The impact of risk disclosure quality, country-level and firm-specific factors on perceived corporate trustworthiness in the automotive sector

Abstract

This habilitation thesis assesses the role of risk disclosure quality in forming perceived corporate trustworthiness, with a special focus on the automotive sector. Grounded in a comprehensive multi-theoretical framework, the thesis conceptualizes corporate risk disclosure not as a mere compliance tool, but as a strategic and communicative act situated within institutional contexts and interpreted through stakeholder lenses. The main research objective of this habilitation thesis is to develop a model to determine the risk disclosure influence on corporate perceived trustworthiness (perceived trust and perceived popularity) within the context of the multinationals operating in the automotive industry. This main objective is elaborated into specific goals: (1) To investigate the impact of firm-specific and country-level factors on the disclosed risk quality of automotive multinationals worldwide. (2) To examine the relationship between disclosed risk quality and the perceived trust of automotive multinationals among stakeholders. (3) To assess the influence of disclosed risk quality on the perceived popularity of automotive multinationals among shareholders. The research design follows a mixed-method approach. The qualitative component involves a manual content analysis of corporate annual reports (CARs) to code risk-related statements along four dimensions: (i) monetary expression, (ii) temporal framing, (iii) sentiment polarity, and (iv) domain orientation. The quantitative component proceeds in two stages: (i) First, a longitudinal macroeconomic analysis is conducted to empirically validate country-level macroeconomic indicators using multilevel mixed-effects modeling and AIC-based variable selection. This step ensures that macro-level predictors in the SEM are both conceptually and empirically grounded. (ii) A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach is employed to test the hypothesized relationships among firm- and country-specific antecedents, disclosure quality, and perceived corporate trustworthiness (perceived trust and perceived popularity). The habilitation thesis offers research implications, identifies theoretical and practical contributions, acknowledges its limitations, and outlines directions for future research. In particular, it introduces an innovative moderated mediation model that connects disclosure quality with perceived popularity through reputational mechanisms, while accounting for the influence of the institutional environment.