The Partnership Of EDGAR Online And XBRL - Should Compustat Care?

Abstract

Until EDGAR Online began operational, Compustat was (arguably) the only provider of financial statement information with accompanying database development capabilities. While EDGAR Online has received relatively little attention in the literature to date, we posit that the use of Edgar Online could flourish given the recent XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) reporting mandate of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). In this regard, we identify the differences between Compustat and EDGAR Online in terms of data presentation as well as database development capabilities and product pricing. Our results suggest that differences exist between data presentation, database development capabilities as well as product pricing. In turn, we believe that such differences may facilitate EDGAR Online's competitive position with respect to Compustat.