Investor Relations on the Internet: Comparison of SSE50 and Dow30

In recent financial crisis, U.S. based financial institutions seems to be hurt more seriously than China based ones. Does this mean that China based capital market institutions have made great progress and do better than U.S. based ones? This study investigates investor relations related items on Web sites of listed companies in Shanghai Stock Exchange, and New York Exchange. To compare the IR efforts situation of companies in these two markets, a Web site based investor relations index WBIRX₂₀₀₉ is put forward. Then, by comparison, the study shows that, despite some fast progress, both in formats and contents, SSE50 index companies are far more underdeveloped comparing with Dow30 companies. Both IR related items number, classification and quality should be improved for companies listed in Mainland China.