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The Effects Of Item Complexity And The Method Used To Present A Complex Item On The Face Of A Financial Statement On Nonprofessional Investors` Judgments, Linda Gale Ragland

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My study is motivated by standard setters interest in better understanding (and the gap in research as to) the effects of item complexity and disaggregation across a financial statement on users' decision processes (Bonner 2008; Glaum 2009; FASB 2010b). I examine whether complexity of an item and the method used to present the item on a financial statement influences nonprofessional investors' judgments. Specifically, I examine two issues raised concerning IAS 19 Employee Benefits. The first is to examine whether there are differences in nonprofessional investors' judgments when individual components of a complex item (defined pension cost) are disaggregated across a …