IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-03842902.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

CSR auditing at a crossroads. What the auditors' daily experience teaches us
[L'audit RSE à la croisée des chemins. Ce que nous enseigne le vécu quotidien des auditeurs]

Author

Listed:
  • Camille Gaudy

    (TBS Education)

  • Christophe Godowski

    (IAE Limoges - Ecole universitaire de management [Limoges])

  • Jonathan Maurice

    (TSM - Toulouse School of Management Research - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - TSM - Toulouse School of Management - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse)

Abstract

We contribute to the growing literature surrounding the issues of CSR assurance from a new perspective, that of auditors' daily experience. Using an ethnography of two audit firms, we show that a gap exists between the conception that companies have of what CSR is (and should be) on the one hand and that which auditors have on the other, forcing the latter to adopt a utilitarian CSR perspective that is not action-oriented. We therefore suggest a number of measures to practitioners to accelerate the concrete implementation of CSR actions through CSR auditing.

Suggested Citation

  • Camille Gaudy & Christophe Godowski & Jonathan Maurice, 2022. "CSR auditing at a crossroads. What the auditors' daily experience teaches us [L'audit RSE à la croisée des chemins. Ce que nous enseigne le vécu quotidien des auditeurs]," Post-Print hal-03842902, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03842902
    DOI: 10.3166/rfg306.59-92
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03842902v2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-03842902v2/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3166/rfg306.59-92?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Warren Maroun, 2018. "Modifying assurance practices to meet the needs of integrated reporting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(2), pages 400-427, February.
    2. Glen E. Kreiner & Blake E. Ashforth & David M. Sluss, 2006. "Identity Dynamics in Occupational Dirty Work: Integrating Social Identity and System Justification Perspectives," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(5), pages 619-636, October.
    3. O'Dwyer, Brendan & Owen, David & Unerman, Jeffrey, 2011. "Seeking legitimacy for new assurance forms: The case of assurance on sustainability reporting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 31-52, January.
    4. Olivier Meier & Guillaume Schier, 2017. "L’influence de l’actionnariat du dirigeant sur la Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises," ACCRA, Association francophone de comptabilité, vol. 23(3), pages 97-134.
    5. Barry Ackers & Neil Stuart Eccles, 2015. "Mandatory corporate social responsibility assurance practices," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(4), pages 515-550, May.
    6. Morales, Jérémy & Lambert, Caroline, 2013. "Dirty work and the construction of identity. An ethnographic study of management accounting practices," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 228-244.
    7. Emmanuelle Fromont & Thi Le Hoa Vo & Gulliver Lux, 2022. "Impact de la Qualité de la Communication GES sur la Valorisation des Investisseurs dans un Contexte Réglementaire : le Cas des Entreprises du SBF 120," ACCRA, Association francophone de comptabilité, vol. 28(1), pages 133-162.
    8. Michel Capron & Françoise Quairel, 2015. "L’entreprise dans la société," Post-Print hal-01252569, HAL.
    9. Robyn Moroney & Ken T. Trotman, 2016. "Differences in Auditors' Materiality Assessments When Auditing Financial Statements and Sustainability Reports," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(2), pages 551-575, June.
    10. Renfred Wong & Andrew Millington, 2014. "Corporate social disclosures: a user perspective on assurance," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(5), pages 863-887, June.
    11. Olivier Meier & Guillaume Schier, 2017. "L’influence de l’actionnariat du dirigeant sur la Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises," Comptabilité - Contrôle - Audit, Association francophone de comptabilité, vol. 23(3), pages 97-134.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Patrick Velte & Martin Stawinoga, 2017. "Empirical research on corporate social responsibility assurance (CSRA): A literature review," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(8), pages 1017-1066, November.
    2. Warren Maroun, 2020. "A Conceptual Model for Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility Assurance Practice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 187-209, January.
    3. Geert Braam & Roy Peeters, 2018. "Corporate Sustainability Performance and Assurance on Sustainability Reports: Diffusion of Accounting Practices in the Realm of Sustainable Development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(2), pages 164-181, March.
    4. Genevé Richard & Elza Odendaal, 2021. "Credibility-enhancing mechanisms, other than external assurance, in integrated reporting," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(1), pages 61-93, March.
    5. Genevé Richard & Elza Odendaal, 2020. "Integrated reporting assurance practices—a study of South African firms," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(4), pages 245-266, December.
    6. Martínez-Ferrero, Jennifer & García-Sánchez, Isabel-María, 2017. "Coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphism as determinants of the voluntary assurance of sustainability reports," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 102-118.
    7. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    8. Habiba Al‐Shaer & Mahbub Zaman, 2018. "Credibility of sustainability reports: The contribution of audit committees," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 973-986, November.
    9. Nekhili, Mehdi & Nagati, Haithem & Chtioui, Tawhid & Nekhili, Ali, 2017. "Gender-diverse board and the relevance of voluntary CSR reporting," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 81-100.
    10. Silvia Romero & Silvia Ruiz & Belen Fernandez‐Feijoo, 2019. "Sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement in Spain: Different instruments, different quality," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 221-232, January.
    11. Hien Hoang & Robyn Moroney & Soon‐Yeow Phang & Xinning Xiao, 2023. "Investor reactions to key audit matters: Financial and non‐financial contexts," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(3), pages 3325-3349, September.
    12. Lorenzo Dal Maso & Gerald J. Lobo & Francesco Mazzi & Luc Paugam, 2020. "Implications of the Joint Provision of CSR Assurance and Financial Audit for Auditors' Assessment of Going‐Concern Risk†," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(2), pages 1248-1289, June.
    13. Onno Bouwmeester & Tessa Elisabeth Kok, 2018. "Moral or Dirty Leadership: A Qualitative Study on How Juniors Are Managed in Dutch Consultancies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-22, November.
    14. Jannik Gerwanski & Othar Kordsachia & Patrick Velte, 2019. "Determinants of materiality disclosure quality in integrated reporting: Empirical evidence from an international setting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 750-770, July.
    15. Jonas Wanner & Christian Janiesch, 2019. "Big data analytics in sustainability reports: an analysis based on the perceived credibility of corporate published information," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 12(1), pages 143-173, April.
    16. Natalia Vaz Ogando & Silvia Ruiz Blanco & Belen Fernandez-Feijoo, 2018. "A Provider’s Approach to the Assurance Market of Sustainability Reports in Spain," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-27, June.
    17. Minga Negash & Tesfaye T. Lemma, 2020. "Institutional pressures and the accounting and reporting of environmental liabilities," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1941-1960, July.
    18. Maroun, Warren, 2017. "Assuring the integrated report: Insights and recommendations from auditors and preparers," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 329-346.
    19. Josh Wei-Jun Hsueh, 2018. "Governance Structure and the Credibility Gap: Experimental Evidence on Family Businesses’ Sustainability Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 547-568, December.
    20. Rashid Zaman & Muhammad Bilal Farooq & Fahad Khalid & Zeeshan Mahmood, 2021. "Examining the extent of and determinants for sustainability assurance quality: The role of audit committees," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 2887-2906, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03842902. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.