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ABSTRACTManuscript Type: EmpiricalResearch Question/Issue: The impact of ownership structure on annual report disclosures and overall disclosure quality has received some attention in previous literature, but no study has examined it in the context of public announcements. This paper investigates the issue by using a disclosure score based on six disclosure quality attributes and by employing two quantitative disclosure measures in the context of three European emerging capital markets in the Baltics – the Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius Stock Exchanges.Research Findings/Results: In line with expectations, public announcement disclosure quality had a negative association with ownership concentration and foreign ownership and a positive association with institutional ownership. In terms of other company characteristics, sales growth and size of entry barriers exhibited positive associations with disclosure as expected. Unlike in previous research, statistically significant negative associations between size and announcement length were supported. This is due to the sample used, which included several firms from the Vilnius Stock Exchange with short announcements for the pre‐2003 period.Theoretical Implications: This paper presents possibilities for employing information theory in the context of finance for determining possible disclosure quality attributes that could be used in the creation of a disclosure quality score.Practical Implications: Empirical tests reveal the importance of ownership structure in determining the disclosure choice of companies that, in turn, may provide information about the types of companies that need more effective regulative enforcement.

PurposeThis paper seeks to introduce a pedagogical method used in a design studio as part of a curriculum‐greening process to encourage reflection on the complexity of sustainability and sustainable design. Online reflective journals were used in two semesters of a sustainable design studio to develop students' awareness and understanding of concepts relating to sustainability and sustainable design.Design/methodology/approachIn the first seven weeks of a semester‐long senior design studio, interior design students recorded their reflections on readings and in‐class discussions on sustainable thinking, sustainable actions and sustainable design. The content analysis of the journal entries (n=226) of two such groups of students (n=30) from two different semesters are presented in this paper. In assessing the pedagogical effectiveness of the technique in the design studio, Hatton and Smith's framework on the four operational aspects of reflection – descriptive, descriptive reflection, dialogic reflection, and critical reflection – is used to discuss the levels of reflection in the journal entries.FindingsAll four levels of reflection are represented in the journal entries analyzed for this paper. Results indicate that depth and complexity of thought are possible to achieve within a semester long course and can be used as a starting point for design development using complex concepts such as sustainability.Originality/valueThe pedagogical effectiveness of reflective journal writing in a sustainable design studio is assessed. By adding a reflective writing component to a design studio format that otherwise primarily engages students' visual and verbal skills, the paper offers one approach to greening the design curriculum.

PurposeOwing to the specialist nature of biological experimentation, scientific research staff have been largely neglected from the pro‐environmental initiatives which have inundated other areas of higher education. This dearth of studies is surprising given that scientific research is recognised as a substantial contributor to the environmental impact of tertiary institutes. The present study seeks to utilise the current sustainability literature to identify barriers to sustainability in scientific fieldwork and determines which methods or procedures might increase pro‐environmental behaviours in this technical environment. The resultant information serves to provide a comparison with previously identified barriers to sustainability in the laboratory environment and identifies which environmental initiatives might be successful in both the field and laboratory.Design/methodology/approachThis study gathers qualitative data from a sample of scientific researchers presently conducting field experimentation in the agricultural sciences. A "sustainability in science" questionnaire was developed and distributed to all staff undertaking research at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research.FindingsDespite favourable sustainability beliefs and perceptions, almost three‐quarters (71 per cent) of researchers at this institute agreed that they were not conducting their current research activities in the most sustainable way possible. Barriers to sustainability included lack of support, lack of information, lack of training and lack of time. The provision of awards for pro‐environmental behaviours and the application of costs for unsustainable behaviours were the initiatives most likely to encourage research staff to be sustainable in the work environment.Research limitations/implicationsMany agricultural field based research projects manipulate the environment in order to cultivate and develop commercial foodstuffs. Identifying the potential to reduce such waste was an inherent part of the present study. However, identifying the ways in which such environmental manipulation modifies the landscape – whether sustainably or unsustainably – was outwith the scope of the present study and presents an interesting area for future sustainability research.Practical implicationsThe information presented in this paper has immediate practical implication for tertiary bodies and agricultural institutes wishing to adopt more sustainable fieldwork practises.Originality/valueThis is the first study to design a sustainability questionnaire specifically targeting field active research scientists in a tertiary institute.