The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College has received nearly $300,000 in a grant from the NASD Investor Education Foundation for a research project called “Corporate reporting of social, industry cohort, and governance data: what investors want.” The grant will help identify how investors value corporate reporting of nonfinancial information regarding social, industry and governance issues.

The research is led by Principal Investigator Jeffrey Cohen, associate professor, accounting, the Carroll School of Management and David Wood, senior research associate at The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College. The research team also includes: Lori Holder-Webb, assistant professor, accounting, University of Wisconsin at Madison; and Leda Nath, assistant professor, sociology, University of Wisconsin at Whitewater.

The research will help identify how investors value corporate reporting of key non-financial information. It will inform both voluntary and mandatory guidelines on material reporting of social, industry cohort, and governance data to better ensure the free flow of information necessary for fair and efficient markets.

 “The project is exciting as we will explore how individuals may more effectively use non-financial information as well as data on social and governance factors to make more holistic investing decisions, “ said Cohen. “We believe that only looking at the financial picture shortchanges the investor and we hope the results of the project may create an opening for investors to start probing the "heart and soul" of potential investment opportunities.”

NASD is the leading private-sector provider of financial regulatory services, dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation. The NASD Investor Education Foundation, established in 2003, supports innovative research and educational projects that give investors the tools they need to better understand the markets and the basic principles of financial planning.

"The NASD Investor Education Foundation is dedicated to supporting important research that will help to provide investors with financial information that is clear and accurate," said Robert R. Glauber, Chairman & CEO of NASD, who also serves as Chairman of the NASD Investor Education Foundation. "By exploring new and improved ways of explaining often complicated, yet critical, information to investors, we are hopeful the industry will be able to provide the right balance of information in a meaningful way."