Stand-alone Reports Research Articles

VALUE RELEVANCE OF SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING BY NON-FINANCIAL LISTED FIRMS IN NIGERIA

The Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) issued Sustainability Reporting Guidelines in 2018 which requires that listed firms provide sustainability report, in their annual reports or as a standalone report, from 2019. The purpose is to provide additional information to assist investors in investment decisions. This study investigated the value relevance of sustainability reporting by non-financial listed firms on NGX from 2016 to 2020. All the 97 non-financial listed firms on NGX form the population for the study and sample consists of 30 most capitalised firms, proportionally selected from the 7 sectors of the non-financial firms on NGX. Content analysis and panel least square was used as methods of data analysis. Results show that sustainability reporting quantity disclosure has an insignificant negative effect (-0.01) on share price, while sustainability quality disclosure has an insignificant positive effect (0.07) on share price. It was recommended that the regulatory authorities, the Nigerian Financial Reporting Council and the NGX in addition to making sustainability reporting mandatory should enforce the assurance of the report by qualified professionals. Keywords: Agency theory, Information asymmetry, Legitimacy, Signaling theory, Sustainability reporting quality, Sustainability reporting quantity, Value relevance.

The construction of the normative persuasion of social and environmental reporting regulation

PurposeThis study aims to understand why some social and environmental reporting (SER) regulations are more successful than others in modifying collective corporate reporting behaviour and expectations. More specifically, it presents a qualitative and historically informed exploration of the construction of the enabling conditions for corporate adoption of SER regulation in a national context.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on insights from structuration theory and the sociological approach to legal studies, the authors examined the normative persuasion of the first regulation in Spain requiring firms to disclose social and environmental information in a stand-alone report: Article 39 of the Spanish Sustainable Economy Law. The case study is based primarily on 38 semi-structured interviews with relevant actors involved in this SER regulation from 2008 to 2014. Other sources such as legal and policy documents, historical documents, books, press reports and field notes from attendance at technical meetings related to the phenomenon under study help inform and complement the analysis of the interviews.FindingsThe analysis reveals that the agency of regulators, regulatees and other relevant actors involved in the SER regulation led to the law becoming a dead letter. However, only by examining the structural circumstances, shaped by history and socio-economic context, can the authors understand how the normative persuasion of law is constructed or undermined.Research limitations/implicationsThe study underscores the importance of the national context in developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) regulation and the crucial role of history. The results of this research also suggest that significant progress towards a more transformative CSR regulation cannot be achieved without the support of enabling structures/Practical implicationsRecent SER regulations (European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and IFRS sustainability standards, to mention those that are gaining most traction) may not achieve sufficient compliance if those responsible for drafting them do not ensure that the conditions for the emergence of regulatory persuasion are met. Regulators must therefore have a profound understanding of how these conditions are constructed as part of a historical process inextricably linked to the social structures of the environment in which the law is to be applied.Social implicationsThe study reveals the changing landscape of corporate social responsibility, where scientists, academics, NGO activists and civil society organisations struggle to gain some agency in a field populated by actors, such as trade unions or employers, who were constitutive of Western industrial liberal democracies.Originality/valueThis study presents an in-depth and historically grounded analysis of the dynamics involved in creating the conditions that lead to successful SER legislation in a national context.

The faithful presentation of corporations’ CSR standalone reports – a Canadian study

L'objectif de cette étude est d'examiner si la fidélité des informations présentées dans les rapports de responsabilité sociale d'entreprise (RSE) en conformité avec les lignes directrices de la Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) diffère de celle des informations présentées dans des rapports qui ne sont pas conformes, mais qui mentionnent les lignes directrices de la GRI, ainsi que de celle des informations présentées dans des rapports qui ne s’y réfèrent aucunement. Nos résultats montrent que les rapports de RSE en conformité avec la GRI fournissent des informations plus neutres et complètes que ceux ne se référant pas aux lignes directrices de la GRI. En outre, les entreprises publiant des rapports RSE qui mentionnent les lignes directrices de la GRI sans s’y conformer semblent le faire pour accroitre leur légitimité.

Emerging ESG reporting of higher education institutions in China

This paper investigates the ESG reporting practices of Chinese higher education institutions (HEIs). Based on Global Reporting Initiative's common reporting standards and the education sector-specific indicators proposed by earlier studies, we construct a disclosure framework of 112 indicators classified into environmental, social, governance, and educational dimensions. We manually collect all ESG-related information disclosed by 147 elite Chinese HEIs from various channels, including 8 standalone sustainability reports, around 600 annual reports, 139 charters, official websites, and official social media accounts, for the period 2020–2023. The results demonstrate how Chinese HEIs disclose different types of ESG information via different channels, with most of the information disclosed through channels other than standalone sustainability reports. Most Chinese HEIs do not adopt any specific disclosure standards but loosely follow the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in reporting. We further assess the quality of the disclosed information for each indicator and observe that, quality-wise, governance > educational > social > environmental, highlighting the necessity for Chinese HEIs to enhance environmental reporting. Next, we investigate the determinants of reporting quality and find that an HEI's number of faculty members is a more significant factor associated with its ESG reporting quality than other factors (i.e., number of students, funding, expenditure). Chinese HEIs are advised to report in a more balanced manner across the four dimensions in a standalone report using an education-oriented indicator-based framework instead of the current SDGs-based framework, to improve the completeness, materiality, and comparability of information.

Factors Influencing Sustainability Reporting Practices among Listed Companies in Oman

This paper analyzes the factors influencing sustainability reporting practices among listed companies in Oman during the period 2015–2021. The data was collected from the Muscat Stock Market, covering 133 firm-year observations, and analyzed using multivariate regression analysis. The results show that adoption of sustainability reporting is very low among listed companies, amounting to only 16.5%. Furthermore, 11.6% of the listed companies follow GRI guidelines, and 10.5% of the reports produced take the form of standalone reports. Regarding the factors motivating listed companies in Oman to produce sustainability reporting, the study confirms that company size has a positive impact, while financial leverage and women's presence on boards of directors have a negative impact. The study suggests strengthening institutions and governance, introducing a mandatory reporting system, increasing women's presence on these companies' boards of directors, leveraging new-age technology, promoting capacities among different stakeholders, enhancing awareness of sustainability issues, and incorporating sustainability reporting into corporate strategy so that sustainability reporting is part of the mandates of the listed company to legitimize its existence.

The current state of sustainability reporting: Evidence from publicly listed financial institutions

In compliance with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sustainability reporting guidelines, this paper aims to determine the financial institutions’ reporting formats, standards, and frameworks for sustainability reporting. It explores how they prioritize the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and contribute to the specific UN SDGs (Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission, 2019; United Nations [UN], 2015). The annual and sustainability reports were gathered from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and companies’ websites of 30 publicly listed financial institutions from 2019 to 2021. Using a descriptive research design, this study found that the SEC sustainability reporting template and standalone report are the most common reporting formats. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards are the most widely used by Philippine publicly listed financial institutions. Although they support all 17 UN SDGs, the study denotes that SDG 1, no poverty, and SDG 8, decent work and economic growth, are the most important goals aligned with their business activities. This indicates that they comply with the requirements set by the Philippine SEC sustainability reporting guidelines. Their sustainability achievements show their commitment to the UN SDGs. The guidelines drive them to assess and manage their organization’s economic, environmental, and social aspects, encouraging transparency and accountability through public disclosures.

The Effect Of Sustainability Reporting Practices On The Quality Of CSR Disclosures In Banking In Indonesia

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has helped produce corporate banking social responsibility activities. However, even so, some aspects of the disclosure still do not meet the quality of reporting. This study aims to analyze the influence of CSR reporting practices and the quality of disclosures on banking companies in Indonesia. This study used as many as 383 samples of banking companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) from 2013 to 2021. This study seeks to investigate the use of three CSR reporting practices: stand-alone reports, assurance, and reporting guidelines. The study results show that banking companies have carried out CSR reporting properly and following the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards but have not fully used assurance services to assess the quality of report disclosures. Banking companies in preparing CSR reports do not present the quality of information properly, so the implementation of sustainability reporting practices has not met the criteria. Banking companies meet the obligation to disclose CSR reports to improve performance. GRI disclosures are more likely to be balanced and have comparative capabilities. The results of this study support the increasing use of CSR reporting practices as a useful tool to improve the quality of CSR reporting in Indonesia.

Effect of Social Disclosures on the Financial Performance of Selected Food and Beverage Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria

This study investigated the effect of social disclosure on the financial performance of selected Nigerian food and beverage industries. Ex-post facto research is used in this study. The information was gathered from the annual reports of the selected food and beverage companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange from 2016 to 2020. The study used content analysis to approach social disclosure data and Stata to analyse the acquired data. As a result, a panel data regression technique was used. For the period under consideration, 2011-2020, there were negative but negligible connections between the various scores assessing social and environmental disclosures and the financial performance of food and beverage manufacturers listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Given the foregoing, the study recommends that government regulatory authorities and policymakers utilise important theoretical guidance to promote the establishment of a standard reporting guideline for the process of creating a company's non-financial report, or better yet, encourage the process of creating standalone reports and developing standard information disclosure templates, encouraging organisations to disclose corporate environmental monetary information.

CSR Disclosure Quality: The Impact of Stand-alone Reports, Assurances, Reporting Guidelines, and Stakeholders

This study aims to investigate the effect of stand-alone reports, assurances, reporting guidelines, and stakeholders on corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) quality. Secondary data related to the investigated variables were documented from the sustainability reports of manufacturing companies listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Twenty-four companies were selected based on the purposive sampling method from 2018 to 2020, resulting in 72 firm-year data being investigated. The data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The analysis results show that reporting guidelines affect the quality of CSRD. Companies that follow the GRI reporting framework have high-quality CSRD. However, this study did not find the effect of stand-alone reports, assurances, and stakeholders on CSRD quality.

Does the gender of board members influence the choice of sustainability report format of listed firms? Empirical evidence from India

PurposeThis study examines the effect of gender board characteristics on the choice of sustainability report format in India. A sustainability report covers the environmental and social impacts of firms. It is presented either as an integrated report with the rest of the financial reporting to stakeholders or a separate document (stand-alone) with the advantage of communicating better information.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses an inclusive sample of 800 firm-year observations between 2010 and 2019. The study applies the binary probit and the instrumental variable probit regressions to analyse the data from the Indian Stock Exchange.FindingsThe authors find that female chief executive officers (CEOs) are more likely to choose stand-alone reports over integrated reporting. The authors also find that female CEOs with a duality role are insignificant in choosing between integrated reporting and stand-alone sustainability reporting. Furthermore, the study shows that gender board diversity (percentage of women over total board size) and females of two or less are insignificant. However, three or more females on the board significantly and positively affect stand-alone sustainability reporting. Similarly, independent female directors are more likely to choose stand-alone reporting over integrated reporting. Policymakers must encourage sensitive environmental firms to employ more female CEOs over male CEOs because female CEOs are more likely to adopt stand-alone sustainability reporting.Originality/valueThe authors’ study adds novelty to research because previous studies have only examined a female CEO and sustainability. However, this study is the first to investigate female CEOs' and female board members' choice of sustainability report format.

Sustainability and Financial Reporting Quality for Listed Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria: The Legitimacy Theory Perspective

The universal declaration of a healthy and sustainable environment was adopted by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council in 2021 as a fundamental human right; The U.S. Security Exchange Commission in March, 2022 and the European Union's directives in 2014 strengthen the need for all reporting entities to include sustainability reports in their annual reports, for the purpose of improving the quality of financial reporting. Our study examined how sustainability reporting affects the quality of financial reporting from the perspective of legitimacy theory, within the manufacturing sectors in Nigeria as a result of their environmental impact amongst other sectors. The published annual reports of 16 listed manufacturing companies, on the Nigerian Stock Exchange Market, were observed between the financial reporting periods of 2011 and 2020. Sustainability indices were proxied using both the Environmental Disclosure index and Social Disclosure index, while the financial reporting quality was measured using the Accrued earnings management, following the Jones (1991) Model. Using a panel regression analysis, the study applied the Variance inflation factor to test for multicollinearity among the predictors and also employed the fixed effect estimator, as suggested by our Hausman test result, in analyzing the observed data. Our findings revealed that environmental disclosures do not impair the quality of their financial reports. Such impracticability could have resulted from the use of strict environmental regulations by the government and its agencies. However, opportunistic managers could use social disclosure information to dilute the quality of financial reporting. We also found that the profitability performance of manufacturing firm is highly susceptible to impairing the quality of financial reports. We suggest that auditors should be provided with a full-fledge understanding of sustainability reporting to unveil managements' practice of earnings management; the financial reporting council should mandatorily impose the disclosure of sustainability information either as a stand-alone report or as part of the annual reports to allow stakeholders to make relevant economic decisions about the firm; and adequate internal control systems should be in place and should be assessed on yearly basis, as firms continue to operate.

Environmental commitment of large US publicly traded companies producing healthcare equipment: a cross-sectional comparative study.

The environmental commitment of healthcare stakeholders is poorly described despite the sector pollution and the social needs of more sustainable behaviors. A cross-sectional study comparing the environment commitment of US publicly traded companies producing healthcare equipment (HE), healthcare companies (H), and large capitalization corporates (LC) was designed. Using a financial database, the 20 largest US publicly traded companies by market capitalization were selected for each cohort. The last available sustainability report was investigated, aiming to assess (1) the year and the method of dissemination of the last report; (2) the adhesion to environmental standards; (3) the presence of environmental policies, quantitative targets, and tracking; (4) the third-party evaluations about company environmental sustainability. HE companies published sustainability reports in time (p = 0.048), usually as standalone reports (p < 0.001). Half of HE companies adhered to standards, less than the control groups (p < 0.001). HE companies had an acceptable environmental policy, improving over the time and posing targets, similarly to control groups (p > 0.05). The number of companies reporting quantitative targets/tracking about carbon footprint, water, and renewable energy managements differed among the three cohorts (p = 0.013, p = 0.013, and p < 0.001, respectively), with HE cohort achieving the lowest rates (70%, 70%, and 50%, respectively). Carbon neutrality and all renewable energy statements were rare among HE companies (10% and 5% of companies, p < 0.007). In HE, CDP (The Carbon Disclosure Project) scores were lower than controls (p < 0.001). US publicly traded companies producing healthcare equipment demonstrated to be far less committed to environmental sustainability than healthcare companies and large capitalization corporates. Level of evidence: IV.

Isolation and screening of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria from coast of Bhavnagar, India, and formulation of consortium for bioremediation.

Reduced sulfur compounds are a nuisance in coastal industries causing heavy economical as well as ecological loss. One such compound, hydrogen sulfide, is proven toxic to aquatic animals as it interferes with their respiration and metabolism as well as overall development, thereby causing direct increase in mortality. Typically, 96-h LC50 values to freshwater and marine fishes are 0-25µM and 525-700µM, respectively. Management of sulfide and other reduced sulfur compounds from aquaculture water and sediment using bioremediating sulfur-oxidizing bacteria as probiotics has attracted attention in recent decades due to its efficiency and minimized environmental effects. In the present study, 201 native and indigenous probiotic candidates were isolated, from various coastal environments. The prospective candidates were screened based on pH reduction and 19 sulfur-oxidizing bacteria were selected and tested for salt tolerance. Further screening was done based on biosafety, ability to produce sulfate by oxidizing thiosulfate, and 16S rRNA-based identification to obtain nine probiotic candidates. Three strains (Enterobacter ludwigii HS1-SOB, Pseudomonas stutzeri B6-SOB, and Cytobacillus firmus C8-SOB) exerting highest sulfate-ion production were selected for formulating a probiotic consortium using mixture design matrix. The optimal composition was determined to be equal ratios of the three isolates that yielded 0.083mM of sulfate from thiosulfate broth medium at room temperature in 7days. This is a standalone report of sulfur-oxidizing probiotic consortium composed of the said bacteria. The consortium may be used as a strong tool for remediation of reduced sulfur in aquaculture and associated coastal environments.

Contribución de la calidad de la garantía de la RSE a la evaluación del mercado de los informes voluntarios de RSE: Una investigación del contexto francés

Contribución de la calidad de la garantía de la RSE a la evaluación del mercado de los informes voluntarios de RSE: Una investigación del contexto francés

Coming in from the Cold: A Longitudinal Analysis of SDG Reporting Practices by Spanish Listed Companies Since the Approval of the 2030 Agenda

Despite the apparent commitment of large Spanish corporations to the SDGs, information about their documented contribution to the 2030 Agenda is still scarce. This article aims to explore this gap by investigating the extent to which Spanish listed companies have been reporting on the SDGs since the approval of the 2030 Agenda. The paper contributes to the country-level analysis of SDG reporting by performing a longitudinal analysis over the 4-year period encompassing 2016 to 2019. It contributes to management science by assessing Corporate Sustainability performance through adherence to the SDGs and testing what the facilitators of SDG reporting have been during the first 4 years since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. Findings reveal a low commitment of Spanish listed companies to sustainability reporting. Nevertheless, they also uncover how those companies that publish non-financial reports are increasingly reporting on the SDGs. Additionally, there is also a growing tendency among CEOs to mention the SDGs in their letters to stakeholders. Furthermore, a positive link is established between the adoption of GRI reporting standards or being a signatory of the UN Global Compact and SDG reporting. Similarly, those companies that publish Integrated Reports are more likely to consider the SDGs in their disclosures than those that publish Standalone Reports or Annual Reports. Nonetheless, there is a growing tendency to gravitate from producing Integrated Reports to producing Annual Reports. Owing to the breadth of these results and their relevance to academics and practitioners alike, this study can help build future evidence-based accountability literature and policy on the SDGs at the Spanish and European levels.

Greenhouse Gases and Circular Economy Issues in Sustainability Reports from the Energy Sector in the European Union

The achievement of climate neutrality and eco-economic decoupling requires explicit measures to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and to implement circular economy (CE) principles in practice. The energy sector is of particular importance in meeting these challenges because it exerts a substantial environmental impact. Therefore, it is extremely important to determine how essential GHG and CE issues are for companies operating in the energy sector. This can be reflected in corporate strategies, but it can also be disclosed to the public in sustainability reports. For this reason, this article presents a comprehensive analysis of sustainability reports based on the latest GRI Standards published by companies representing the energy sector in the European Union to determine the existence, quality, and specificity of reporting GHG and CE issues. The research results demonstrate that sustainability reports from the energy sector companies tend to focus more on GHG issues. They rarely point to actions related to CE, including actions enabling a reduction in GHG emissions, as those with high priority. In addition, declarations from the analyzed companies regarding intentions related to GHG and CE issues at the strategic level find a rather poor reflection in the description of specific actions in this area or in demonstrating appropriate indicators at the operational level. Considering the indicators included in the reports, the analyzed companies insufficiently describe the methods they use to gather, compile, and analyze information on the effectiveness of actions taken to address GHG and CE issues. As for the identification of potential determinants of the quality of reporting GHG and CE issues, the research results indicate that it is mostly influenced by external assurance and the report option. Sustainability reports submitted for external assurance and reports with the comprehensive option are significantly more developed than other types of reports. However, the clarity of reports with the core option is higher compared to the comprehensive group. In addition, it was indicated that the clarity of stand-alone reports is higher compared to other types of reports.

A systematic review of corporate carbon accounting and disclosure practices: Charting the path to carbon neutrality

The study examined the theoretical motivation for carbon disclosure and its adequacy for deliberate responsible action. Generally, there is an increase in corporate carbon disclosures in the business sector. Organizations are mostly disclosing their carbon emissions through annual reports, integrated reports, or stand-alone sustainability reports for different reasons and motives. However, the study infers that the quality and adequacy of the current disclosures are debatable due to a lack of consistency and technical details. The causal reason may be due to the inherently voluntary nature of the corporate carbon disclosure. The study finds that there is less research on carbon accounting and disclosures in developing countries especially, in Africa. There is a need for organizations to streamline the application and approaches to carbon accounting. The study suggests the necessity for government regulators and standard setters in accounting to provide a framework that will guide carbon disclosure practices.

The impact of international sustainability initiatives on Life Cycle Assessment voluntary disclosures: The case of France’s CAC40 listed companies

Based on an institutional approach to legitimacy theory, this paper aims to study the individual and cumulative influence of three international sustainability initiatives on the decision to disclose information on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and on the quantity of information disclosed. A total sample of 433 firm-year observations was collected from the content analysis of registration documents and sustainability standalone reports published by 36 companies listed on the French CAC40 index over a longitudinal period of 13 years. Results show that the adoption of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability guidelines, of the United Nations Global Compact (GC) principles, and of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) are positively and significantly associated with the tendency of CAC40 companies to disclose LCA information. In addition, the GRI is the only initiative significantly associated with the quantity of LCA information disclosed. Moreover, the results reveal a positive and significant relationship between the cumulative number of initiatives adopted and both the decision to disclose and the quantity of LCA information disclosed. Finally, in comparison to the GRI, the GC and the CDP do not encourage companies to disclose much information on LCA. The contributions of this study are manifold. It provides evidence that voluntary environmental frameworks can excert different normative pressures towards environmental reporting and suggests that companies decide to disclose LCA information to emphasize their superior environmental performance and to manage their legitimacy. It contributes to a more nuanced understanding of environmental disclosure by making a distinction between the decision to disclose and the quantity of information disclosed. From a managerial perspective, this paper demonstrates the usefulness of having multiple initiatives promoting sustainability, since their combined use leads to an increase in disclosure. Moreover, the results are likely to encourage international initiatives, particularly the GRI, to pay greater attention to LCA.

Readability of sustainability reports: evidence from Indonesia

PurposeThis study aimed at investigating the readability of sustainability reports in Indonesia. The Indonesian government, through the Financial Services Authority of Indonesia (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan [OJK]), has issued regulation POJK 51/2017 concerning the implementation of sustainable finance, which requires public companies to prepare sustainability reports—either stand-alone reports or parts of annual reports. Until 2017, only 30% of the top public companies in terms of market capitalisation issued the required report. Companies' decisions to provide the report stem from the greater visibility and access to resources that flow from additional narratives. However, the usefulness of such a report can be questioned.Design/methodology/approachWe used several linguistic techniques (Flesch Reading Ease [FRE], Flesch–Kincaid, and Gunning Fog measures) to evaluate the readability of sustainability reports. The analysis was performed using a software application called “Readability Studio 2015.”FindingsWe found the reports to have a low level of readability. This means that the information provided in the disclosures are very difficult to decipher and understand by the targeted users. Considering the similar levels of report readability in companies across industries, we observe a pattern of isomorphism in the way companies have implemented the same format and language construct in disclosing their sustainability information. They might apply the myth that complex language attracts investors or impresses others.Research limitations/implicationsThe techniques to measure readability that we use might not capture the whole dimensions of readability and understandability, especially in the non-English language.Practical implicationsThe results from this study can be used as evaluation tools for companies and regulators in preparing more intelligible and readable sustainability reports, as mandated by POJK 51/2017.Social implicationsSustainability reports act as a medium of accountability for a company's sustainable production and operations. Their usefulness for investors and other users often depends on the readability of the information.Originality/valueThe readability of sustainability reports in the context of Indonesia as an emerging market has not been comprehensively investigated in previous research. This study is among the first of its kind to support the quality enhancement of the reports.

Conformity of Annual Reports to an Integrated Reporting Framework: ASE Listed Companies

The objectives of this study are to determine the level of conformity between Current Issued Reports (CIRs) and Integrated Report (IR) elements of the Amman Stocks Exchange (ASE) listed companies, as well as to determine whether the investigated corporate characteristics (size, age, quality assurance (QA), earning per share (EPS), industry type, foreign ownership (FO)) of these companies have any impact on the conformability of CIRs. It is worth mentioning that (QA), and (EPS), have never been examined by looking at its association with corporate disclosures, and IR in particular. Based on adoption of the IR framework and using the method of content analysis, corporate annual reports and other stand-alone reports of 82 companies in 2017 and 2018 within the financial, industrial, and services sectors, were chosen for this study. The findings of the study provide an answer to the research question and show that sectors vary in their levels of conformity. It reveals that the service sector shows the lowest conformability compared to other sectors, whereas the financial firms conform 65%, followed by the industrial sector. It also finds a positive association between CIRs conformability and variables of size, age of company and quality assurance. However, EPS, FO and type of industry were found to have no impact on the conformability of CIRs to the IR framework. This study has contributed to IR research, which, as a field, has previously received very little recognition among scholars in Jordan. Moreover, IR still does not exist in Jordan’s business practices.