The Association between Sustainability Reporting Disclosure and Stock Price Crash Risk: Moderating Effect of Earnings Quality: An Empirical Study

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to investigate the moderating effect of earnings quality on the association between sustainability reporting disclosure and stock price crash risk in Egyptian listed firms. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses secondary data from 2012 to 2019 to measure sustainability reporting disclosure for a sample of 383 firm-years Egyptian listed companies. Findings – The results revealed that there is a quadratic relationship between sustainability reporting discourse and stock price crash risk. As the interaction between sustainability reporting disclosure and earning quality (MTB), increases the negative impact of sustainability reporting disclosure deviation from the optimal level on the expected stock price crash risk. Furthermore, the interaction between sustainability reporting disclosure and earnings quality reduces the negative impact of sustainability reporting disclosure deviation from the optimal level on the expected stock price crash risk. Research limitations/ implications – Results are from a sample of firms from one country. Originality/ value – This article contributes to the literature by shedding light on the relationship between sustainability reporting disclosure and stock price crash risk and the moderating effect of earnings quality on the association between them.