Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
C. Deegan, Michaela Rankin (1996)
Do Australian companies report environmental news objectively?: An analysis of environmental disclosures by firms prosecuted successfully by the Environmental Protection AuthorityAccounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 9
Jeffrey Cohen, Lori Holder-Webb, Leda Nath, David Wood (2011)
Corporate Reporting of Non-Financial Leading Indicators of Economic Performance and SustainabilityManagerial Accounting eJournal
G. O’Donovan (1999)
Managing legitimacy through increased corporate environmental reporting: an exploratory studyInterdisciplinary Environmental Review, 1
Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, 34
J. Owens, E. Hawkins (2018)
Using Online Labor Market Participants for Nonprofessional Investor Research: A Comparison of MTurk and Qualtrics SamplesBehavioral & Experimental Finance eJournal
Ryan Casey, Jonathan Grenier (2015)
Understanding and Contributing to the Enigma of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Assurance in the United StatesAuditing-a Journal of Practice & Theory, 34
R. Simnett, A. Vanstraelen, W. Chua (2007)
Assurance on Sustainability Reports: An International ComparisonUNSW: Accounting (Topic)
Update on the US: trends in external assurance of sustainability reports
S. Hughes, A. Anderson, S. Golden (2001)
Corporate environmental disclosures: are they useful in determining environmental performance?Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 20
Emissions j indicators
C. Adams (2004)
The ethical, social and environmental reporting‐performance portrayal gapAccounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 17
Count me in: the readers' take on sustainability reporting
Gary Pflugrath, P. Roebuck, R. Simnett (2011)
Impact of Assurance and Assurer's Professional Affiliation on Financial Analysts' Assessment of Credibility of Corporate Social Responsibility InformationAuditing-a Journal of Practice & Theory, 30
Brendan O’Dwyer, D. Owen (2005)
Assurance Statement Practice in Environmental, Social and Sustainability Reporting: A Critical EvaluationBritish Accounting Review, 37
Kristina Rennekamp (2012)
Processing Fluency and Investors’ Reactions to Disclosure ReadabilityCSN: Business (Topic)
G. Peters, Andrea Romi (2013)
The Association between Sustainability Governance Characteristics and the Assurance of Corporate Sustainability ReportsERN: Governance & Ownership (Topic)
N. Hunt, Andrea Scheetz (2019)
Using MTurk to Distribute a Survey or Experiment: Methodological ConsiderationsJ. Inf. Syst., 33
(2013)
G4 Sustainability reporting guidelines
A. Kelton, Uday Murthy (2016)
The Effects of Information Disaggregation and Financial Statement Interactivity on Judgments and Decisions of Nonprofessional InvestorsJ. Inf. Syst., 30
Peter Schelluch, Grant Gay (2006)
Assurance Provided by Auditors Reports on Prospective Financial Information: Implications for the Expectation GapCorporate Finance: Governance
Molly Mercer (2004)
How Do Investors Assess the Credibility of Management DisclosuresAccounting Horizons, 18
Julia Lackmann, J. Ernstberger, M. Stich (2012)
Market Reactions to Increased Reliability of Sustainability InformationJournal of Business Ethics, 107
A. Beyer, D. Cohen, Thomas Lys, Beverly Walther (2010)
The Financial Reporting Environment: Review of the Recent LiteratureCapital Markets: Market Efficiency
Sarah Bonner, Shana Clor-Proell, Lisa Koonce (2014)
Mental Accounting and Disaggregation Based on the Sign and Relative Magnitude of Income Statement ItemsThe Accounting Review, 89
Charles Cho, Giovanna Michelon, Dennis Patten, R. Roberts (2014)
CSR report assurance in the USA: an empirical investigation of determinants and effectsSustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 5
Wendy Green, Shangsi Zhou (2013)
An International Examination of Assurance Practices on Carbon Emissions DisclosuresAustralian Accounting Review, 23
Maia Farkas, Uday Murthy (2014)
Nonprofessional investors' perceptions of the incremental value of continuous auditing and continuous controls monitoring: An experimental investigationInt. J. Account. Inf. Syst., 15
O. Boiral (2013)
Sustainability reports as simulacra? A counter-account of A and A+ GRI reportsAccounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 26
(2015)
The KPMG survey of corporate responsibility reporting
Journal of Accounting and Economics, 61
Patrick Martin, Donald Moser (2014)
Managers’ Green Investment Disclosures and Investors’ ReactionCorporate Finance: Governance
Wendy Green, Qixing Li (2011)
Evidence of an expectation gap for greenhouse gas emissions assuranceAccounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 25
Michael Ozlanski (2013)
Effects of Principles vs. Rules Based Accounting Standards and Increased Audit Reporting on Investors' Perceptions of Management's Reporting Credibility
P. Perego, A. Kolk (2012)
Multinationals’ Accountability on Sustainability: The Evolution of Third-party Assurance of Sustainability ReportsJournal of Business Ethics, 110
Anis Triki, V. Arnold, S. Sutton (2015)
Too Good to be True! The Bifurcated Effect of Strong Tone in Management Disclosures on Investors’ Decisions, 18
Andrew Flanagin, Miriam Metzger (2000)
Perceptions of Internet Information CredibilityJournalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 77
O. Boiral, Y. Gendron (2011)
Sustainable Development and Certification Practices: Lessons Learned and ProspectsBusiness Strategy and The Environment, 20
Charles Cho, M. Freedman, Dennis Patten (2009)
Corporate disclosure of environmental capital expenditures: A test of alternative theoriesAccounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 25
A. Richardson (2015)
Nonparametric Statistics: A Step-by-Step ApproachInternational Statistical Review, 83
Giovanna Michelon, Silvia Pilonato, Federica Ricceri (2015)
CSR reporting practices and the quality of disclosure: An empirical analysisCritical Perspectives on Accounting, 33
Kristy Hodge, N. Subramaniam, J. Stewart (2009)
Assurance of Sustainability Reports: Impact on Report Users' Confidence and Perceptions of Information CredibilityAustralian Accounting Review, 19
R. Junior, P. Best, Julie Cotter (2014)
Sustainability Reporting and Assurance: A Historical Analysis on a World-Wide PhenomenonJournal of Business Ethics, 120
Lori Holder-Webb, Jeffrey Cohen, Leda Nath, David Wood (2009)
The Supply of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures Among U.S. FirmsJournal of Business Ethics, 84
Revised): assurance engagements other than audits or reviews of historical financial information
(2012)
PwC acquires environmental consulting group virdis
Aicpa (2018)
Codification of Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements
J. Morgan (2005)
Design and Analysis: A Researcher's HandbookTechnometrics, 47
Peter Schelluch, Annette Baines (1998)
Perceptions of messages conveyed by review and audit reportsAccounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 11
N. Fargher, Audrey Gramling (2003)
The influence of attestation on users' perceptions of assertion credibility in the asset management industryInternational Journal of Auditing, 7
(2017)
Attestation Engagements on Sustainability Information Guide (Including Greenhouse Gas Emissions Information
P. Williams (2016)
The Relation Between a Prior Earnings Forecast by Management and Analyst Response to a Current Management Forecast
C. Deegan, Benedict Gordon (1996)
A Study of the Environmental Disclosure Practices of Australian CorporationsAccounting and Business Research, 26
M. McNichols, K. Schipper, T. Stober, P. Wilson (2016)
Evidence of Informational Asymmetries from Management Earnings Forecasts and Stock Returns
Journal of Accounting Research, 41
(2014a)
About sustainability reporting
(1983)
Discretionary disclosure
Journal of Information Systems, 33
W. Brooke, Elliott Kevin, E. Jackson, Mark Peecher, Brian White, Joy Begley, Gary Biddle, B. Bratten, Monika Causholi, Matthew DeAngelis, Jonathan Grenier, Max Hewitt, Steve Glover, E. Hamilton, F. Hodge, Jane Kennedy, Marsha Keune, Todd Kravet, Ken Lo, Russell Lundholm, Linda Mcdaniel, Linda Quick, R. Ramsay, Shivaram Rajgopal, Kristina Rennekamp, D. Shores, Scott Vandervelde, Carolyn Westfall, Jennifer Winchel, D. Ziebart, Aaron Zimbelman, Billy Brewster, Tracy Henn, Yoon Kang, Jajah Wu, Donald Moser (2014)
The Unintended Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility Performance on Investors' Estimates of Fundamental ValueThe Accounting Review, 89
William Kinney (1999)
Information Quality Assurance and Internal Control for Management Decision Making
Shuping Chen, Dawn Matsumoto, Shivaram Rajgopal (2005)
Is silence golden? An empirical analysis of firms that stop giving quarterly earnings guidanceJournal of Accounting and Economics, 51
P. Coram, G. Monroe, D. Woodliff (2009)
The value of assurance on voluntary nonfinancial disclosure : an experimental evaluationEar and Hearing, 28
Charles Cho, M. Laine, R. Roberts, Michelle Rodrigue (2015)
Organized hypocrisy, organizational façades, and sustainability reportingAccounting Organizations and Society, 40
A. Eagly, W. Wood, S. Chaiken (1978)
Causal inferences about communicators and their effect on opinion changeJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36
Kristina Rennekamp (2012)
Processing Fluency and Investors’ Reactions to Disclosure Readability: disclosure readability and investors’ reactionsJournal of Accounting Research, 50
(2013)
International Standards on Assurance Engagements 3000 (Revised): assurance engagements other than audits or reviews of historical financial information
Amy Hutton, Gregory Miller, Douglas Skinner (2003)
The Role of Supplementary Statements with Management Earnings ForecastsSPGMI: Compustat Fundamentals (Topic)
(1991)
Design and Analysis: A Researcher’s Handbook, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Philipp Schreck (2013)
Nonfinancial Disclosure and Analyst Forecast Accuracy: International Evidence on Corporate Social Responsibility DisclosureSocial and Environmental Accountability Journal, 33
Brian Ballou, Ryan Casey, Jonathan Grenier, Dan Heitger (2011)
Exploring the Strategic Integration of Sustainability Initiatives: Opportunities for Accounting ResearchAccounting
K. Low, E. Boo (2012)
Do Contrasting Statements Improve Users' Understanding of Different Assurance Levels Conveyed in Assurance Reports?Behavioral & Experimental Accounting eJournal
Jeffrey Cohen, R. Simnett (2014)
CSR and Assurance Services: A Research AgendaOrganizational Behavior & Key Stakeholders eJournal
Journal of Accounting and Economics, 50
R. Simnett, M. Nugent (2007)
Developing an Assurance Standard for Carbon Emissions DisclosuresAustralian Accounting Review, 17
P. Slovic, D. MacPhillamy (1974)
Dimensional Commensurability and Cue Utilization in Comparative Judgment.Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 11
Géraldine Rivière-Giordano, Sophie Giordano-Spring, Charles Cho (2018)
Does the level of assurance statement on environmental disclosure affect investor assessment?Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal
Jared Eutsler, Bradley Lang (2015)
Rating Scales in Accounting Research: The Impact of Scale Points and LabelsResearch Methods & Methodology in Accounting eJournal
R. Birkey, Giovanna Michelon, Dennis Patten, Jomo Sankara (2016)
Does assurance on CSR reporting enhance environmental reputation? An examination in the U.S. contextAccounting Forum, 40
(2013)
Exposure Draft -Proposed Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements
Accounting, Organizations and Society, 29
M. Lipe, Steven Salterio (2000)
The Balanced Scorecard: Judgmental Effects of Common and Unique Performance MeasuresThe Accounting Review, 75
(2014)
Balancing good news and bad news in sustainability reporting
D. Constantin, Sorinel Căpușneanu, D. Topor, E. Grigore, A. Tișcovschi, E. Bogan (2021)
Sustainability ReportingSustainability Reporting, Ethics, and Strategic Management Strategies for Modern Organizations
Charles Cho, Charles Cho, Dennis Patten (2007)
The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research noteAccounting Organizations and Society, 32
Robyn Moroney, C. Windsor, Yong Aw (2012)
Evidence of Assurance Enhancing the Quality of Voluntary Environmental Disclosures: An Empirical AnalysisSRPN: Corporate Reporting (Topic)
(2010)
Deloitte boosts green cred with purchase of ClearCarbon, domani
D. Talbot, O. Boiral (2018)
GHG Reporting and Impression Management: An Assessment of Sustainability Reports from the Energy SectorJournal of Business Ethics, 147
D. Reimsbach, Rüdiger Hahn, A. Gürtürk (2018)
Integrated Reporting and Assurance of Sustainability Information: An Experimental Study on Professional Investors’ Information ProcessingEuropean Accounting Review, 27
Statements on standards for attestation engagements No
(2013)
Effects of Principles vs. Rules Based Accounting Standards and Expanded Auditor Reporting on Investors
Charles Cho, R. Roberts, Dennis Patten (2010)
The language of US corporate environmental disclosureAccounting Organizations and Society, 35
R. Wong, A. Millington (2014)
Corporate social disclosures: a user perspective on assuranceAccounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 27
Donald Moser, Patrick Martin (2012)
A Broader Perspective on Corporate Social Responsibility Research in AccountingThe Accounting Review, 87
(2000)
Information Quality Assurance and Internal Control, Irwin/McGraw-Hill, Burr Ridge, IL
Appendix: Excerpts of experimental materials A. Management's presentation and description of greenhouse gas emission performance-Positive performance condition Below
Sulaiman Al-Tuwaijri, Theodore Christensen, K. Hughes (2003)
The Relations Among Environmental Disclosure, Environmental Performance, and Economic Performance: A Simultaneous Equations ApproachFinancial Accounting
Amalia Sindy (2017)
LUAS PENGUNGKAPAN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DALAM SUSTAINABILITY REPORT BERDASARKAN GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIVE (GRI) G4 (STUDI KASUS PADA PT ANEKA TAMBANG TBK TAHUN 2013-2015), 5
(2014)
Executive perspective: corporate sustainability reporting, where the world is today
Charles Cho, Giovanna Michelon, Dennis Patten, Robin Roberts (2015)
CSR disclosure: the more things change…?Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 28
A. Farrell, Jonathan Grenier, J. Leiby (2017)
Scoundrels or Stars? Theory and Evidence on the Quality of Workers in Online Labor MarketsThe Accounting Review, 92
The Accounting Review, 87
(2014)
Mental accounting and disaggregation based on the sign and relative magnitude of income items
Mahreen Hasan, P. Roebuck, R. Simnett (2003)
An Investigation of Alternative Report Formats for Communicating Moderate Levels of AssuranceEar and Hearing, 22
Lois Mahoney, L. Thorne, Lianna Cecil, William LaGore (2013)
A research note on standalone corporate social responsibility reports: Signaling or greenwashing?Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 24
This study empirically examines perceptions of environmental report believability based on a firm's relative performance and level of assurance obtained on environmental activities under the recently clarified and recodified attestation standards in the United States.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a 2 × 3 between-subjects experiment to identify differences in 153 non-expert environmental report users' perceptions of report believability based on positive or negative firm performance and (level of) assurance provided by an accounting firm.FindingsResults show a main effect in that negative performance reports are perceived to be more believable than positive performance reports, as driven by negative performance reports being significantly more believable when no assurance is present. The firm performance effect is eliminated once limited or reasonable assurance is provided. Further, positive performance reports with limited, but not reasonable, assurance are perceived to be more believable than reports without assurance. No differences are identified within the negative performance condition.Practical implicationsLimited assurance might be used as an impression management tool to enhance the believability of positive performance environmental reports. Users, practitioners, and standard-setters should also be aware that users might believe environmental reports are assured, even when no such assurance has been provided.Originality/valueThis paper examines the impact of assured environmental reporting on users that review firms' environmental reports outside of a shareholder/investor role. The study also demonstrates conditions in which firm performance and assurance impact perceptions of report believability.
Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal – Emerald Publishing
Published: Apr 17, 2020
Keywords: Environmental CSR reports; Attestation; Reasonable assurance; Limited assurance
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.