Explaining a Model for Measuring Corporate Information Environment

Although corporate information environment plays an important role in transparency and accountability, no comprehensive index has yet been devised for it. In spite of the various methods proposed to compute information environment, this study managed to introduce a comprehensive index for measuring information environment on mathematical foundations. To test and examine the reliability of the model, the required data were collected from a sample of 149 firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2009-2016 using panel data technique. To do so, a questionnaire aiming to elicit the experts’ opinions on the weight and importance of the measures proposed to compute information environment was prepared and distributed among them, and then the weight and importance of the measures were determined using one of the multiple-criteria decision making methods (Shannon’s entropy). Moreover, confirmatory factor analysis was employed to examine the association between the latent variable (information environment) and the measurement items. The findings confirm the good fitness of the proposed model.