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This study aims to explore how the top 50 Australian companies are disclosing their commitment to addressing the sustainable development goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations (UN) in 2015. By investigating the nature and substantiveness of SDG reporting, this study provides exploratory evidence on how companies are taking the initial steps to addressing the SDGs.

A content analysis of SDG disclosures by the top 50 Australian companies was undertaken. This content analysis was guided by the KPMG (2018) SDG disclosure framework. Legitimacy theory was used to interpret the findings, establishing whether such disclosure was substantive or symbolic.

This study reports a moderate level of SDG disclosure among Australian companies. The top five most critical SDGs in Australian context are climate action, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, responsible consumption and production and industry, innovation and infrastructure. The findings also highlight that while the focus of Australian companies is on understanding and prioritizing SDGs, the measurement of SDGs performance needs to increase.

This study adds to limited literature on the corporate responses to SDGs by establishing how companies, especially in Australia, are addressing these goals through changes to their reporting systems, thereby communicating their strategic intent in relation to addressing these goals. A focus on symbolic legitimation through SDG disclosure by the Australian companies in this study reaffirms the findings of similar studies and suggests a need for more substantive SDG management and disclosure if these goals are to be adequately addressed by the corporate sector.

The findings of this study provide insights into the current practices and future prospects of corporate responses to SDGs. Policy implications could arise in relation to possible approaches for disclosing social and environmental information and the paper argues for a potential need for regulation of non-financial reporting.

This study contributes to the limited understanding of the corporate response to an urgent sustainability call made by the UN by providing evidence on how Australian companies are embedding, measuring and reporting the SDGs. The research goes beyond a descriptive analysis of SDG disclosure and assesses whether such disclosure is substantive or symbolic.

This study examines whether investors value the timing and/or information of mandatory disclosures in a unique research setting of listed companies in Thailand.

The authors adopt an event-study based approach. Abnormal stock returns are calculated using an OLS market model to measure market reactions to three types of mandatory reports issued by listed Thai firms: financial statements, Form 56-1 and Form 56-2. These reports are released sequentially but contain overlapping information content. Multivariate regression models are employed to examine the market reactions to these regulatory reports and explore the characteristics of firms that affect the market response.

The stock market reacts differentially to these reports. The financial statements, which are filed the earliest and are the most concise, prompt the strongest reaction. Investors similarly react significantly to Form 56-1 and Form 56-2, although Form 56-2 provides additional information beyond Form 56-1. The market reactions to small firms are stronger. Collectively, equity investors focus on the timeliness of disclosures rather than the information disclosed in the mandatory reports.

The evidence provides support for ongoing regulatory initiatives aimed at improving the timeliness of mandatory disclosures in emerging economies.

Prior studies on disclosure regulation investigate either the effect of information content or the timing of mandatory disclosures in isolation. The authors differentiate the effect of information content from disclosure timing and extend the literature by suggesting that investors incrementally value timeliness of disclosures. Investors perceive the benefit of the timely release of quantitative information compared to subsequent narrative disclosures. Between Form 56-1 and Form 56-2, the earlier release of the narrative non-financial information is incrementally traded into share prices.

Under a gradual long-term plan of the Saudi Stock Market (TADWUAL) from 2016, Saudi Arabia decided to work with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) board to fully adopt its accounting standards. Saudi Arabia has undergone several reforms in governance and standards of internal controls are changing rapidly. This study aims to assess whether IFRS adoption has any moderator role in the relationship between disclosure quality and firm-specific characteristics in the Saudi Stock Market.

This study assesses whether IFRS adoption has any moderator role in the relationship between disclosure quality and firm-specific characteristics in the Saudi Stock Market. The key research hypotheses postulate that compared to IFRS status, after adoption, several independent variables influence the disclosure level. The analysis covers a local sample of 184 Saudi listed firms over the period 2016 to 2020. Using an in-depth content analysis technique, the voluntary disclosure and number of annual report pages are measured manually and year by year to capture levels and unique characteristics. The authors apply cross-sectional regression, first difference method, Pooled OLS and feasible general least square estimations. The mean of disclosure level increases from 33.03% in 2016 to 56.14% in 2020.

The results reveal that the vast majority of firm-specific characteristics were significant in pre-IFRS adoption period. First difference analysis shows a significant impact of firm size and non-executive composition on the disclosure level. The authors confirm that IFRS adoption plays a critical role in the quality of firms’ financial reports and supports to create a conducive economic environment in Saudi Arabia.

First, the implementation of IFRS adoption should impact the Saudi accounting information and disclosure quality in Saudi context markedly. Second, firm-specific characteristics align with corporate governance are the main determinants of accounting information and transparency; therefore, focusing on this angle enables regulators and policymakers to mitigate uncertainty and asymmetric information. Third, the findings of this research state that there is a negative relationship between disclosure quality and board meetings. This encourages policymakers to reconsider the number of board meetings in firms that was not as high as in the developed markets. Notwithstanding all previous implications, it is recommended that future research undertake a various quasi-experimental design such as a difference-in-difference approach to estimate the causal effect of corporate governance mechanisms on IFRS 7 mandatory disclosure requirements on in Saudi Arabia context.

There is a lack of studies on this realm and such as these studies will enrich the understanding of aspects of IFRS adoption and contribute to the prior empirical literature. Importantly, the extend of this sample into other Gulf Cooperation Council countries and exhibition the difference effect can be very useful to enrich the knowledge of IFRS adoption aspects in corporate disclosure and accounting information quality.

Saudi Arabia has undergone several reforms in governance, and their standards of internal controls are changing rapidly. This has been attributed to the importance of providing guidelines, practices and regulations for listed companies. One of the major turning points of financial reporting quality in Saudi listed firms was adoption of IFRSs. This adoption deems to be necessity in ensuring the highest level of transparency and information reliability. Based on the findings of this research, the present investigations set up a platform and furnish many implications for policymakers, companies’ board of directors, financial analysts and other related authorities. The results should provide policymakers with greater insight of the relationship between disclosure quality and corporate-specific characteristics throughout the IFRS adoption periods. Thus, the results derived from this study can be effective and useful for the IFRS adoption committee in the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA). According to the best of the authors’ knowledge and based on official secondary information sourced from the SOCPA website, there are several standards that are subject to difficulties in measurement and are modified from time to time, such as: IFRS1, IFRS8, IFRS12, IFRS16 and IFRS18.

Based on institutional theory, this paper aims to examine whether, and if so which, institutional forces influence the quality of China’s listed financial institutions’ (FIs) sustainability disclosures.

Using univariate statistical and multiple regression analyses, this study quantitatively examines the impacts of coercive pressure from the government and stock exchanges, imitation within subsectors and normative pressure from industry associations and regulators on the quality of China’s listed FIs’ sustainability disclosures. Assessment of the robustness of regression results uses panel random-effects and generalized methods of moments estimation.

Financial sector corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure quality did not increase dramatically following issue of the “Guiding Opinions on Establishing a Green Finance System.” However, a convergence in quality is found over time. State ownership concentration and state links to dominant shareholders negatively impact the quality of financial sector sustainability disclosures, whereas stock exchange index listing requirements and industry association reporting guidance have positive influences.

First, data availability limits the sample to listed financial firms with RKS quality scores. Thus, results may not be generalizable to the broader listed and unlisted financial sector. Second, this study only examines the influence of external forces based on institutional theory. However, internal institutional forces, such as corporate governance, may require examination. This study’s results indicate that coercive pressure, as represented by issue of the “Green Finance” policy, has not yet prompted the financial sector to improve reporting quality; however, normative pressure has had significant influence in influencing FIs’ CSR practices, with China’s banks potentially taking a leading role.

The financial sector has a lower direct environmental impact than traditional polluting industries and different operating and reporting structures, features often used to argue for its exclusion in prior studies. However, its indirect environmental impact via lending and investing activities is significant, suggesting evidence on the determinants of sustainability disclosure quality is required. This study uses evidence from China’s financial sector to reduce this gap in the literature.

This study aims to investigate the moderating effect of the COVID-19 epidemic on the relationship between key audit matter (KAM) and auditing quality.

The authors use the ordinary least squares regression on data from 942 firm-year observations of Jordanian non-financial institutions across the period (2017–2022) to test the hypotheses. The authors use content analysis method to measure levels of KAM disclosure.

The investigation’s findings highlight the importance of KAM disclosure in achieving audit quality in line with international standard on auditing no. 701 (ISA-701) requirements. COVID-19 is also found to have a positive relationship with audit quality, further confirming the crisis’s devastating impact on audit complexity and risks and providing evidence for the need for supplementary, high-quality audit services. Due to the correlation between KAM disclosure and increased auditor workload and responsibility, the analysis reveals that the COVID-19 factor strengthens the link between KAM disclosure and audit quality.

This study has the potential to be used as a basis for the creation of a new regulation or standard regarding the reporting of unfavourable events in financial filings. This study’s findings provide standard-setters, regulators and policymakers with current empirical data on the effects of implementing ISA-701’s mandate for external auditors to provide more information on KAM. The COVID-19 crisis offers a suitable setting in which to examine the value of precautionary disclosures in times of economic uncertainty, as well as the significance of confidence interval disclosures and the role of external auditing in calming investor fears. This analysis is helpful for stakeholders, regulatory agencies, standard-setters and readers of audit reports who are curious about the current state of KAM disclosures and the implementation of ISA-701. The results may have ramifications for academia in the form of a call for more evidence expanding this data to other burgeoning fields to have a clear explanation of the real impact of reporting KAM on audit practices.

To the authors’ awareness, this research is one of the few empirical studies on the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on auditing procedures, and more specifically, the effect of disclosures on KAM by external auditors on audit quality. This study’s findings represent preliminary scientific evidence linking the pandemic to business performance. Minimal research has been done on how auditors in developing nations react to pandemic investor protection and how auditors’ enlarged reporting responsibilities affect them. The vast majority of auditing studies have been conducted in a highly regulated system, so this research contributes by examining audit behaviour in a weak legal context.

This study aims to investigate the quality of disclosure of a cutting-edge reporting tool – integrated reporting (<IR>) – in terms of its effectiveness to report on COVID-19 pandemic information, its ability to provide forward-looking information and risk impact implications, and its quality determinants in challenging times.

Thanks to a content analysis of 247 <IR> for FY20, an integrated reporting disclosure score was developed to assess the disclosure quality provided by the sampled companies. Three research questions were tested through logistic regressions.

Non-financial disclosure activities struggle to provide adequate information in terms of potential future scenarios, risk assessment and forward-looking analyses. However, companies incorporated in “Anglo-Saxon” territories drafted integrated reports of higher quality. More recently, incorporated companies have made a greater effort to measure and report COVID-19 pandemic impacts on environmental, social and governance and business activities, also increasing their risk assessment and mitigation efforts. Concerning the determinants of disclosure quality, leverage, corporate governance structures, country of incorporation and belonging to “high impact” industries all lead to a higher quality of <IR> disclosure.

Examining in detail corporate social responsibility activities and corporate governance integrity is pivotal to orienting strategy towards sustainable trajectories: to do so, corporate reporting and disclosure practices are essential tools. In this context, corporate governance systems that emphasize board diversity are proven, even in disruptive circumstances, to play a crucial role in providing corporate reports of higher quality. High disclosure quality that goes beyond mere financial results is considered to be necessary to remain competitive strategically, socially and environmentally.

This study investigates whether the disclosure of derivatives is value relevant in emerging markets and evaluates the effects of the 2008/2009 global financial crisis on the value relevance of derivative disclosures.

Panel regression models using sub-samples and a crisis interaction term were applied to a sample of the 200 largest non-financial firms by market capitalization listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) from 2005 to 2017 to assess the consequences of the financial crisis.

The results suggest that the disclosure of derivatives is value relevant in the hitherto understudied context of emerging markets. The 2008/2009 financial crisis had a significant impact on derivatives use and the value relevance of derivatives disclosure by JSE-listed companies.

Companies should reconsider both how they employ derivatives as part of their risk management practices and how they communicate derivatives use to stakeholders in the financial statements. The findings facilitate a comparative analysis across various market contexts by researchers and assist investors in better decision-making. The findings can influence regulatory practices and can help standard setters to review disclosure requirements.

The benefits of corporate hedging were studied from an emerging market perspective, using an original dataset and approach to investigate the effects of international financial volatility on emerging markets. The authors tested whether companies are valued differently, based on their disclosure of the use of derivatives in the financial statements, and the effect of the financial crisis on the value relevance derivatives disclosures.

With the worsening of corporate fraud and consequential loss, the growing importance of truthful disclosure is globally advocated. This study aims to examine corporate governance’s role in accountants’ intention to disclose fraudulent practices honestly. At the same time, this study examines intergender differences concerning the formation of the disclosure intention.

Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), data from 256 accountants working in China have been collected via an online survey. This data is subsequently analyzed with the partial least square (PLS) structural equation modeling method.

The results revealed that integrity and corporate governance significantly positively affect employees’ attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control toward disclosure intention. At the same time, it shows that only subjective norm and perceived behavioral control established a significant positive relationship with disclosure intention. It also shows that males display higher attitudes and perceived behavioral control in developing the intention.

This study helps understand accountants’ disclosure intention of fraud practices, especially during shock events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to extend the TPB incorporating corporate governance and integrity as antecedents to disclosure intention. At the same time, this study contributes to the existing literature by being the first attempt to investigate intergender differences. Finally, it advances the body of knowledge on employees’ behavior and contributes methodologically by introducing the PLS approach.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on almost all sectors, but the airline industry has been globally most affected. Although recent years have witnessed an increase in attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, the disclosure within the airline sector has been historically limited. This paper aims to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social and environmental reporting and financial performance of airlines operating in the UK.

The paper applies content, textual and financial analysis to 16 company-year observations covering two fiscal years, 2018 and 2020, of eight airlines operating in the UK. A coding structure is based on the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. NVivo is used for textual comparative analysis.

The research reveals that social disclosures exceeded environmental disclosures in the period before and during COVID-19. However, the pandemic has shown a significant increase in environmental rather than social disclosures. The study evidences the dominating themes of social and environmental disclosure, showing changes between 2018 and 2020. The study finds the extent of negative impact of COVID-19 on airlines’ financial performance. A period of crisis prompts companies to release more information, with a positive correlation between higher debt levels and increased disclosure.

The findings complement the emerging empirical evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on CSR reporting and demonstrate how challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis affect the disclosure practices in the airline industry.