IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/aaajpp/v27y2014i5p863-887.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate social disclosures: a user perspective on assurance

Author

Listed:
  • Renfred Wong
  • Andrew Millington

Abstract

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to investigate corporate social disclosure (CSD) assurance from a stakeholder perspective within a study which encompasses both stakeholder preferences and demand drivers of CSD assurance. Design/methodology/approach - – Stakeholder perceptions of and their demand for CSD assurance are examined through a questionnaire survey. The analysis is based on responses in an empirical study from 147 organisations which are investing, procuring and third-sector stakeholders. Findings - – Overall, stakeholder comments suggest an emphasis on the importance of specialist environmental assurors and the role of trust. The demand for assurance is positively related to stakeholders’ assessment of the value of CSD and the use of information from information intermediaries such as responsible investment indices, and negatively related to stakeholder perceptions of CSD representational faithfulness. Research limitations/implications - – This paper only draws on data from the UK. Similar research can be explored in a context outside the UK. Practical implications - – Better understanding of stakeholder defined determinants of the demand for CSD assurance as well as their perceptions of CSD assurance will inform regulators and enable companies to better discharge accountability towards stakeholders. Originality/value - – This is one of the few empirical studies that investigate CSD assurance and one of the first to focus on stakeholder perceptions of, and demand for, CSD assurance within a multiple stakeholder perspective, rather than practitioner or corporate perceptions of CSD assurance.

Suggested Citation

  • Renfred Wong & Andrew Millington, 2014. "Corporate social disclosures: a user perspective on assurance," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(5), pages 863-887, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:27:y:2014:i:5:p:863-887
    DOI: 10.1108/AAAJ-06-2013-1389
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AAAJ-06-2013-1389/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AAAJ-06-2013-1389/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/AAAJ-06-2013-1389?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Warren Maroun & Andre Prinsloo, 2020. "Drivers of combined assurance in a sustainable development context: Evidence from integrated reports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3702-3719, December.
    2. Martínez-Ferrero, Jennifer & García-Sánchez, Isabel-María, 2017. "Coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphism as determinants of the voluntary assurance of sustainability reports," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 102-118.
    3. Olivier Boiral & Iñaki Heras-Saizarbitoria & Marie-Christine Brotherton, 2019. "Assessing and Improving the Quality of Sustainability Reports: The Auditors’ Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 703-721, March.
    4. Geert Braam & Roy Peeters, 2018. "Corporate Sustainability Performance and Assurance on Sustainability Reports: Diffusion of Accounting Practices in the Realm of Sustainable Development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(2), pages 164-181, March.
    5. Habiba Al-Shaer & Mahbub Zaman, 2019. "CEO Compensation and Sustainability Reporting Assurance: Evidence from the UK," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 233-252, August.
    6. Prastika Suwandi Tjeng & Rina Nopianti, 2021. "The Effect of Auditor's Technical Abilities on the Quality of Financial Statement Information," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(6), pages 129-129, June.
    7. Nekhili, Mehdi & Nagati, Haithem & Chtioui, Tawhid & Nekhili, Ali, 2017. "Gender-diverse board and the relevance of voluntary CSR reporting," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 81-100.
    8. Teresa Eugénio & Sónia Gomes & Manuel Castelo Branco & Ana Isabel Morais, 2022. "Non-Financial Reporting and Assurance: A New Opportunity for Auditors? Evidence from Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-15, October.
    9. Lin Liao & Teng (Philip) Lin & Yuyu Zhang, 2018. "Corporate Board and Corporate Social Responsibility Assurance: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 211-225, June.
    10. Patrick Velte & Martin Stawinoga, 2017. "Empirical research on corporate social responsibility assurance (CSRA): A literature review," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(8), pages 1017-1066, November.
    11. Diogenis Baboukardos & Musa Mangena & Abdullahi Ishola, 2021. "Integrated thinking and sustainability reporting assurance: International evidence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1580-1597, May.
    12. Silvia Romero & Silvia Ruiz & Belen Fernandez‐Feijoo, 2019. "Sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement in Spain: Different instruments, different quality," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 221-232, January.
    13. Michelon, Giovanna & Pilonato, Silvia & Ricceri, Federica, 2015. "CSR reporting practices and the quality of disclosure: An empirical analysis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 59-78.
    14. Shan Xu & Duchi Liu, 2018. "Do Financial Markets Care about Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure? Further Evidence from China," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 28(1), pages 79-103, March.
    15. Camille Gaudy & Christophe Godowski & Jonathan Maurice, 2022. "CSR auditing at a crossroads. What the auditors' daily experience teaches us [L'audit RSE à la croisée des chemins. Ce que nous enseigne le vécu quotidien des auditeurs]," Post-Print hal-03842902, HAL.
    16. Antonio Somoza, 2023. "Voluntary sustainability assurance in small and medium‐sized entities: The role of country origin in Europe," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 462-483, January.
    17. Warren Maroun, 2020. "A Conceptual Model for Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility Assurance Practice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 187-209, January.
    18. Semeen, Homaira & Islam, Muhammad Azizul, 2021. "Social impact disclosure and symbolic power: Evidence from UK fair trade organizations," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    19. Rashid Zaman & Muhammad Bilal Farooq & Fahad Khalid & Zeeshan Mahmood, 2021. "Examining the extent of and determinants for sustainability assurance quality: The role of audit committees," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 2887-2906, November.
    20. Rafael Robina Ramírez & Pedro R. Palos-Sánchez, 2018. "Environmental Firms’ Better Attitude towards Nature in the Context of Corporate Compliance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-21, September.
    21. Genevé Richard & Elza Odendaal, 2021. "Credibility-enhancing mechanisms, other than external assurance, in integrated reporting," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(1), pages 61-93, March.
    22. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Jennifer Martínez-Ferrero, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility Performance, Disclosure and Assurance: Introduction to the Special Issue of Administrative Sciences," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-6, September.
    23. Alfonso Del Giudice & Silvia Rigamonti, 2020. "Does Audit Improve the Quality of ESG Scores? Evidence from Corporate Misconduct," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-16, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:27:y:2014:i:5:p:863-887. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.