 Sustainability reporting and assurance in Gulf Cooperation Council countries: what is missing?Abdulhadi H. Ramadan, Mahmoud Nassar, Mohammad Haroun Sharairi, Mohammed Hassan Makhlouf and Khalil Nimer International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2023, vol. 17, issue 4, 355-392 Abstract: This study explores the sustainability reporting (SR) and assurance market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region from the Big 4 auditors' perspectives and investigates the drivers and barriers of SR and assurance in the GCC region. We have interviewed ten representatives of auditing firms (i.e., members of Big 4) in the GCC region. The results of study reveal the immaturity of the SR and assurance market in the region but are hopeful for the future contingent upon certain factors. In addition, the voluntary nature of SR, the cost of reporting and assurance, and religious concerns among others are primary barriers in front of the eagerness of firms to adopt SR and its assurance. Reputation building and accessing international markets among others are the main motivations for the adoption of SR and assurance. The interviewees have firmly expressed that there is no direct relationship between SR assurance and financial report audit. Keywords: sustainability report; assurance; Gulf Cooperation Council; GCC; Big 4; interview. (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijbget:v:17:y:2023:i:4:p:355-392 Access Statistics for this article More articles in International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd |
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