Direct and mediated associations among responsible investors, integrated report quality and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance
dc.contributor.advisor | Venter, Elmar Retief | |
dc.contributor.coadvisor | De Villiers, C. | |
dc.contributor.email | smitannaretha@gmail.com | en_US |
dc.contributor.postgraduate | Smit, Anna-Retha | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2025-02-12T10:47:06Z | |
dc.date.available | 2025-02-12T10:47:06Z | |
dc.date.created | 2025-05-22 | |
dc.date.issued | 2024-10-15 | |
dc.description | Thesis (PhD (Accounting Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2024. | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | This study examines the direct and mediated associations among responsible investors, integrated report quality, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. Investors who sign the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) commit to incorporate information regarding investees’ ESG performance into their investment decisions. The disclosure of ESG performance in firms’ integrated reports may be useful to responsible investors in executing their commitment. My study is based on a sample of large, listed firms in South Africa, where integrated reporting is mandatory and responsible investment is encouraged. I find (1) a significant positive association between responsible investors in the current year and integrated report quality in the following year (the total effect), (2) a positive and significant association between responsible investors and ESG performance, which is largely attributable to the environmental component of ESG, and (3) a positive and significant association between ESG performance and integrated report quality – this association also holds for the environmental and social components of ESG, but not the governance component. Furthermore, I find evidence that the total effect between responsible investors in the current year and integrated report quality in the following year consists of a significant indirect-only mediation in the case of environmental performance and a direct-only non-mediation in the case of ESG, social, and governance performance. My study contributes to the literature on responsible investors, ESG performance, and integrated reporting and may be of interest to the PRI and sustainability reporting standard setters. | en_US |
dc.description.availability | Unrestricted | en_US |
dc.description.degree | PhD (Accounting Sciences) | en_US |
dc.description.department | Accounting | en_US |
dc.description.faculty | Faculty of Economic And Management Sciences | en_US |
dc.description.sdg | None | en_US |
dc.identifier.citation | * | en_US |
dc.identifier.doi | https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.28326752 | en_US |
dc.identifier.other | A2025 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/100774 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.publisher | University of Pretoria | |
dc.rights | © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. | |
dc.subject | UCTD | en_US |
dc.subject | ESG performance | en_US |
dc.subject | Integrated report quality | en_US |
dc.subject | Mediation analysis | en_US |
dc.subject | PRI signatories | en_US |
dc.subject | Responsible investors | en_US |
dc.title | Direct and mediated associations among responsible investors, integrated report quality and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance | en_US |
dc.type | Thesis | en_US |