Assessing the readability of sustainability assurance report in emerging countries: do linguistic features and provider characteristics matter?

Purpose This study examines whether linguistic features and assurance-provider characteristics affect the readability of sustainability assurance reports in emerging markets. Design/methodology/approach This study applies panel data regression to 1,601 sustainability assurance reports from 20 emerging countries for 2017–2023. It examines linguistic features (paragraphs, sentences, difficult words and long sentences) and provider characteristics (gender, assurance standards, audit firm type and Big 4 affiliation) as determinants of readability. Readability is measured using the Flesch Reading Ease score and validated with the Gunning Fog Index and Bormuth Grade Placement. Findings The results show that the number of paragraphs and sentences is positively associated with readability, whereas difficult words and long sentence structures are negatively associated with readability. Reports issued by female assurance providers are associated with higher readability, while those prepared by Big 4 firms are associated with lower readability. Robustness tests using alternative readability measures broadly support the main findings. Originality/value This is among the first large-scale studies to investigate sustainability assurance report readability, offering new insights into the combined role of linguistic and provider factors.