Assurance of corporate social responsibility reports : impact on report users' perceptions of reliability
Hodge, Kristy, Subramaniam, Nava and Stewart, Jenny 2007, Assurance of corporate social responsibility reports : impact on report users' perceptions of reliability, in AFAANZ 2007 : Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand Annual Conference, AFAANZ, [Gold Coast, Qld.].
Attached Files
Name
Description
MIMEType
Size
Downloads
Title
Assurance of corporate social responsibility reports : impact on report users' perceptions of reliability
Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference
Total pages
44
Publisher
AFAANZ
Place of publication
[Gold Coast, Qld.]
Summary
This study examined whether (1) assurance, (2) the level of assurance (reasonable vs. limited), and (3) the type of assurance provider (accountant vs. specialist consultant) affect users’ perceptions of reliability of sustainability reports. Based on an experimental questionnaire, we find that the provision of assurance improves report users’ perceived reliability of the environmental and social information. There were no significant main effects between the two experimental factors; level of assurance and type of assurance provider, and report users’ perceptions of the reliability of sustainability reports. However, a significant interaction was found between the two experimental factors and report users’ perceptions of reliability of such reports. More specifically, report users placed more confidence in the sustainability reports where the level of assurance provided is reasonable (high), and when such assurance is provided by a top tier accountancy firm, rather than when the assurance is provided by a specialist consultant. No such difference was found when the level of assurance provided was limited (low) for either type of assurance provider group. The results of this study thus highlight the relevance of assurance for sustainability reporting.
Language
eng
Field of Research
150102 Auditing and Accountability 220102 Business Ethics
Socio Economic Objective
970122 Expanding Knowledge in Philosophy and Religious Studies
Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au.