The effect of sustainability accounting disclosures on financial performance: an empirical study on the Jordanian banking sector

  • Received December 8, 2018;
    Accepted March 25, 2019;
    Published April 11, 2019
  • Author(s)
  • DOI
    http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/bbs.14(2).2019.01
  • Article Info
    Volume 14 2019, Issue #2, pp. 1-8
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This study aims to examine the effect of sustainability accounting disclosure on the financial performance of banks operating in Jordan during the period of 2013–2017. The study focused on the effect of economic, environmental and social disclosures on financial performance.
To achieve the study objective, the content analysis method was used. The dimensions of sustainability accounting disclosure were measured through indicators that have been developed for this purpose, which are in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) (G4-2013).
The study results revealed that there is a statistically significant effect of sustainability accounting disclosure on the financial performance. In addition, the study results revealed that the disclosure of the economic and social dimensions had a positive effect on return on equity (ROE). While the environmental dimension did not affect the return on equity (ROE). In addition, the results of the study revealed that the disclosure of sustainability dimensions (economic, social and environment) had a combined effect on the return on assets (ROA). This means that the banks operating in Jordan give more priority to the economic dimension disclosure, than to the social and environmental dimensions.
In reviewing previous studies in the accounting literature, it has been found that there is a paucity of studies that examine the concept of sustainability accounting, especially in the Jordanian banking sector. Therefore, this study constitutes value to this field.

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    • Table 1. Study sample selection
    • Table 2. Sustainability accounting disclosures
    • Table 3. Financial performance measures
    • Table 4. Results of the main hypothesis testing
    • Table 5. Results of the first sub-hypothesis testing
    • Table 6. Results of the second sub-hypothesis testing