varying institutional characteristics shape the effectiveness and utility of integrated reporting within capital markets, ultimately enriching our understanding of its impact on financial analysts and stakeholders.
