Empirical analysis of the effect of the joint provision of audit and sustainability assurance services on assurance quality Author links open overlay panel

[EN] Recent papers have investigated how assurance increases the credibility of, and confidence in, sustainability disclosure. However, there is debate about the quality of this process. As part of this debate, the authors examine, firstly, whether the provision of audit and sustainability assurance...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ruiz Barbadillo, Emiliano, Martínez Ferrero, Jennifer
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repositorio:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/158844
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/158844
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Assurance
Assurance providers
Knowledge spillover
Assurance provider independence
Industry specialization
5304.05 Seguros
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] Recent papers have investigated how assurance increases the credibility of, and confidence in, sustainability disclosure. However, there is debate about the quality of this process. As part of this debate, the authors examine, firstly, whether the provision of audit and sustainability assurance services by the same practitioner affects the quality of the assurance, focusing on a trade-off between the knowledge spillover effect and the economic dependence effect. Secondly, the authors also examine whether the industry specialization of the assurance provider could moderate the above relationship, reinforcing the knowledge spillover or reducing the economic dependence effects. Using international data from the period 2007e2016, evidence supports that the provision of audit and sustainability assurance services by an incumbent auditor produces knowledge spillover, leading to higher assurance quality. Results also find that industry specialization increases the provider’s knowledge of matters on which sustainability assurance is given and enhances the impact of joint provision on assurance quality. The analysis is further extended to explore this evidence in contexts characterized by higher agency costs, by a country’s greater stakeholder-orientation, a country’s greater rate of demand for assurance, and countries where assurance is non-mandatory.