The impacts of externally assured sustainability disclosure and sustainability assurance attributes on information asymmetry
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2023-07-10
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en
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This study investigates the association between externally assured sustainability disclosure (EASD) with information asymmetry. Furthermore, the effects of sustainability assurance attributes are also examined, including the type of assurance provider, the level of assurance, the scope of assurance and the assurance standards. Regression and robustness analyses are carried out based on two samples of international listed firms between 2013 and 2017 to test the hypotheses. In addition, the role of country- and industry-level contexts is explored. Based on the empirical results, the negative association between EASD and information asymmetry is statistically significant when excluding firms from the United States. In contrary to previous literature, sustainability disclosures assured by accounting firms appear to increase asymmetric information. Similarly, the application of international assurance standards is positively related to information asymmetry, which would requires further future research. Remarkably, the associations tested in this study are affected by country- and industry-level context, as the role of a higher level of assurance is greater in stakeholder-oriented countries or sensitive industries. This study enriches the sustainability assurance research and provides some relevant empirical evidence to standard setters and stakeholders.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen