Causal Reasoning in Financial Reporting and Voluntary Disclosure

Causal reasoning involves understanding the cause of events that have already happened (diagnosis) and predicting which future events will occur (prediction). Although this type of reasoning constructs an important part of financial reporting and voluntary disclosure، very little researches have used these reasoning as a basis for developing and interpreting testable research ideas. The purpose of this paper is twofold: First، reviewing key theories from psychology that pertain to causal reasoning. Second، identifying ways to use these theories in the field of behavioral researches in financial reporting and voluntary disclosure. Results show that causal reasoning theories have potentially significant applications in financial reporting and voluntary disclosure.