Identifying the Dimensions and Components of Sustainability Reporting with a Digital Innovation Approach in Iran’s Capital Market

Moosa  Samsam Heydari; Mehdi  Zeynali; Ahmad  Mohammdi; Younes  Badavar Nahandi; Yaghoub  Pourkarim

Authors

Moosa Samsam Heydari Department of Accounting, Ta.C., Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5403-4255
Mehdi Zeynali Department of Accounting, Ta.C., Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7791-0139
Ahmad Mohammdi Department of Accounting, Ta.C., Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3335-2611
Younes Badavar Nahandi Department of Accounting, Ta.C., Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5053-202X
Yaghoub Pourkarim Department of Accounting, Ta.C., Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3828-1122

Keywords:

Sustainability Reporting, Digital Innovation, ESG, Capital Market, Grounded Theory, Digital Transformation, Iran

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the dimensions and components of sustainability reporting with a digital innovation approach and to develop a context-specific conceptual model for Iran’s capital market. This qualitative, exploratory-developmental study was conducted using the systematic grounded theory approach of Strauss and Corbin. The participants consisted of 24 academic and professional experts in accounting, financial and sustainability reporting, capital markets, auditing, financial technologies, and digital transformation. Participants were selected through purposive theoretical sampling, supplemented by snowball sampling, and data collection continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews supported by a focused review of relevant literature, reporting frameworks, and regulatory documents. Interviews were recorded with informed consent, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed concurrently with data collection. Analysis followed open, axial, and selective coding, together with constant comparison and theoretical memoing, to identify concepts, categories, relationships, and the core phenomenon. The analysis identified the structural transformation of sustainability disclosure from narrative-oriented reporting toward digitally data-driven reporting as the core category. Causal conditions included institutional pressure from capital-market actors, the need to improve information quality, emerging regulatory pressures, and economic incentives. Contextual conditions comprised heterogeneous disclosure structures, the absence of a national sustainability reporting standard and taxonomy, fragmented technological infrastructure, uneven digital maturity, and limited assurance capacity. Intervening conditions included organizational resistance, implementation costs, limited specialist capabilities, market incentives, and regulatory technological capacity. The principal strategies were digital standardization of disclosure, ESG data governance, information-system integration, application of emerging technologies, phased implementation, and intelligent regulatory supervision. The anticipated consequences included improved transparency, comparability, and reliability; reduced information asymmetry and information risk; enhanced investor confidence and valuation processes; strengthened assurance and supervision; and potential reductions in the cost of capital. Digital sustainability reporting in Iran’s capital market should be understood as an institutional and structural transformation requiring the coordinated development of standards, data governance, technological infrastructure, professional capabilities, assurance mechanisms, and regulatory supervision rather than merely the adoption of digital reporting tools.

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