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

Authors

  • María Mar Miralles Quirós University of Extremadura

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1229/tecempresarialjournal.v17i1.39

Keywords:

Sustainability Reports, Assurance, Market Valuation, Ibex-35

Abstract

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.

References

Adams C.A. and Frost G., 2008. Integrating sustainability reporting into management practices. Accounting Forum, 32(4), 288-302. DOI: 10.1016/j.accfor.2008.05.002

Arco-Castro L., López-Pérez M.V., Pérez-López M.C. and Rodríguez-Ariza L., 2020. How market value relates to corporate philanthro-py and its assurance. The moderating effect of the business sector. Business Ethics. A European Review, 29(2), 266-281. DOI: 10.1111/ beer.12264

Ball A., Owen D.L. and Gray R., 2000. External transparency or internal capture? The role of third-party statements in adding value to corpo-rate environmental reports. Business Strategy and the Environment, 9(1), 1–23. DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0836(200001/02)9:1<1::AID-BSE227>3.0.CO;2-H

Barth M. E. and Clinch G., 2009. Scale effects in capital markets-based accounting research. Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 36

(3) & (4), 253-288. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5957.2009.02133.x Baumgartner, R.J., 2014. Managing corporate sustainability and CSR:

a conceptual framework combining values, strategies and instru-ments contributing to sustainable development. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21(5), 258-271. DOI: 10.1002/csr.1336

Belkaoui A. and Karpik P.G., 1989. Determinants of the corporate deci-sion to disclose social information. Accounting, Auditing & Account-ability Journal, 2(1), 36-51. DOI: 10.1108/09513578910132240

Berthelot S., Coulmont M. and Serret V., 2012. Do Investors value sus-tainability reports? A Canadian study. Corporate Social Responsibil-ity and Environmental Management, 19(6), 355-363. DOI: 10.1002/ csr.285

Bowerman S. and Sharma U., 2016. The effect of corporate social responsibility disclosures on share prices in Japan and the UK. Corporate Ownership & Control, 13(2), 202-216. DOI: 10.22495/ cocv13i2c1p2

Braam G. and Peeters R., 2018. Corporate sustainability performance and assurance on sustainability reports: diffusion of accounting practices in the realm of sustainable development. Corporate So-cial Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(2), 164-181. DOI: 10.1002/csr.1447

Brammer S. and Pavelin S., 2008. Factors influencing the quality of cor-porate environmental disclosure. Business Strategy and the Environ-ment, 17(2), 120-136. DOI: 10.1002/bse.506

Brown J. and Fraser M., 2006. Approaches and perspectives in social and environmental accounting: An overview of the conceptual landscape. Business Strategy and the Environment, 15(2), 103-117. DOI: 10.1002/bse.452

Cahan S., De Villiers C., Jeter D., Naiker V. and Van Staden C., 2016. Are CSR Disclosures Value Relevant? Cross-Country Ev-idence. European Accounting Review, 25(3), 579-611. DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2015.1064009

Cadomeca R., Almici A. and Sagliaschi U., 2018. Sustainability disclo-sure in integrated reporting: Does it matter to investors? Sustaina-bility, 10(12), 4393. DOI: 10.3390/su10124393

Carnevale C., Mazzuca M. and Venturini S., 2012. Corporate social re-porting in European banks: The effects on a firm’s market value. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 19(3), 159-177. DOI: 10.1002/csr.262

Castelo Branco M., Delgado C., Ferreira Gomes S. and Pereira Eugé-nio T.C., 2014. Factors influencing the assurance of sustainability reports in the context of the economic crisis in Portugal. Managerial Auditing Journal, 29(3), 237–252. DOI: 10.1108/MAJ-07-2013-0905

Cho C.H., Michelon G., Patten D.M. and Roberts R.W., 2014. CSR re-port assurance in the USA: An empirical investigation of determi-nants and effects. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 5(2), 130-148. DOI: 10.1108/SAMPJ-01-2014-0003

Cohen J.R. and Simnett R., 2015. CSR and assurance services: A research agenda. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 34(1), 59-74. https://doi.org/10.2308/ajpt-50876

Cooper S.M. and Owen D.L., 2007. Corporate social reporting and stakeholder accountability: The missing link. Accounting, Organiza-tions and Society, 32(7-8), 649-667. DOI: 10.1016/j.aos.2007.02.001 Cormier D. and Magnam M., 2007. The revisited contribution of envi-ronmental reporting to investors’ valuation of a firm’s earnings: An international perspective. Ecological Economics, 62 (3) & (4), 618-626.DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2006.07.030

Dando N. and Swift T., 2003. Transparency and assurance: Minding the credibility gap. Journal of Business Ethics, 44 (2-3), 195-200. DOI: 10.1023/A:1023351816790

Published

2022-02-02

How to Cite

María Mar Miralles Quirós. (2022). The assurance of sustainability reports and their impact on stock market prices. TEC EMPRESARIAL, 17(1), 40–52. https://doi.org/10.1229/tecempresarialjournal.v17i1.39