2026-04-29T11:00:58Zhttps://riubu.ubu.es/oai/request

oai:riubu.ubu.es:10259/113892026-02-19T01:05:48Zcom_10259_5238com_10259_5086com_10259_2604col_10259_6212

Larrinaga González, Carlos 312 600 0000-0002-7000-4619 Rossi, Adriana 0bfac052-dfe6-4ea5-9c87-18f85133b94a Luque Vílchez, Mercedes 330 600 Núñez-Nickel, Manuel fd707d56-e5ba-4dcc-a93e-ab9bfcc857be 2026-02-18T07:43:20Z 2026-02-18T07:43:20Z 2020-04 0167-4544 https://hdl.handle.net/10259/11389 10.1007/s10551-018-4014-z 1573-0697 A descriptive-exploratory analysis of assurance practices is presented in this paper, by analysing the patterns of sustainability assurance reporting in two national contexts with different levels of assurance activity (Italy and the U.S.) over a period of 11 years (2003/2013). The study is based on theoretical insights drawn from institutional sociology and normativity production. It is framed both in the Italian situation, where assurance statements consistently include a narrow set of formal and procedural communications, and in an unsettled situation in the U.S., where assurance activity is more incipient, but where experimentation in substantial assurance disclosure practices has more room to develop. Its main implication is that the diffusion of sustainability assurance and the creation of sustainability assurance disclosure norms are not without its cost: information quality does not increase with patterned practice. The results also point towards the noteworthy role of specific professionals in the earlier and later stages of assurance practice norms. They reveal a significant influence of non-Big4 firms (mainly certification bodies and consulting and engineering firms) in the diffusion of sustainability assurance disclosure norms. In contrast, the Big4 firms appear to be positively associated with the narrowing down of the assurance focus to a selected subset of this activity in later stages of the development of the assurance norm. In this regard, this study provides insight into the circumstantial—but relevant—carrier role of the Big4 firms in determining what “assurance” means. This study was funded by Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación (Grant Number ECO2015-65782-P) and Consejería de Educación, Junta de Castilla y León (Grant Number BU058P17). application/pdf eng Springer Journal of Business Ethics. 2020, V. 163, n. 1, p. 67–83 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-4014-z Atribución 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Sustainability assurance content Disclosure practices Assurance patterns Normativity Italy United States Responsabilidad social de la empresa Auditoría ambiental Social responsibility of business Environmental auditing Institutionalization of the Contents of Sustainability Assurance Services: A Comparison Between Italy and United States info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Journal of Business Ethics 163 1 67 83 THUMBNAIL Larrinaga-jbe:2020.pdf.jpg Larrinaga-jbe:2020.pdf.jpg IM Thumbnail image/jpeg 4675 https://riubu.ubu.es/bitstream/10259/11389/5/Larrinaga-jbe%3a2020.pdf.jpg 14bbb67cd96bf1a1d364c5bdaf4b5788 MD5 5 LICENSE license.txt license.txt text/plain; charset=utf-8 999 https://riubu.ubu.es/bitstream/10259/11389/3/license.txt b295bcbce42e2caabeb0c623d3860c06 MD5 3 CC-LICENSE license_rdf license_rdf application/rdf+xml; charset=utf-8 908 https://riubu.ubu.es/bitstream/10259/11389/2/license_rdf 0175ea4a2d4caec4bbcc37e300941108 MD5 2 ORIGINAL Larrinaga-jbe:2020.pdf Larrinaga-jbe:2020.pdf application/pdf 2041929 https://riubu.ubu.es/bitstream/10259/11389/4/Larrinaga-jbe%3a2020.pdf 4c10d74ccc006404dc120c4fe5510bbb MD5 4 10259/11389 oai:riubu.ubu.es:10259/11389 2026-02-19 02:05:48.39 Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Burgos bubrep@ubu.es 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