TY - JOUR AB - Purpose Although proponents of integrated reporting (IR) advocate that this emerging practice has the potential to transform corporate reporting, the eventuation of this expectation would depend on the incentive IR provides to firms. This study aims to examine whether IR is associated with cost of debt and whether IR moderates the relationship between financial reporting quality and cost of debt.Design/methodology/approach Based on insights drawn from information asymmetry and agency theories, the authors develop models that link IR and financial reporting quality with a firm’s cost of debt. The authors analyze 847 firm-year observations drawn from non-financial firms traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, for the period between 2009 and 2015.Findings The authors find that firms that provide integrated reports tend to have a lower cost of debt than those do not provide IR. The authors also find an inverse association between financial reporting quality and cost of debt, and that integrated reports accentuate this association. The findings suggest that the debt market perceives value in the information presented in integrated reports beyond what is furnished in financial reports.Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to document evidence suggesting that the debt market perceives value in the information presented in integrated reports, beyond what is furnished in financial reports. VL - 28 IS - 3 SN - 1834-7649 DO - 10.1108/IJAIM-10-2019-0124 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/IJAIM-10-2019-0124 AU - Muttakin Mohammad Badrul AU - Mihret Dessalegn AU - Lemma Tesfaye Taddese AU - Khan Arifur PY - 2020 Y1 - 2020/01/01 TI - Integrated reporting, financial reporting quality and cost of debt T2 - International Journal of Accounting & Information Management PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 517 EP - 534 Y2 - 2024/03/28 ER -