Corporate sustainability disclosure and market valuation in a Middle Eastern Nation: evidence from listed firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange: sensitive industries versus non-sensitive industries

• Published in: Economic research - Ekonomska istraživanja Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 1488 - 1511
• Main Authors: Mohammadi, Massoud Alam Dad, Mardani, Abbas, Khan, Mohd Noor Azli Ali, Streimikiene, Dalia
• Format: Journal Article Paper
• Language: English
• Published: Pula Routledge 01.01.2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor and Francis Group i Sveučilište Jurja Dobrile u Puli, Fakultet ekonomije i turizma Dr. Mijo Mirković
• Subjects: Companies; Corporate sustainability disclosure; Economic theory; firm value; Generalized method of moments; Longitudinal studies; Measurement; Panel data; stakeholder theory; Standardization; Sustainability; Sustainability reporting; Tehran Stock Exchange; Valuation
• ISSN: 1331-677X; 1848-9664
• DOI: 10.1080/1331677X.2018.1486722

This article has received the considerable critical attention that seeking to enhance sustainability disclosure may essentially make progress firms' market valuation. It aims to provide the corporate sustainability disclosure level organized according to the '7 + 1', seven core subjects of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 26000 and the energy disclosure items, then set out to assess the effectiveness of sustainability reporting on the listed firms' market valuation during the period 2010-2015. To achieve this objective, data were collected from a sample of 98 Iranian manufacturing and service organizations from various industry sectors at the Tehran Stock Exchange and generalized method of moments (GMM) approach was conducted for a dynamic panel data to evaluate the effect of the sustainability reporting level on the listed firms' market valuation. As can be seen from the results, the overall extent of sustainability disclosure arranged in accordance with the low rate of sustainability reporting for listed firms in TSE. It was also found that the sensitive firms have a greater level of corporate sustainability disclosure than the other firms. Moreover, sustainability reporting has been shown to be related to market valuations in which firms activating in sensitive industries environmentally with sustainability reporting had higher market valuations than firms activating in non-sensitive industries with sustainability reporting. Our '7 + 1' sustainability disclosure practice aspects all together with their basic measurement items can be applied as a checklist for assessing how well sustainability disclosure practices are performed at TSE.