The Role of Integrated Reporting Quality and Sustainability Governance in Stakeholder Value Creation

Abstract

Integrated reporting (IR) drives firms to concentrate on creating value in the longer term, directing them to have a more inclusive and convincing management-driven approach to value creation. Earlier evidence indicates that 79% of the IR adopters realized an enhancement in their board's understanding of value creation. Whilst many studies on IR adoption, issues on IR quality (IRQ) have been neglected. The role of IRQ is crucial as it reflects corporate accountability and transparency. Hence, firms with high IRQ may create high stakeholder value. However, the extent to which IRQ contributes to value creation is less established, and prior studies rarely assess the role of IRQ in stakeholder value creation (SVC). Thus, the present study aims to fill this gap. As not all stakeholders are interested in short-term measures, firms might establish the key driving force, such as a sustainability committee, to materialize the sustainability agenda. Hence, this study examines the moderating role of sustainability governance (SG) of 238 listed companies that adopted IR between 2018 and 2020. The result indicates a significant and positive relationship between IRQ and SVC. Additional analysis showed that IRQ is significantly and positively associated with return on assets and non-financial value creation. However, the analysis revealed that SG did not reinforce the positive impact of IRQ on SVC. This paper highlights the importance of discharging high-quality IR to the investors and other stakeholders to communicate the firms' relevant issues, competencies, strategies, and prospects that underpin the firm's ability to deliver value. The results may shed some light on the SG's role in managing the sustainability agenda that influence the creation of valuable outcomes for the stakeholders. Regulators, practitioners, firms, and scholars might be interested in the discovered findings and the proposed SVC index.

Keywords: Integrated reporting; integrated reporting quality; value creation; stakeholder value; sustainability governance