nach oben

Erschienen in:

2020 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

What Drives the Level of Non-financial Assurance in PIEs? Empirical Evidence on the European Firms Listed on Forbes 2000

verfasst von : Andrea Venturelli, Simone Pizzi

Erschienen in: Accounting, Accountability and Society

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Einloggen

Aktivieren Sie unsere intelligente Suche, um passende Fachinhalte oder Patente zu finden.

search-config

KI-gestützte Suche

Aus

Abstract

Since December 2017, all the European members have transposed the Directive 2014/95/EU into their legal systems. The aim of the directive was to promote the harmonization of non-financial information through the definition of guidelines aimed at regulating its content. In accordance with the principle of gold plating, the transposition of the directive into national legal systems has been characterized by the prediction of different constraints. In particular, the Member States have provided for different rules on the activity of external assurance. This phenomenon represents one of the most difficult for an effective non-financial reporting harmonization in Europe. The provision of a third-party assurance is one of the most important drivers to achieve legitimization by the stakeholder. In particular, previous studies have shown that non-financial information presents a physiological gap in credibility toward stakeholders. This credibility gap stems from the risk of greenwashing; that is, the attitude of management to report false or untruthful information of a non-financial type in order to pursue utilitarian benefits. Also, from the investor’s point of view, the third-party external assurance could be useful to evaluate the firm’s performance before investing. In particular, it shows that assurance of sustainability reporting is comparable, in terms of its effects on stakeholders, to the financial statement certification process. According to previous studies, the aim of this paper is to evaluate the quality of the third-party external assurance of the non-financial information produced by the European PIE in 2017. Our findings will provide further information regarding the effective level of harmonization of non-financial reporting in Europe after the implementation of the Directive 2014/95/EU. Also, we evaluate how the legal provision of a third-party external assurance impacted the choice of firms to adopt this kind of legitimization strategy.

Sie haben noch keine Lizenz? Dann Informieren Sie sich jetzt über unsere Produkte:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Jetzt informieren

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Jetzt informieren

Vorheriges Kapitel Can Graphs in Sustainability Reports Actually Manage Impressions? An Analysis from the Investors’ Perspective

Nächstes Kapitel Review and Reflections

AccountAbility. (2008). AA1000 Assurance standard 2008. Available at: http://www.accountability.org/images/content/0/5/056/AA1000AS%202008.pdf. Accessed June 18 2019.

Ackers, B., & Eccles, N. S. (2015). Mandatory corporate social responsibility assurance practices: The case of king III in South Africa. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 28(4), 515–550.

Andon, P., Free, C., & O’Dwyer, B. (2015). Annexing new audit spaces: challenges and adaptations. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 28(8), 1400–1430.

Archer, S., Delvaille, P., & McLeay, S. (1995). The measurement of harmonisation and the comparability of financial statement items: Within-country and between-country effects. Accounting and Business Research, 25(98), 67–80.

Bagnoli, M., & Watts, S. G. (2017). Voluntary assurance of voluntary CSR disclosure. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 26(1), 205–230.

Barrow, M. (2009). Statistics for economics, accounting and business studies. Pearson Education.

Beddewela, E., & Fairbrass, J. (2016). Seeking legitimacy through CSR: Institutional pressures and corporate responses of multinationals in Sri Lanka. Journal of Business Ethics, 136(3), 503–522.

Bebbington, J., Kirk, E. A., & Larrinaga, C. (2012). The production of normativity: A comparison of reporting regimes in Spain and the UK. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 37(2), 78–94.

Boiral, O., Heras-Saizarbitoria, I., Brotherton, M. C., & Bernard, J. (2019). Ethical issues in the assurance of sustainability reports: Perspectives from assurance providers. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(4), 1111–1125.

Braam, G. J., de Weerd, L. U., Hauck, M., & Huijbregts, M. A. (2016). Determinants of corporate environmental reporting: The importance of environmental performance and assurance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 129, 724–734.

Brown, H. S., de Jong, M., & Levy, D. L. (2009). Building institutions based on information disclosure: Lessons from GRI’s sustainability reporting. Journal of Cleaner Production, 17(6), 571–580.

Canibano, L., & Mora, A. (2000). Evaluating the statistical significance of de facto accounting harmonization: A study of European global players. European Accounting Review, 9(3), 349–369.

Casey, R. J., & Grenier, J. H. (2014). Understanding and contributing to the enigma of corporate social responsibility (CSR) assurance in the United States. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 34(1), 97–130.

Chauvey, J. N., Giordano-Spring, S., Cho, C. H., & Patten, D. M. (2015). The normativity and legitimacy of CSR disclosure: Evidence from France. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(4), 789–803.

Cohen, J. R., & Simnett, R. (2014). CSR and assurance services: A research agenda. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 34(1), 59–74.

CSR Europe and GRI. (2017). Member State Implementation of Directive 2014/95/EU. Available at: https://www.globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/NFRpublication%20online_version.pdf. Accessed June 18 2019.

De Moor, P., & Beelde, I. D. (2005). Environmental auditing and the role of the accountancy profession: A literature review. Environmental Management, 36(2), 205–219.

De Villiers, C., Rinaldi, L., & Unerman, J. (2014). Integrated Reporting: Insights, gaps and an agenda for future research. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 27(7), 1042–1067.

Deegan, C. (2002). Introduction: The legitimising effect of social and environmental disclosures–a theoretical foundation. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 15(3), 282–311.

Dilla, W. N., Janvrin, D., Perkins, J. D., & Raschke, R. L. (2015). Integrated reporting: The influence of non-financial assurance report level and format on investor judgments. Working paper: Iowa. Google Scholar.

DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American sociological review, 147–160.

Dumay, J., Bernardi, C., Guthrie, J., & La Torre, M. (2017). Barriers to implementing the international integrated reporting framework: A contemporary academic perspective. Meditari Accountancy Research, 25(4), 461–480.

Dumay, J., La Torre, M., & Farneti, F. (2019). Developing trust through stewardship: Implications for intellectual capital, integrated reporting, and the EU Directive 2014/95/EU. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 20(1), 11–39.

Dumitru, M., Dyduch, J., Gușe, R. G., & Krasodomska, J. (2017). Corporate reporting practices in Poland and Romania—An ex-ante study to the new non-financial reporting European directive. Accounting in Europe, 14(3), 279–304.

Eccles, R. G., Krzus, M. P., & Watson, L. A. (2012). Integrated reporting requires integrated assurance.

Farooq, M. B., & De Villiers, C. (2017). The market for sustainability assurance services: A comprehensive literature review and future avenues for research. Pacific Accounting Review, 29(1), 79–106.

Fernandez-Feijoo, B., Romero, S., & Ruiz, S. (2014). Effect of stakeholders’ pressure on transparency of sustainability reports within the GRI framework. Journal of Business Ethics, 122(1), 53–63.

Flasher, R., Luchs, C. K., & Souza, J. L. (2018). Sustainability assurance provider participation in standard setting. Research in Accounting Regulation, 30(1), 20–25.

Fuhrmann, S., Ott, C., Looks, E., & Guenther, T. W. (2017). The contents of assurance statements for sustainability reports and information asymmetry. Accounting and Business Research, 47(4), 369–400.

Gianfelici, C., Casadei, A., & Cembali, F. (2018). The relevance of nationality and industry for stakeholder salience: An investigation through integrated reports. Journal of Business Ethics, 150(2), 541–558.

Gillet-Monjarret, C. (2015). Assurance of sustainability information: A study of media pressure. Accounting in Europe, 12(1), 87–105.

Gürtürk, A., & Hahn, R. (2016). An empirical assessment of assurance statements in sustainability reports: Smoke screens or enlightening information? Journal of Cleaner Production, 136, 30–41.

Guthrie, J., & Parker, L. D. (1989). Corporate social reporting: A rebuttal of legitimacy theory. Accounting and Business Research, 19(76), 343–352.

Haniffa, R. M., & Cooke, T. E. (2002). Culture, corporate governance and disclosure in Malaysian corporations. Abacus, 38(3), 317–349.

Hasan, M., Maijoor, S., Mock, T. J., Roebuck, P., Simnett, R., & Vanstraelen, A. (2005). The different types of assurance services and levels of assurance provided. International Journal of Auditing, 9(2), 91–102.

Hay, D., & Davis, D. (2004). The voluntary choice of an auditor of any level of quality. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 23(2), 37–53.

Hill, C. W., & Jones, T. M. (1992). Stakeholder-agency theory. Journal of Management Studies, 29(2), 131–154.

Husted, B. W., & de Jesus Salazar, J. (2006). Taking Friedman seriously: Maximizing profits and social performance. Journal of Management Studies, 43(1), 75–91.

International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB). (2013). ISAE 3000 (Revised). Assurance engagements other than audits or reviews of historical financial information international framework for assurance engagements ISAE 3402, assurance reports on controls at a service organization exposure draft of proposed. Available at: www.ifac.org/sites/default/files/publications/exposure-drafts/IAASB_ISAE_3000_ED.pdf.

Jo, H., & Na, H. (2012). Does CSR reduce firm risk? Evidence from controversial industry sectors. Journal of Business Ethics, 110(4), 441–456.

Jones, M. J., & Solomon, J. F. (2010, March). Social and environmental report assurance: Some interview evidence. In Accounting forum (Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 20–31). Elsevier.

La Torre, M., Sabelfeld, S., Blomkvist, M., Tarquinio, L., & Dumay, J. (2018). Harmonising non-financial reporting regulation in Europe. Meditari Accountancy Research.

Kalnins, A. (2018). Multicollinearity: How common factors cause type 1 errors in multivariate regression. Strategic Management Journal, 39(8), 2362–2385.

Kolk, A., & Perego, P. (2010). Determinants of the adoption of sustainability assurance statements: An international investigation. Business Strategy and the Environment, 19(3), 182–198.

KPMG. (2017). The road ahead. The KPMG survey of corporate responsibility reporting 2017.

La Torre, M., Sabelfeld, S., Blomkvist, M., Tarquinio, L., & Dumay, J. (2018). Harmonising non-financial reporting regulation in Europe: Practical forces and projections for future research. Meditari Accountancy Research.

Lindorff, M., Jonson, E. P., & McGuire, L. (2012). Strategic corporate social responsibility in controversial industry sectors: The social value of harm minimisation. Journal of Business Ethics, 110(4), 457–467.

Lock, I., & Seele, P. (2015). Analyzing sector-specific CSR reporting: Social and environmental disclosure to investors in the chemicals and banking and insurance industry. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 22(2), 113–128.

Luque-Vílchez, M., & Larrinaga, C. (2016). Reporting models do not translate well: Failing to regulate CSR reporting in Spain. Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, 36(1), 56–75.

Manes-Rossi, F., Tiron-Tudor, A., Nicolò, G., & Zanellato, G. (2018). Ensuring More Sustainable Reporting in Europe Using Non-Financial Disclosure—De Facto and De Jure Evidence. Sustainability, 10(4), 1162.

Martínez-Ferrero, J., & García-Sánchez, I. M. (2017). Coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphism as determinants of the voluntary assurance of sustainability reports. International Business Review, 26(1), 102–118.

Martínez-Ferrero, J., & García-Sánchez, I. M. (2018). The level of sustainability assurance: The effects of brand reputation and industry specialisation of assurance providers. Journal of Business Ethics, 150(4), 971–990.

Matten, D., & Moon, J. (2008). “Implicit” and “explicit” CSR: A conceptual framework for a comparative understanding of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 404–424.

Matuszak, Ł., & Różańska, E. (2017). CSR disclosure in Polish-listed companies in the light of Directive 2014/95/EU requirements: Empirical evidence. Sustainability, 9(12), 2304.

Michelon, G., Pilonato, S., & Ricceri, F. (2015). CSR reporting practices and the quality of disclosure: An empirical analysis. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 33, 59–78.

Mock, T. J., Strohm, C., & Swartz, K. M. (2007). An examination of worldwide assured sustainability reporting. Australian Accounting Review, 17(41), 67–77.

Moroney, R., Windsor, C., & Aw, Y. T. (2012). Evidence of assurance enhancing the quality of voluntary environmental disclosures: An empirical analysis. Accounting & Finance, 52(3), 903–939.

O’Dwyer, B., & Owen, D. L. (2005). Assurance statement practice in environmental, social and sustainability reporting: A critical evaluation. The British Accounting Review, 37(2), 205–229.

Park, J., & Brorson, T. (2005). Experiences of and views on third-party assurance of corporate environmental and sustainability reports. Journal of Cleaner Production, 13(10–11), 1095–1106.

Perego, P. (2009). Causes and consequences of choosing different assurance providers: An international study of sustainability reporting. International Journal of Management, 26(3), 412–425.

Perego, P., & Kolk, A. (2012). Multinationals’ accountability on sustainability: The evolution of third-party assurance of sustainability reports. Journal of Business Ethics, 110(2), 173–190.

Pflugrath, G., Roebuck, P., & Simnett, R. (2011). Impact of assurance and assurer’s professional affiliation on financial analysts’ assessment of credibility of corporate social responsibility information. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 30(3), 239–254.

Ruhnke, K., & Gabriel, A. (2013). Determinants of voluntary assurance on sustainability reports: An empirical analysis. Journal of Business Economics, 83(9), 1063–1091.

Seguí-Mas, E., Bollas-Araya, H. M., & Polo-Garrido, F. (2015). Sustainability assurance on the biggest cooperatives of the world: An analysis of their adoption and quality. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 86(2), 363–383.

Siano, A., Vollero, A., Conte, F., & Amabile, S. (2017). “More than words”: Expanding the taxonomy of greenwashing after the Volkswagen scandal. Journal of Business Research, 71, 27–37.

Sierra, L., Zorio, A., & García-Benau, M. A. (2013). Sustainable development and assurance of corporate social responsibility reports published by Ibex-35 companies. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 20(6), 359–370.

Sierra-Garcia, L., Garcia-Benau, M. A., & Bollas-Araya, H. M. (2018). Empirical Analysis of Non-Financial Reporting by Spanish Companies. Administrative Sciences, 8(3), 29.

Simnett, R. (2012). Assurance of sustainability reports: Revision of ISAE 3000 and associated research opportunities. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 3(1), 89–98.

Simnett, R., & Huggins, A. L. (2015). Integrated reporting and assurance: Where can research add value? Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 6(1), 29–53.

Simnett, R., Vanstraelen, A., & Chua, W. F. (2009). Assurance on sustainability reports: An international comparison. The Accounting Review, 84(3), 937–967.

Simnett, R., Zhou, S., & Hoang, H. (2016a). Assurance and other credibility enhancing mechanisms for integrated reporting. In Integrated Reporting (pp. 269–286). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Simnett, R., Carson, E., & Vanstraelen, A. (2016b). International archival auditing and assurance research: Trends, methodological issues, and opportunities. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 35(3), 1–32.

Soh, D. S., & Martinov‐Bennie, N. (2018). Factors associated with internal audit’s involvement in environmental and social assurance and consulting. International Journal of Auditing.

Steurer, R., Martinuzzi, A., & Margula, S. (2012). Public policies on CSR in Europe: Themes, instruments, and regional differences. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 19(4), 206–227.

Suchman, M. C. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571–610.

Tarquinio, L. (2018). Corporate Responsibility Reporting e Assurance Esterna.: Profili teorici, criticità e prospettive (Vol. 10). G Giappichelli Editore.

Velte, P., & Stawinoga, M. (2017a). Empirical research on corporate social responsibility assurance (CSRA): A literature review. Journal of Business Economics, 87(8), 1017–1066.

Velte, P., & Stawinoga, M. (2017b). Integrated reporting: The current state of empirical research, limitations and future research implications. Journal of Management Control, 28(3), 275–320.

Venturelli, A., & Caputo, F. (2017). Informativa non finanziaria e regulation: tendenze evolutive e relative implicazioni alla luce dell’emanazione del D. Lgs 254/16. McGraw-Hill education.

Venturelli, A., Caputo, F., Cosma, S., Leopizzi, R., & Pizzi, S. (2017). Directive 2014/95/EU: Are Italian companies already compliant? Sustainability, 9(8), 1385.

Venturelli, A., Caputo, F., Leopizzi, R., & Pizzi, S. (2018). The state of art of corporate social disclosure before the introduction of non financial reporting directive: A cross country analysis, Social responsibility journal, in press.

Vijiyarani, S., & Suganya, E. (2015). Research issues in web mining. International Journal of Computer-Aided Technologies (IJCAx), 2, 55–64.

Vollero, A., Conte, F., Siano, A., & Covucci, C. (2018) Corporate social responsibility information and involvement strategies in controversial industries. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management.

Vormedal, I., & Ruud, A. (2009). Sustainability reporting in Norway—An assessment of performance in the context of legal demands and socio-political drivers. Business Strategy and the Environment, 18(4), 207–222.

Titel: What Drives the Level of Non-financial Assurance in PIEs? Empirical Evidence on the European Firms Listed on Forbes 2000
verfasst von: Andrea Venturelli
Simone Pizzi
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Buch: Accounting, Accountability and Society
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-41141-1

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-41142-8

Copyright-Jahr: 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41142-8_12