O efeito do tom e da legibilidade das informações ESG no desempenho organizacional e na qualidade das informações contábeis

Abstract

This research aims to examine the influence of the tone and readability of sustainability reports on organizational performance and accounting information quality. Sustainability reports are voluntarily disclosed documents that provide information regarding companies’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. The study is grounded in Disclosure Theory (Verrecchia, 1983; Dye, 1985), which considers information as a signal reflecting the intrinsic value of a risky asset, although such signals may be affected by factors such as information asymmetry. Assuming that ESG information may affect corporate performance, the study first conducted a systematic literature review using the Knowledge Development Process – Constructivist (ProKnow-C) method. The findings revealed that the effects of ESG disclosure on economic and financial performance are not uniform, varying according to firms’ level of engagement, institutional context, and industry characteristics. In addition, internal and external moderating variables may strengthen or weaken these effects. Subsequently, the relationship between the tone and readability of ESG disclosures and organizational performance was investigated considering operational (ROA), financial (ROE), and market (Tobin’s Q) dimensions. Tone was measured using the ESG dictionary proposed by Baier et al. (2020), while readability was estimated through the Flesch Index. The results did not provide statistical evidence that tone and readability significantly affect organizational performance. Nevertheless, the findings reinforce the assumptions of Disclosure Theory by suggesting that the usefulness of information depends not only on disclosure itself, but also on the way information is communicated to the market. Finally, the study examined the influence of tone and readability of ESG disclosures on accounting information quality, measured through the proxies of value relevance, accrual-based earnings management, and conditional conservatism, considering organizational performance as a moderating variable. The results indicate that, individually, only readability showed a significant effect related to value relevance. Furthermore, when analyzing the moderating role of organizational performance, only financial performance significantly influenced the interaction between ESG readability and value relevance. This research contributes to the literature by providing an updated review of studies on the relationship between ESG disclosure and organizational performance, exploring different theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, while also identifying gaps for future investigations. Moreover, by testing tone and readability of ESG disclosures in the Brazilian context, the study highlights that the way information is communicated may be as relevant as the information itself, generating implications for investors, managers, analysts, and regulators. In an innovative way, the research integrates textual attributes of ESG disclosures, accounting information quality, and organizational performance within the same analytical framework, reinforcing the assumptions of Disclosure Theory and contributing both theoretically and practically by offering insights for the development of clearer, more consistent, and more effective sustainability reports for stakeholders.