Environmental Accounting and Corporate Sustainability Reports Quality: Evidence From Ghana

Abstract

The government, policy-makers, investors, and stakeholders' increasing demand for high-quality sustainability reports has led to corporations' environmental accounting to accomplish the goal of reporting detailed and accurate sustainability information to stakeholders. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of environmental accounting on corporate sustainability reports' quality (SRQ) in Ghana, considering the moderating role of external audit and investors' pressure. This study is grounded in two major theoretical perspectives, the stakeholder and legitimacy theories. Primary data was collected from 492 participants from the various firms using questionnaires. SmartPLS version 4 was used to run the data using the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) approach. This study's results indicated that environmental accounting and external auditing positively and significantly enhance corporate sustainability reports. Additionally, external auditing and investor pressure partially moderate the relationship between environmental accounting and corporate sustainability reports' quality. This study's results provide valuable insights for managers and policy-makers who seek to maintain the reliability and credibility of corporate sustainability report quality in developing countries, especially Ghana.