Aseguramiento del informe de sostenibilidad en España y Latinoamérica

Abstract

This work presents a study about sustainability assurance reports issued in Spain and Latin America. First, on a sample of 783 companies sending their sustainability reports to the Global Reporting Initiative, the corporate characteristics that lead companies to submit the report for its assurance are identified. The second stage is the analysis of the evolution of the insurance market and its distribution, which is seemingly dominated by auditing firms. Thirdly, the contents of the insurance report are studied to observe the different tendencies in its creation and to shape an index on its quality. Conclusions point out that variables corresponding to size, sector, belongingness to a sensitive sector, country, level of application of GRI and if the supplement GRI is followed for certain sectors, are significant when deciding on assuring the sustainability report. On the other hand, there is a growth in the insurance market, traditionally dominated by Big4 and some certifying companies such as AENOR, which has a strong presence in Spain. Finally, it is observed that the quality of insurance reports shows a considerable degree of variability depending on who signs the report.