Business sustainability reporting and assurance and sustainable development goals
ISSN: 0268-6902
Article publication date: 8 August 2023
Issue publication date: 9 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the association between sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the micro level and firms’ inclination to sustainability reporting and assurance (SRA).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use global data from 44 countries in the 2016–2021 period and perform the probit and logistic models in testing the hypotheses.
Findings
The results show that socially responsible firms adopting SDGs are more likely to issue sustainability reports and obtain assurance statements. The authors find that the link between firms’ compliance with SDGs and SRA is stronger for firms domiciled in stakeholder-oriented countries.
Originality/value
SRA issues are gaining the attention of regulators, investors, businesses and academics worldwide. Results pertaining to the relationship between SDGs and SRA are robust to alternative measures and several sensitivity tests and, thus, provide policy, practice and research implications.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This manuscript is benefited from invaluable comments and suggestions of workshop participants at the University of Memphis, University of Gavle, Polytechnic University in Hong Kong, and Sino-US College in China and the 2018 American Accounting Association Annual Meeting.
Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Citation
Rezaee, Z., Homayoun, S., Rezaee, N.J. and Poursoleyman, E. (2023), "Business sustainability reporting and assurance and sustainable development goals", Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 38 No. 7, pp. 973-996. https://doi.org/10.1108/MAJ-10-2022-3722
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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