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In many societies, environmental problems have had some negative impacts on both social and economic features with issues like capital structure seriously affected. In this write-up, an attempt has been made to pinpoint the influence of the combined effects of integrated reporting and financial leverage on the value of a firm. In most emerging markets, investment is heavily dependent on foreign capital inflow which is mainly in the form of financial leverage. It is, therefore, necessary to know how this shapes the net worth of firms in which they are invested. Shareholders' fund is a major factor in determining the level of investment and economic stability of a nation and consequently improvements in sustainable development. Hence, the moderating role of financial leverage in the integrated reporting-shareholders’ funds relationship aims to warrant this research.

All listed firms on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as of 31st December 2021 were affected by this research. Filtering resulted in the use of 77 companies as a sample for the study covering a period of 12 years (2010–2021) with a total of 788 observations. Analyses of data were done through line graphs to show the trend and flow of disclosures between 2010 and 2021. Furthermore, linear regression was also applied to help determine the multiple effects of financial leverage and integrated reporting on shareholders' funds.

The outcomes showed that economic disclosure was 100% throughout the period of observation as opposed to environmental and social disclosures which, fluctuate throughout the period with an average of slightly over 55%. It was also discovered that a low but significant financial leverage moderated the interaction of integrated reporting on shareholders' funds.

Stakeholders and policymakers should, therefore, put in place rules, regulations, standards, structures and administrative networks to enable firms to comply with local rules, guidelines and upgraded standards of international worth on sustainability issues.

This research explores the problem of the effects of integrated reporting on investment capital as it affects developing economies. Results from this study could go a long way in narrowing the lack of interest in sustainability issues by prospective investors coupled with the low level of environmental and social reporting by firms in African economies that are mostly underdeveloped.

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework informed by a literature review. This framework aims to deepen and broaden the understanding of the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and non-financial reporting (NFR) through qualitative research approaches.

A review of corporate governance and NFR literature and existing research frameworks leads to the development of a conceptual framework to encourage future qualitative accounting research on the corporate governance mechanisms for NFR.

Few studies consider the complex interrelationships between NFR and corporate governance mechanisms. Quantitative studies using secondary data sources dominate accounting research on the topic. Of the small number of qualitative studies, many are theoretical and offer little new knowledge about the effectiveness of corporate governance mechanisms in practice. The research framework, developed from a literature review and consideration of multiple qualitative approaches, proposes numerous avenues for future research.

This paper is based on a scoping review of the literature using peer-reviewed journal papers. Other researchers may have identified additional literature for inclusion, including grey literature.

More qualitative research into NFR and corporate governance mechanisms may help to guide practitioners seeking to incorporate sustainability into their governance practices.

The critical relationship between NRF and corporate governance is under-explored in research yet has significant consequences for organisations pursuing sustainability.

The authors develop a conceptual framework for qualitative accounting research on NFR and corporate governance, addressing key outstanding questions in this area and considering different theoretical perspectives when approaching this critical topic. Although there is scope for further research in general in this promising area, including quantitative reviews and discursive studies, qualitative research would be of particular value. The authors also outline multiple directions for nurturing academic debate.

This paper aims to investigate how integrated reporting quality (IRQ), as well as comprehensive disclosure score (CDS) (i.e. incorporating integrated and sustainable reporting quality), impacts value creation differently between companies operating under mandatory versus voluntary adoption of these reporting frameworks.

The sample comprises 1,195 firm-year observations (international data set) from 2018 to 2022, which are divided into groups based on mandatory vs voluntary adoption of the international integrated reporting framework (IIRF) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Furthermore, regression analysis is used in the analyses.

The findings revealed a significant and positive relationship between IRQ and value creation on a global scale. In addition, unlike voluntary adoption of the IIRF, mandatory adoption of it showed a significant and positive relationship between IRQ and value creation. Furthermore, an increase in the CDS had a greater impact on value creation compared to IRQ. Finally, in contrast to companies with voluntary adoption of both IIRF and SASB, companies with mandatory adoption of them exhibited a significant and positive relationship between these reports and value creation.

The findings have practical implications for various stakeholders. First, by enhancing the awareness and understanding of integrated reporting and sustainability reporting among users, these results can facilitate more informed economic decision-making and enable a more accurate assessment of a company's potential for value creation. Second, these findings can contribute to the development of more effective and tailored reporting guidelines that align with the nuances of value creation dynamics in different contexts. Ultimately, this research can lead to improvements in reporting practices and regulatory frameworks, benefiting both companies and their stakeholders.

The study's social implications are significant as it offers insights into the global debate surrounding the adoption of the IIRF and the objectives of the merger involving the Value Reporting Foundation and the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation. The findings provide a concrete basis for evaluating the value of adopting the IIRF and inform discussions on the future of reporting standards and practices.

Furthermore, it stands as one of the pioneering endeavors to investigate the value creation aspects of CDS. These unique aspects make a substantive contribution by expanding the frontiers of knowledge in the realm of corporate reporting and financial implications, offering novel insights and opportunities for further research in this crucial domain.

Integrated reporting (IR) aims to overcome the limitations of traditional reporting by merging financial information and sustainability data. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate whether IR quality is value-relevant for investors in the voluntary Asian context.

The study uses OLS regression to estimate the impact of IR quality on the market value of equity using data from Asian firms that prepare IR, presented on the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) website for 2015–2022. The study uses content analysis to assess IR quality. Alternative measures of firm value, propensity score matching and instrumental variable estimation are used to validate the robustness of the main results.

The findings of this paper suggest that IR quality is value-relevant and has positive market reactions. Additional analyses show that the positive impact of IR quality is more salient for companies with high organizational complexity and high growth, and the impact is still significant during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Furthermore, the authors document that earnings quality and analyst forecast accuracy mediate the relationship between IR quality and market value.

The study has some limitations, primarily stemming from the relatively small sample size and the fact that the majority of the data represents Japan.

The findings of this study have implications for standard setters, governmental agencies interested in adopting IR, as well as investors and businesses about the effects of IR quality.

Most of the recent studies are concentrated on mandatory IR adoption in South Africa. This study is unique in concentrating on the value relevance of IR quality in the voluntary Asian context.

This study aims to examine the ability of big data analytics (BDA) to investigate financial reporting quality (FRQ), identify the knowledge base and conceptual structure of this research field and explore BDA techniques used over time.

This study uses a comprehensive bibliometric analysis approach (performance analysis and science mapping) using software packages, including Biblioshiny and VOSviewer. Multiple analyses are conducted, including authors, sources, keywords, co-citations, thematic evolution and trend topic analysis.

This study reveals that the intellectual structure of using BDA in investigating FRQ encompasses three clusters. These clusters include applying data mining to detect financial reporting fraud (FRF), using machine learning (ML) to examine FRQ and detecting earnings management as a measure of FRQ. Additionally, the results demonstrate that ML and DM algorithms are the most effective techniques for investigating FRQ by providing various prediction and detection models of FRF and EM. Moreover, BDA offers text mining techniques to detect managerial fraud in narrative reports. The findings indicate that artificial intelligence, deep learning and ML are currently trending methods and are expected to continue in the coming years.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to provide a comprehensive analysis of the current state of the use of BDA in investigating FRQ.

The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between board size, board independence and triple bottom line (TBL) reporting. The TBL report consists of three components, namely, environmental, social and economic indices.

This study’s sample consists of top 50 listed companies from the year 2017 to 2019 on Tadawul Stock Exchange. Ordinary least squares, quantile least squares and robust least squares are used to investigate the associations between board characteristics and TBL reporting, including its separate components.

The authors find a significant negative association between TBL reporting and board independence. Social bottom line is significantly and negatively related to board size and board independence. Results indicate that board independence negatively influences the TBL disclosure of companies. Therefore, companies are encouraged to embrace TBL reporting. This suggests that businesses should improve the quality of their reporting while ensuring that voluntary disclosures reflect an accurate and fair view in order to preserve a positive relationship with stakeholders.

The present study explains the evidence for the determinants of the TBL in Saudi Arabia.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the adoption and quality of integrated reports in the European Union (EU).

The sample consists of 147 listed firms from the 18 EU countries during 2013–2020. This study creates a disclosure index – based on the balanced scorecard (BSC) that reflects the information content of integrated reports. The content analysis method is used to measure the integrated reporting quality (IRQ).

The findings demonstrate that the IRQ increased across the study’s time frame, going from 49.3% in 2013 to 77% in 2020. Furthermore, financial disclosures still get the most attention in the integrated reporting (IR), followed by learning and growth perspective disclosures. In addition, businesses in the financial and industrial sectors rely more on integrated reports. However, the utility sector has the highest IRQ score. By country, Spain has the highest rate of IR adoption, followed by France. Other countries, such as Austria and Hungary, have only implemented IR by one company each.

This study adds to the IR literature a new approach to measure IRQ by linking BSC with the IR framework. Empirically, businesses of any size can use this method to assess the degree of balance between the revealed financial and nonfinancial information in their reports.

Empirically, this study helps IR practitioners in determining how widely IR is used in Europe and in updating the database on the IR website. It helps them update and improve the IR framework by identifying the elements that have the least transparency and quality, investigating the causes and enhancing them.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the IRQ in EU countries by linking the BSC with IR elements. This is to split the elements into their own pillars, making it easier to track disclosure and evaluate the corporations’ interest in revealing these perspectives, on their own and collectively.

This paper explores how the disclosure quality, measured by the abnormal tone of environmental and social report, may determine the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) performance of the firm. This study also investigates the impact of the moderator “board of directors” to explore the extent to which a well-balanced board of directors may affect this association within an impression management strategy.

This work uses a sample of 616 firm-year observations using a sample of French firms indexed on SBF120 index from 2010 to 2017. To test the developed hypotheses, the GLS regression is applied and to control for endogeneity issue and sample selection bias, the authors used, respectively, the two stage least square (2SLS) procedure and the Heckman model.

Findings suggest that a well-balanced board of directors moderates the relationship between the ESG performance and the disclosure quality. The positive effect of abnormal tone management on ESG is weakened by the presence of a good structure of the board, attenuating impression management initiatives.

The research provides evidence of the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting quality, in particular disclosure tone management, on the level of ESG performance in the French context. As the board of directors may have a major impact on weakening impression management strategies in particular tone management practices, in order to improve CSR report quality, the authors recommend French companies to ensure a well-balanced board of directors.

This study helps investors to comprehensively evaluate the information disclosed on CSR reports. It unveils that a strong board composition induces better quality of CSR report and brings better ESG performance. Thus, the study results point to the importance of a well-balanced board of directors and the regulation of the narrative disclosure of CSR information.

This study aims to propose a longitudinal analysis of motivations for Integrated Reporting (IR) adoption, internal changes, the benefits of IR implementation and compliance challenges.

The authors analyse a longitudinal case study of an Italian-listed company (Eni) participating in the IR-Pilot Programme (PP) and covering 10 years of IR adoption. The analysis was based on a mixed-method approach that included semi-structured interviews, content analysis of annual reports and triangulation with other data sources. Results are discussed regarding institutional theory, legitimacy theory and diffusion of innovation theory.

The study suggests that motivations for adopting IR change over time and participation in the IR-PP helps Eni acquire a comprehensive and substantial integrated view of value creation over time, makes integrated culture a key factor for strategic business sustainability and confirms the readiness of early adopters to comply with the non-financial Directive (NFD).

This study, among the few longitudinal case studies, provides organisations, regulators and academics with insights into the motivations driving the successful adoption and implementation of IR and the NFD. The results may help companies consider one of the tools currently deemed to bring sustainability into action and participation in pilot groups.

Cyber security incidents pose a major threat to organisations. Reporting cyber security incidents and providing organisations with information about their true nature, type and volume, is crucial to inform risk-based decisions. Despite the importance of reporting cyber security incidents, little research has addressed employees’ motivations to do so. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence employees to report cyber security incidents using the theory of planned behaviour as a theoretical framework.

Survey data were collected from a sample of 549 working Australian adults. Demographics were gathered, in addition to data using the Cyber Security Incident Reporting Inventory (CSIRI; pronounced, “Siri”).

Attitude towards reporting, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control each significantly predicted intention-to-report cyber security incidents. Perceived behavioural control also significantly predicted actual reporting behaviour.

The results of this study validate the application of the theory of planned behaviour to the cyber security incident reporting context, also indicating that the relationship between intention to report a cyber security incident and actual reporting behaviour may be facilitated by perceived behavioural control.

These findings can be applied to inform the development of strategies that increase employees’ cyber security incident reporting behaviour.

This study outlines the development of a new tool to measure attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control in relation to the reporting of cyber security incidents. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to identify the relationship between these factors and intentions to report cyber security incidents.