Testing the Transformative Promise: Voluntary Integrated Reporting and Its ESG Consequences

ABSTRACT This study investigates whether the voluntary adoption of integrated reporting (IR) leads to significant improvements in a firm's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. Grounded in theories of informational and transformative change, the research proposes that IR, through integrated thinking, should enhance ESG performance. Using a global sample of 459 firms (6803 firm‐year observations) from 2008 to 2023, this study employs a robust quasi‐experimental design combining propensity score matching with multiple difference‐in‐differences estimators, including staggered two‐way fixed effects and dynamic interaction‐weighted models. The results reveal a consistent and statistically insignificant effect of voluntary IR adoption on firms' aggregate ESG scores, as well as on the individual ESG pillars. This null result is robust across legal origins (common vs. civil law) and institutional clusters. The findings indicate that, absent regulatory compulsion, IR adoption does not reliably enhance ESG performance—a result consistent with symbolic adoption for legitimacy. Accordingly, the findings provide an important empirical caution for policymakers. As new sustainability standards emerge, such as the IFRS sustainability disclosure standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), mechanisms are needed to ensure that these frameworks promote substantive strategic integration rather than merely compliance‐oriented disclosure.