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This study aims to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) award and sustainability assurance levels for the French CAC 40 companies.

A sample of 57 French companies in the CAC 40 index corresponding to 448 observations was analyzed between 2008 and 2020 using an ordinal regression.

The main results conclude that the inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World, the CSR award and the introduction of the Grenelle 2 law have a significant influence on sustainability assurance levels. However, incentive compensation does not appear to be relevant to explain sustainability assurance levels.

The present study focuses on a sample, limited to companies belonging to the CAC 40 index. To enhance the understanding of sustainability assurance levels, this research may include other global sustainability indices, such as the MSCI World and the FTSE4Good World, in the CSR awards.

This study could be useful for audit practitioners, leading them to reconsider their evaluation methods and take into account CSR incentives for a more objective analysis. Regulators should investigate the current CSR issues to improve CSR disclosure standards. Finally, these findings could motivate other researchers to expand the scope of the research to diverse contexts.

This study helps fill the gap existing in sustainability assurance literature by highlighting the relationship between CSR rewards and sustainability assurance levels.

The purpose of this study is to understand how internal auditors perceive the internal audit quality and to highlight the different profiles of internal auditors based on their perception of internal audit quality determinants.

The authors’ methodological approach is based on the submission of a self-administered questionnaire. The final sample consists of 104 internal auditors. The first stage of the study is in the lead of a certified public accountants (CPA), which highlights seven factors of the internal audit quality. The second step is a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) that allowed the authors to validate the model proposed by the CPA. Finally, the authors carry out a typological analysis of the auditors according to their way of perceiving the factors extracted by the CPA.

The authors’ model, validated by the CFA, shows that the knowledge of the internal auditor, the independence of reporting, compliance with professional standards of internal audit, the relationship with the external auditor, the personal relationship of the internal auditor, the access to information and the field of intervention of the internal auditor have a positive association with the internal audit quality but with a different degree of significance. For example, the field of intervention of the internal auditor and the access to information explain better the internal audit quality. However, the knowledge of the internal auditor and the relationship with the external auditor are not significant to explain the internal audit quality. From the hierarchical cluster analysis, four groups of internal auditors emerged: the autonomous, the perfectionists, the rigorous ones and the objectives.

In offering these findings, the paper contributes to the existing internal audit literature by introducing evidence from an emerging country, namely, Tunisia, of the internal audit quality model. In addition, the authors proposed a new measure to the internal audit quality model which is the use of the work of the internal auditor by the external auditor. This study is also interesting to managers and professional internal audit organizations in recognizing the characteristics of the quality of the internal audit and advance reflections on the effectiveness of internal audit practices. The authors’ study proposes a typology of certified internal auditors through their perceptions of the quality of the internal audit while taking into account the specificities of the Tunisian audit market. This provides insights to managers and audit committees on the measures necessary to ensure the relevance of the internal audit work within their companies.

This study aims to investigate, on the one hand, the impact of the Tunisian Revolution and internal governance mechanisms (especially, the ownership structure and the board of directors structure on the extent of voluntary information disclosure [VID]) and on the other hand, the moderating effect of the Tunisian Revolution on the relationship between the internal corporate governance mechanisms and the VID.

A content analysis of 362 annual reports is used for determining the level of VID. This study covers a 10-year period (2007-2016) which is divided into two sub-periods (before and after the Tunisian Revolution). The generalized least squares regression model was used to investigate the effect of the Tunisian Revolution, ownership structure and the board of directors structure on the VID.

The Tunisian companies disclose less voluntary information after the Tunisian Revolution because of a decrease in the disclosure of information related to results, intangible assets, non-financial information and management’s discussion and analysis. The authors’ findings highlight the importance of the moderating effect of the revolution. After the Tunisian Revolution, a positive relationship was found, on the one hand, between institutional ownership, board size and board independence, and the VID on the other hand. Besides, companies with dual structures and with a high level of foreign ownership are less reluctant to the VID. Moreover, different governance mechanisms are related to different types of information disclosed. These relationships were affected by the Tunisian Revolution.

This piece of research could be useful for managers, investors and different stakeholders. It can help managers in improving their VID and thus their companies’ transparency, mainly in developing countries and in times of crisis. Moreover, it could be helpful for investors and stakeholders for their decision-making, especially in crisis periods.

This study contributes to the literature by investigating the VID in a developing country and in times of crisis. It widens knowledge by analyzing the types of voluntary information disclosed. It is one of the few pieces of research investigating this issue. Moreover, it is the first research analyzing the consequences on the VID of the revolutions in the Arab countries that have experienced an Arab Spring Revolution.