Saggi su Rendicontazione Europea di Sostenibilità, Garanzia di Sostenibilità e Precisione della Previsione dell'Analista. Essays on European Sustainability Reporting, Sustainability Assurance and Analyst Forecast Accuracy

Abstract 1: This study examines the relationship between sustainability assurance and sustainability (i.e., environmental) disclosure quality in the context of European environmentally sensitive industries (ESIs). The investigation of how sustainability assurance affects sustainability disclosure has attracted interest among accounting scholars, but prior studies have resulted in inconclusive results. Our study offers an element of originality in focusing on the quality of the information reported and a novel measure that considers the materiality of information from the perspective of financial analysts. Utilising data from 226 public listed companies operating in 24 European countries from 2014 to 2017, we test the characteristics of the practice of sustainability assurance on sustainability disclosure quality. Our findings show that the presence of sustainability assurance, whether provided by accounting or consulting firms, is positively and significantly associated with sustainability disclosure quality. The level of assurance engagement seems to matter only when that level is limited: we do not document any association between disclosure quality and reasonable and mixed levels of assurance engagement. The commitment to assurance (assurance persistency and assurance age) is positively associated with disclosure quality. Taken together, our findings suggest that sustainability assurance enables firms to provide their sustainability information disclosure to the public more effectively. Abstract 2: Our study investigates the association between sustainability disclosure quality (environmentally-related information) and analyst forecast accuracy on a sample of 177 European listed companies’ belonging to Environmentally Sensitive Industries (ESIs). More in details, we test whether the sustainability assurance practice moderates the relationship between sustainability disclosure quality and analyst forecast accuracy (proxied by analyst forecast error). Results show a positive (negative) association between sustainability disclosure quality and analyst forecast accuracy (forecast error), and this positive association is stronger when the sustainability report is accompanied by an assurance statement. Thus, findings suggest that the disclosure of sustainability-related information to the public reduces the level of information asymmetry. Moreover, results suggest that the presence of an assurance statement may be considered by financial analysts as a signal that increases the credibility and reliability of sustainability-related information.