The demand for assurance in sustainability reporting has increased significantly in recent years. The objective of this study is to examine the views of corporate managers on the current state of, and future prospects for, this emerging assurance practice in Japan. The research is based on a small program of six semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey of the top 500 companies listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Nikkei 500 companies). The findings show that respondents are still reluctant to adopt assurance on sustainability reporting. In contrast, they prefer third-party comment, a unique practice in Japan to enhance the credibility of the reported information. The study also identifies the determinants, stakeholders’ influence for the adoption of assurance and third-party comment on sustainability reporting. It shows that main impediments to adopting assurance service include high assurance fees, less demand for sustainability assurance from stakeholders, and a lengthy assurance process. The findings are explained through the lens of legitimacy theory. While the extant literature concentrated on European practice, this is the first known study that informs the adoption of assurance and third-party comment on sustainability reporting in Japan, the leading country in the world to publish such non-financial reports.

中文翻译：

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企业管理者对确保可持续性报告的看法：日本的证据

近年来，可持续发展报告中对保证的需求大大增加。这项研究的目的是研究公司经理对日本这种新兴的担保业务的现状和未来前景的看法。该研究基于一个小型程序，该程序包含六个半结构化访谈和对东京证券交易所上市的前500强公司（日经500强公司）进行的问卷调查。调查结果表明，受访者仍然不愿意对可持续性报告采取保证。相比之下，他们更喜欢第三方评论，这在日本是一种独特的做法，可以提高报告信息的可信度。该研究还确定了决定因素，利益相关者对采用保证的影响力以及对可持续性报告的第三方评论。它表明采用保证服务的主要障碍包括高保证费，较少的利益相关者对可持续性保证的需求以及漫长的保证过程。这些发现是通过合法性理论来解释的。现有文献集中于欧洲实践，但这是第一个已知的研究，该研究为世界上领先的非财务报告发布国日本的可持续发展报告采用了保证和第三方评论。