Arezoo Ghafari; Meysam Arabzadeh; Mehdi Safari Gerayli; Hosein Jabbary; Yasser Rezaei Pitenoei
Abstract
Corporate integrity is considered as part of the company's development strategies, which in the long run can lead to the increased firms' financial transparency to stakeholders. The purpose of our study is to present a corporate integrity model and, then to investigate its effect on firms' information ...
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Corporate integrity is considered as part of the company's development strategies, which in the long run can lead to the increased firms' financial transparency to stakeholders. The purpose of our study is to present a corporate integrity model and, then to investigate its effect on firms' information asymmetry. In this study, to measure the corporate integrity, we use Meta-synthesis and Delphi analysis in the qualitative part. Then, in the quantitative section, the corporate integrity questionnaires were sent to the managers of the sample firms. Subsequently, a total of 138 questionnaires were completed and sent back, which were used as the final samples for analysis. In addition, information asymmetry is measured using the three different proxies, namely bid-ask spread, turnover, and Amihud illiquidity measure. Our findings show a significant and negative effect of corporate integrity on information asymmetry. This results suggest that corporate integrity, by promoting behavioral values based on truthfulness and commitment, the structures will enhance the corporate governance mechanisms and, thereby, firstly motivate the managers to reduce the agency gap and, secondly, implement a more effective level of the supervisions on the firm's performances in front of the stakeholders by accelerating the circulation of information and giving timely and reliable feedback to the stakeholders. This is the first study that presents a corporate integrity model through qualitative analysis and then, investigates the effect of corporate integrity on firms' information asymmetry. Therefore, our study can contribute to the extant literature of this context.
Habib Esmaeilzadeh; Hasan Ghodrati; Hossein Jabbari; Meysam Arabzadeh
Abstract
Sustainability reporting is an important tool for decreasing information asymmetry, according to the stakeholders' demands for transparency. On the other hand, increasing transparency allows investors to have more appropriate evaluations of firms' activities and direct their investments to companies ...
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Sustainability reporting is an important tool for decreasing information asymmetry, according to the stakeholders' demands for transparency. On the other hand, increasing transparency allows investors to have more appropriate evaluations of firms' activities and direct their investments to companies with more enthusiasm. In the organizational context, information asymmetry creates conflict between owners and managers. Managers tend to reduce the gap between themselves and stakeholders, particularly shareholders, by producing and delivering reports. Companies use sustainability reports to connect with their society and environment, as well as a way to manage interactions with various stakeholders for societal approval and activity continuation. The primary purpose of this study is to provide a model for measuring the quality of sustainability reporting and the determinants. In terms of methodology, the current study is qualitative, deductive, cross-sectional, applied, and exploratory. The criteria were identified and extracted, then evaluated and prioritized using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making approaches including Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory Analytic Network Process-based. The FAHP test revealed that of the six indicators, the GRI's reporting guidelines for sustainability Checklist were placed highest. Internal Controls Reporting, Sustainability Innovation Performance, and Earnings Quality rated first to third, respectively, among the 25 criteria affecting the quality of sustainability reporting, according to the FDANP.