Background: Sustainability reporting is one of the challenging issues that focuses on social and environmental aspects of companies as multi-purpose entities in addition to purely economic performance. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of political communication and the role of stakeholder pressure and corporate governance mechanisms on ethical commitment to sustainability reporting.
Method: The present study was a descriptive correlational study and applied research. The study population included companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2009 to 2018, which were selected as a sample using screening sampling and systematic removal of 117 companies. The data collection tool was the Deloitte scoring card. Data analysis was performed using structural equation method.
Results: The findings showed that political communication has a significant negative effect on moral commitment to sustainability reporting. The results also indicate that political communication has a significant positive effect on stakeholder pressure and corporate governance mechanisms. On the other hand, the pressure of stakeholders and corporate governance mechanisms also have a significant positive effect on ethical commitment to sustainability reporting. Corporate governance mechanisms exacerbate the negative relationship between political communication and the ethical commitment to sustainability reporting.
Conclusion: The results indicate that the presence of political connections in companies reduces the ethical commitment to sustainability reporting, but the pressure of stakeholders and corporate governance mechanisms improves the ethical commitment to sustainability reporting.