Measuring quality of sustainability reports and assurance statements: characteristics of the high quality reporting companies

Fernández-Feijóo-Souto, Belén; Romero, Silvia; Blanco, Sílvia Ruíz

doi:10.1504/ijsss.2012.045371

Cited by 40 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…First, we have studies that analyse the content and quality of assurance declarations included in sustainability reports (Ball et al 2000;Owen et al 2000;O'Dwyer and Owen 2005;Deegan et al 2006;Cooper and Owen 2007;Mock et al 2007;Manetti and Becatti 2009;Manetti and Toccafondi 2012;Perego and Kolk 2012;Gürtürk and Hahn 2016;Braam and Peeters 2018). Second, we have studies that analyse the characteristics of the firms making the decision to begin an external assurance process for the sustainability information (Simnett et al 2009;Fernández-Feijóo-Souto et al 2012;Zorio et al 2013;Castelo Branco et al 2014;Cho et al 2014;Sierra et al 2014;Fernández-Feijóo-Souto et al 2015;Vaz Ogando et al 2018). Lastly, we should highlight an emerging line of research focused on analysing the reaction of the different stakeholders to obtaining sustainability report assurance (Dhaliwal et al 2012;Romero et al 2014;Fazzini and Dal Maso 2016;Arco-Castro et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Spain is an interesting case study because it is one of the countries most committed to disclosing sustainability information. As stated by Fernández-Feijóo-Souto et al (2012), in 2008 Spain became the country with the largest number of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports registered in the GRI database, even ahead of countries of greater industrial strength such as the United States, Japan, Germany and France, and those with a longer tradition on CSR matters such as Switzerland, Denmark and Finland. Currently, Spanish large firms must submit CSR reports (Law 2/2011 about Sustainable Economy and Law 11/2018 about Non-Financial Information and Diversity), which is why this trend has been growing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The assurance of sustainability reports and their impact on stock market prices

Quirós¹,

Quirós²,

Izquierdo³

2021

cuadernosgestion

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The publication of non-financial information is a trend in recent decades in listed companies. From this fact, the need arises to provide credibility to the information by verifying an independent professional who provides a guarantee of the published information. Therefore, this article analyses whether the verification of sustainability reports influences the stock prices of Ibex-35 companies. With this aim, a content analysis has been prepared that allows us to quantify aspects as relevant as the commissioning and the objective of the assurance requested by the company, the auditor’s independence or the result of the verification process. The results obtained show that Ibex-35 companies maintain a growing trend in their social commitment and greater recognition of the transfer of verified information to the different stakeholders of the companies. In addition, the efforts made by companies are valued positively by investors, especially in response to the level of assurance requested from the guarantee provider of the sustainability report.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The assurance of sustainability reports and their impact on stock market prices

Quirós¹,

Quirós²,

Izquierdo³

2021

cuadernosgestion

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“…This is generally perceived as a mechanism to secure CSR reports' credibility (Fernández, Romero, & Ruiz, 2014;Simnett, Vanstraelen, & Chua, 2009) and quality Perego & Kolk, 2012 (Clarkson, Overell, & Chapple, 2011;Fernández et al, 2012). Normally, company size is significantly and positively associated with the level of voluntary disclosure (Belkaoui & Karpik, 1989;Hackston & Milne, 1996).…”

Section: Csr Disclosurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, this application level can be self-reported or externally checked (by a third-party or GRI). In this respect, the external checking of a CSR report's adequacy to GRI gives more credibility to the report (Fernández, Romero, & Ruiz, 2012;Prado et al, 2009). …”

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confidence: 99%

Does the Institutional Environment Affect CSR Disclosure? The Role of Governance

Rodríguez

Escobar‐Pérez

2016

Rev. adm. empres.

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DOES THE INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT AFFECT CSR DISCLOSURE? THE ROLE OF GOVERNANCE Há Influência do ambiente institucional nas práticas de divulgação de RSC? O papel da governança ¿El entorno institucional influye en las prácticas de revelación de información de la RSC? El papel del Gobierno Corporativo ABSTRACTThe aim of this article is to analyze whether the institutional environment has a direct effect on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting practices or if this effect is explained by the influence of the institutional environment on Corporate Governance (CG) mechanisms. To conduct our study, we focused on two countries that reflect different types of institutional environment: relation-based (Brazil) and rule-based (Spain). Based on our results, we can affirm that the institutional environment influences CG mechanisms (Board Size and Reference Shareholder) as well as companies' CSR disclosure. Additionally, the CG mechanisms affected by the institutional environment also help to explain differences in CSR reporting practices. As relation-based societies evolve into rules-based environments, the information disclosed about CSR becomes more complex due to a strengthening of CG mechanisms.KEYWORDS | Corporate governance, disclosure, corporate social responsibility, institutional environment, ownership structure. It is theoretically consistent with Institutional Theory to affirm that organizations adapt their structures and policies to institutional norms (Dimaggio & Powell, 1983) in order to survive in the market. RESUMOHowever, research on the effects of the institutional environment can be complex due to the significant difficulty to isolate variables and distinguish those effects from the impact the institutional environment has on other internal-context variables (Adams, 2002).In this perspective, we should consider that this institutionalization process also affects Corporate Governance In our study, we used measures that reflect the complexity of companies' CSR reporting. We used an index intended to reflect CSR reporting practices; we considered also the actions taken to increase the credibility and quality of such disclosures (Amran, Lee, & Devi, 2014;Boiral, 2013); the extent to which the disclosed information followed the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) guidelines; whether such adequacy was subject to external checking; and, finally, whether the information had been assured. With regard to CG mechanisms, we focused on the ones indicated by the literature as having an influence on CSR reporting practices: Board Size, Board Independence, Board Activity, CSR Committee, and Reference Shareholder.Considering our results, we can affirm that the institutional environment has a strong influence on the complexity of the CSR reporting practices as well as on two of the CG mechanisms analyzed:Board size and the presence of a Reference Shareholder. Moreover, these two CG characteristics are the ones that significantly affect CSR disclosure. When CG variables are introduced in the analysis, the instit...

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“…Support for meeting the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standard, an internationally recognized sustainability reporting framework used for firms in all industries, would be a good example of the how a green IS application can enable the high report generation requirements of an EMS (Souto et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using the Technology-Organization-Environment Framework for Analyzing Nike’s “Considered Index” Green Initiative, a Decision Support System-Driven System

Angeles¹

2014

JMS

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This study explains the implementation of an environmental management information system that supports the sustainability goals of Nike using the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework of Tornatzky and Fleischer. Literature review is applied to a single firm in using the TOE framework, with particular emphasis on the technological context of the framework. The use of Nike's firm level decision support systems is highlighted in this study. Suggestions are made about improving Nike's Material Sustainability Index (MSI), its key sustainability tool, which is at the heart of the firm's group decision support system tool.

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Measuring quality of sustainability reports and assurance statements: characteristics of the high quality reporting companies

Cited by 40 publications

References 39 publications

The assurance of sustainability reports and their impact on stock market prices

The assurance of sustainability reports and their impact on stock market prices

Does the Institutional Environment Affect CSR Disclosure? The Role of Governance

Using the Technology-Organization-Environment Framework for Analyzing Nike’s “Considered Index” Green Initiative, a Decision Support System-Driven System

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