Direct and mediated associations among responsible investors, integrated report quality and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance

dc.contributor.advisorVenter, Elmar Retief
dc.contributor.coadvisorDe Villiers, C.
dc.contributor.emailsmitannaretha@gmail.comen_US
dc.contributor.postgraduateSmit, Anna-Retha
dc.date.accessioned2025-02-12T10:47:06Z
dc.date.available2025-02-12T10:47:06Z
dc.date.created2025-05-22
dc.date.issued2024-10-15
dc.descriptionThesis (PhD (Accounting Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2024.en_US
dc.description.abstractThis 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.availabilityUnrestricteden_US
dc.description.degreePhD (Accounting Sciences)en_US
dc.description.departmentAccountingen_US
dc.description.facultyFaculty of Economic And Management Sciencesen_US
dc.description.sdgNoneen_US
dc.identifier.citation*en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.28326752en_US
dc.identifier.otherA2025en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/100774
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity 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.subjectUCTDen_US
dc.subjectESG performanceen_US
dc.subjectIntegrated report qualityen_US
dc.subjectMediation analysisen_US
dc.subjectPRI signatoriesen_US
dc.subjectResponsible investorsen_US
dc.titleDirect and mediated associations among responsible investors, integrated report quality and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performanceen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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