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Conducting an experiment Theresa Herrmann investigates why nonprofessional investors fail to incorporate disclosures on fair value estimates into their investment decision and what causes this exclusion. Differentiating between different types of disclosures and the development of the fair value (gain vs. loss) the results indicate that with a fair value gain, none of the disclosure information increases decision usefulness, irrespective of the presentation format. When a fair value loss occurs, fair value disclosures presented in a salient presentation format decrease decision usefulness. Thus, investors have varying information needs that are strongly linked to the development of a firm´s key asset.

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Financial Reporting for Capital Market Participants.- Differences in Information Needs and Usage by Capital Providers.- Theoretical Background and Predictions on Facilitating the Usage of Disclosures for Investors.- Experimental Results.

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Dr. Theresa Herrmann completed her doctoral study under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Maik Lachmann at the department of financial accounting and management control at Technische Universität Berlin.

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