Do investors care about the Quality of Sustainable Reports

Abstract

This thesis investigates the relationship between the quality of sustainability reporting and firm value and the role of analysts in this relationship. A panel dataset of listed companies during the period 2012-2016, comprising 300 observations is used. The results show that having a higher level of sustainability reporting quality is negatively associated with firm value. However, most of the results regarding this relationship are insignificant and have to be interpreted with care. In addition, the results show that a higher level of analyst coverage has a strengthening effect on the relationship between sustainability reporting quality and firm value. These findings extend the literature on sustainability reporting quality and firm value by integrating the role of analysts in this relationship. This thesis has implications for management and investors as they can use the findings of this thesis in their decision making process.