2004; Hooks and Staden 2011). Based on the previously
mentioned inspiring researches, this variable is measured as
a value of 1 is to be assigned in case the corporate sustainability report is assured by a third party, and a value of 0
is to be assigned when no assurance is implemented. Consequently, this variable is a Discrete Categorical variable as
it is measured in two integers of 0 and 1 and the difference
between these integers does not represent an equal measurement scale. This variable is also called a Dichotomous
(Binary) variable as it is reported as a choice between only
two options.
Control Variables:
Company Size (TOA) This variable is defined as the company size in terms of the company owned “Total Assets” at
the end of each relevant year so that it is a Continuous
variable. Company Size has been employed as a control
variable by several researches that studied the assessment of
the corporate SR (Nobanee and Ellili 2016; Latridis 2013;
Lanis and Richardson 2013; Brown and Hillegeist 2007).
Net Profitability (ROA) This variable is defined as the ratio
(percentage) between “Net Profit” for each relevant year and
the appropriate “Total Assets” at that year-end. With that, it
is a Continuous, Scale variable; as it is measured in a percentage that can be accurately measured with any monetary
value and the difference between any of these values represent an equal measurement scale (Latridis 2013; Lanis and
Richardson 2013).
The following Multiple, OLR Model is used to
estimate/predict the variation in the QSR because of the
ASR:
QSR = a + b1ASR + b2TOA + b3ROA
where,
QSR is the Quality of Sustainability Reporting that represents the Dependent variable.
ASR is the Assurance of the Report that represents the
Independent variable
TOA is the Total Assets that represents the first Control
Variable.
ROA is the Return On Assets that represents the second
Control Variable.
Data Sources and Acquisition:
Based on the previous explanation, it is concluded that the
research is primarily quantitative. The research extracted its
data from five main sources. First, the companies chosen to
represent the research sample are determined based on the
“Fortune.com” database. According to “Fortune.com,” the
database ranks the top companies and executives worldwide
each year. Out of the “Global 500” companies, the research
chose the first 100 companies, “Global 100 (G100),” to be
its operational sample. The G100 are currently employing 67
million people across 33 countries worldwide. There are two
reasons for choosing the G100 companies to represent the
research sample, as follows. The first reason is that these
G100 fit the research objective as 95% of them provide
sustainability disclosures. The second reason is that they
spread worldwide, which gives applicability for the results in
various environments and economic situations. In addition, a
significant number of companies (39%) has Egyptian branches or at least having operations in Egypt, my origin
country, for which research benefits should be assured
(Comyns et al. 2013). Second, the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) database “globalreporting.org” is used as the
reference for getting the data for the guidelines and regulations of the corporate SR. The GRI database comprises the
most globally accepted and used SR guidelines in addition to
comprising companies’ sustainability reports (Farneti and
Guthrie 2009; Latridis 2013; Roca and Searcy 2012; Lozano
2013; Hubbard 2011; Wijk and Persoon 2006;
Fernandez-Feijoo et al. 2016; Hooks and Staden 2011;
http://www.globalreporting.org). Third, the Corporate
Register database “CorporateRegister.com” is considered as
the largest repository for sustainability reports worldwide.
Thus, data about the sustainability reports of the G100
companies is collected from this database. The Corporate
Register is an independent international organization that
profiles the largest number of Corporate Responsibility
(CR) reports for organizations worldwide. The database
includes more than 78,661 reports, which are increasing by
time, of organizations working in all sectors, from across
13,488
countries
(http://www.corporateregister.com/).
Fourth, the individual companies’ websites, which are
accessed as needed to get sustainability reports of the G100
companies. The companies’ websites also include information about each organization, especially the organization’s
profile and its strategic plans and objectives as in Roca and
Searcy (2012). Fifth, and most significantly, is the Bloomberg database. Bloomberg is an international database that
provides financial professional services, including financial
information, analyses, and news. As working in the economy for more than 30 years, the terminal has around 2800
financial ratios and data items that covers international and
US companies. Moreover, for the data to be included in the
terminal, it goes through a systemized verification process so
that ensuring its accuracy and integrity, thus financial
screening and analyses could be done based on dependable
data inputs. The financial analyses process is implemented
using a wide range of analytical tools, in addition to the
availability of more than 15,000 indexes (http://www.
bloomberg.com/). Quantitative data extracted from these
five sources are collected for five years, from 2011 to 2015
The Assurance of Sustainability Reporting …
193
mentioned inspiring researches, this variable is measured as
a value of 1 is to be assigned in case the corporate sustainability report is assured by a third party, and a value of 0
is to be assigned when no assurance is implemented. Consequently, this variable is a Discrete Categorical variable as
it is measured in two integers of 0 and 1 and the difference
between these integers does not represent an equal measurement scale. This variable is also called a Dichotomous
(Binary) variable as it is reported as a choice between only
two options.
Control Variables:
Company Size (TOA) This variable is defined as the company size in terms of the company owned “Total Assets” at
the end of each relevant year so that it is a Continuous
variable. Company Size has been employed as a control
variable by several researches that studied the assessment of
the corporate SR (Nobanee and Ellili 2016; Latridis 2013;
Lanis and Richardson 2013; Brown and Hillegeist 2007).
Net Profitability (ROA) This variable is defined as the ratio
(percentage) between “Net Profit” for each relevant year and
the appropriate “Total Assets” at that year-end. With that, it
is a Continuous, Scale variable; as it is measured in a percentage that can be accurately measured with any monetary
value and the difference between any of these values represent an equal measurement scale (Latridis 2013; Lanis and
Richardson 2013).
The following Multiple, OLR Model is used to
estimate/predict the variation in the QSR because of the
ASR:
QSR = a + b1ASR + b2TOA + b3ROA
where,
QSR is the Quality of Sustainability Reporting that represents the Dependent variable.
ASR is the Assurance of the Report that represents the
Independent variable
TOA is the Total Assets that represents the first Control
Variable.
ROA is the Return On Assets that represents the second
Control Variable.
Data Sources and Acquisition:
Based on the previous explanation, it is concluded that the
research is primarily quantitative. The research extracted its
data from five main sources. First, the companies chosen to
represent the research sample are determined based on the
“Fortune.com” database. According to “Fortune.com,” the
database ranks the top companies and executives worldwide
each year. Out of the “Global 500” companies, the research
chose the first 100 companies, “Global 100 (G100),” to be
its operational sample. The G100 are currently employing 67
million people across 33 countries worldwide. There are two
reasons for choosing the G100 companies to represent the
research sample, as follows. The first reason is that these
G100 fit the research objective as 95% of them provide
sustainability disclosures. The second reason is that they
spread worldwide, which gives applicability for the results in
various environments and economic situations. In addition, a
significant number of companies (39%) has Egyptian branches or at least having operations in Egypt, my origin
country, for which research benefits should be assured
(Comyns et al. 2013). Second, the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) database “globalreporting.org” is used as the
reference for getting the data for the guidelines and regulations of the corporate SR. The GRI database comprises the
most globally accepted and used SR guidelines in addition to
comprising companies’ sustainability reports (Farneti and
Guthrie 2009; Latridis 2013; Roca and Searcy 2012; Lozano
2013; Hubbard 2011; Wijk and Persoon 2006;
Fernandez-Feijoo et al. 2016; Hooks and Staden 2011;
http://www.globalreporting.org). Third, the Corporate
Register database “CorporateRegister.com” is considered as
the largest repository for sustainability reports worldwide.
Thus, data about the sustainability reports of the G100
companies is collected from this database. The Corporate
Register is an independent international organization that
profiles the largest number of Corporate Responsibility
(CR) reports for organizations worldwide. The database
includes more than 78,661 reports, which are increasing by
time, of organizations working in all sectors, from across
13,488
countries
(http://www.corporateregister.com/).
Fourth, the individual companies’ websites, which are
accessed as needed to get sustainability reports of the G100
companies. The companies’ websites also include information about each organization, especially the organization’s
profile and its strategic plans and objectives as in Roca and
Searcy (2012). Fifth, and most significantly, is the Bloomberg database. Bloomberg is an international database that
provides financial professional services, including financial
information, analyses, and news. As working in the economy for more than 30 years, the terminal has around 2800
financial ratios and data items that covers international and
US companies. Moreover, for the data to be included in the
terminal, it goes through a systemized verification process so
that ensuring its accuracy and integrity, thus financial
screening and analyses could be done based on dependable
data inputs. The financial analyses process is implemented
using a wide range of analytical tools, in addition to the
availability of more than 15,000 indexes (http://www.
bloomberg.com/). Quantitative data extracted from these
five sources are collected for five years, from 2011 to 2015
The Assurance of Sustainability Reporting …
193