The Impact of Romanian Internal Auditors in ESG Reporting and Sustainable Development Goals

Dana Simona Gherai (), Diana Claudia Sabău Popa, Luminița Rus, Diana Elisabeta Matica and Codruța Mare
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Dana Simona Gherai: Department Finance-Accounting, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Oradea, University no. 1, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Diana Claudia Sabău Popa: Department Finance-Accounting, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Oradea, University no. 1, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Luminița Rus: Department Finance-Accounting, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Oradea, University no. 1, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Diana Elisabeta Matica: Department Finance-Accounting, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Oradea, University no. 1, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Codruța Mare: Statistics-Forecasts-Mathematics, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University Babeș-Bolyai, Strada Teodor Mihali, Nr. 58-60 Campus FSEGA, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-20

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of an internal auditor’s activities in Romania, through their specific activities, on ESG reporting and sustainable development goals (SDGs). Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) are three criteria by which an organization’s operations are characterized as sustainable, responsible, or ethical. Even though, for business, the SDGs have been called “a 2030 purchase order for business and government action today”, the alignment between environmental, social, and governance performance and sustainable development goals helps practitioners in observing corporate contributions to sustainable growth. This research aims to identify whether internal auditors in Romania are able to contribute to ESG reporting and the achievement of the sustainable development goals through specific objective assurance and advisory activities. Using the questionnaire, the data were collected from professional accountants who carry out internal audit missions. The main findings confirm a strong and directly significant connection between the internal audit’s perception of the management’s view of the SDGs and how the entity can contribute to achieving the SDG objectives. The results also showed a direct and medium-intensity impact of the variables, capturing the important role of internal audits in ESG reporting. Our study showed that internal audits can help with reporting ESG and sustainable development objectives through their activity. However, according to our statistical results, the internal auditors do not offer at all (or rarely offer) objective assurance and counseling related to these subjects. Moreover, it is observed that, in these situations, the management does not have a clear vision and has not taken measures to achieve the sustainable development goals and ESG factors.

Keywords: internal audit; environmental; social and governance; sustainability; sustainable development goals; Somers’ delta (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:19:p:8680-:d:1494262

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