Stand‐Alone Sustainability Reporting Practices in an Emerging Market: A Longitudinal Investigation

• Date: 01 January 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jcaf.22208
• Published date: 01 January 2017
• Author: Ali Uyar

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© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI 10.1002/jcaf.22208

Stand-Alone Sustainability

Reporting Practices in an Emerging

Market: A Longitudinal Investigation

Ali Uyar

Editor’s note: This article is

an example of JCAF’s inten-

tion to be a comprehensive

journal providing a variety

of coverages on many diverse

topics of interest to vary-

ing readers. This particular

article represents JCAF’s

international coverage of the

developments in reporting

practices in various regions

of the world, especially

a developing nation such

as Turkey. It is seen as an

encouragement for others

to conduct sustainability

reporting. Of particular

note in this research is the

participation of the so called

Big Four public account-

ing firms, as known in the

United States, in the conduct

of independent assurance

services in regards to sustain-

ability reporting.

INTRODUCTION

The inclusion

of nonfinancial

information in

corporate reports

has been evolving rapidly in

recent years. Sustainability

reporting is a dimension of

nonfinancial reporting that

is growing in importance to

investors (Uyar,2016). While

many consider sus-

tainability to still be

in its infancy stage,

firms are increas-

ingly engaging in

sustainability initia-

tives and publishing

stand-alone sus-

tainability reports

(Amran & Haniffa,

2011; Boiral, 2013;

Kiliç, Kuzey, &

Uyar, 2015). Various

stakeholders, includ-

ing various types

of media, nonprofit

organizations, and

global sustainability

organizations, are

playing important

roles in this evolution

for markets that are

both developed and

emerging. This study

provides substantial

information regard-

ing sustainability

reporting practices

in Turkey in an attempt to

describe sustainability report-

ing in at least one emerging

This study investigates sustainability reporting

practices in the emerging market of Turkey for

a 10-year period between 2004 and 2013. While

there are several Turkish firms preparing sustain-

ability reports consistently during the sample

period, there is also a long road to be traveled

with regard to consistent and complete reporting

on sustainability. The most widespread frame-

work used in sustainability reporting is the Global

Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. One of the

main features of the GRI framework is that it pro-

vides grades, known as application levels, for the

extent of a company’s sustainability initiatives and

reporting. The number of reports containing GRI-

verified application levels and the levels of sus-

tainability are both on the rise. Moreover, there is a

slow increase in the number of externally prepared

assurance reports on sustainability numbers. The

majority of these reports were prepared by Big

Four accounting firms. Finally, the outsourcing of

sustainability reporting has become more preva-

lent during the sample period. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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