Digital corporate reporting in the Baltic States: a comparative analysis in the context of the European Union

Abstract

This study provides a comparative analysis of digital corporate reporting in the Baltic States within the institutional and technological context of the European Union’s (EU) digital trans­formation. The research methodology is based on a comparative institutional approach and incorporates the analysis of international statistical data, as well as correlation and discri­minant analyses. The institutional dimension of digital transformation is represented by the E-Government Development Index (EGDI), while the technological dimension is measured through the adoption of cloud computing technologies and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems at the enterprise level. The results indicate that, although the Baltic States be­nefit from relatively favourable institutional conditions for digitalisation, they exhibit substan­tial differences in the digitalisation of business processes and the development of digital cor­porate reporting. A statistically significant positive relationship was identified between EGDI scores and the use of structured forms of digital corporate reporting across EU countries (τ = 0.571; p < 0.001), as well as between the adoption of cloud computing technologies and the prevalence of such reporting forms (τ = 0.515; p = 0.002). The results of the discriminant analysis demonstrate the strong classification performance of the proposed model, which as­signs EU countries to groups with relatively high and low levels of digital corporate reporting development, with an accuracy ranging from 85.2 to 88.9 %. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the development and empirical validation of an integrated model that conceptualises digital corporate reporting as an outcome of the interaction between the institutional and technological conditions of digital transformation. It also provides a comparative assessment of the Baltic States within the broader European context .