Transfer Impact of Sustainability Development Disclosure Along the Supply Chain

ABSTRACT This article investigates the delivery of sustainability information along the supply chain and the role of suppliers' proprietary costs in shaping sustainability reporting. Using a sample of Taiwanese publicly held companies from 2015 to 2019, this empirical study finds that buyers' sustainability policies positively affect suppliers' attitudes toward issuing sustainability reports, obtaining sustainability report assurance, and adopting the latest Global Reporting Initiative framework. The results also show that this positive effect is weaker for firms with high proprietary costs than for those with low proprietary costs.