ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the specific characteristics of individual disclosure items and gives an impression of the extent to which the adoption and diffusion processes of different items are comparable, or, to what extent they each display their own characteristics. The disclosure of sales remained a sensitive issue during a considerable part of the period. Sales disclosure can therefore be seen as an instance of a disclosure item that was part of the ‘disclosure array’ for a long time before a shift in perceptions of disclosure costs (brought about in particular by observation of foreign practice) led to increases in disclosure. Compared to other disclosure items, the disclosure of comparative figures displays two interesting characteristics. First, this particular disclosure spread among companies with a rapidity that was not observed for any other item. Second, the comparative figures disclosure stands out because it can quite definitely be associated with a single important influence, the Stock Exchange memorandum of 1951.
