The introduction of Integrated Reporting (IR) is supposed to tackle shortcomings of corporate reporting that have been criticized for decades. The new reporting format intends to improve the understandability of corporate reports and broaden their often merely financial and backward-looking perspective. This study investigates the usefulness of IR for investors. A conceptual analysis provides an in-depth examination of the IIRC's International Framework, the basis to prepare integrated reports. An empirical analysis examines the presence of IR in existing reports from South Africa and the USA, before testing potential consequences for the capital market. The findings have implications not only for investors, but also for the reporting firms, regulators and academics.

综合报告（IR）的引入被认为是为了解决公司报告中被批评了几十年的缺点。新的报告格式旨在提高公司报告的可理解性，并拓宽其通常仅仅是财务和后瞻的视角。本研究旨在探讨投资报酬对投资者之有用性。概念分析深入审查了IIRC的国际框架，这是编写综合报告的基础。在测试对资本市场的潜在影响之前，实证分析检验了南非和美国现有报告中存在的IR。这一发现不仅对投资者有影响，而且对报告公司、监管机构和学术界也有影响。