In recent years, greater attention has been paid to sustainability issues. Companies have received increasing pressure from stakeholders to adopt sustainable behavior and provide an adequate representation of sustainability practices. Nonfinancial disclosure has thus taken on a crucial role. In the academic field, several researchers have analyzed the effects of nonfinancial disclosure. However, limited attention has been paid to the impact of nonfinancial information on the cost of debt. This study aims at bridging this gap by analyzing the effect of ESG disclosure on the cost of debt. The fixed effects analysis conducted on a sample of 8264 observations (an unbalanced panel data of 919 firms for the period 2010-2019), shows a negative effect of the ESG disclosure on the cost of debt financing. The results demonstrate that companies with greater levels of transparency in the dissemination of ESG information benefit from accessing third party financial resources at better conditions.

PurposeIn recent years, policymakers have increasingly pushed firms to disclose non-financial information. In Europe, integrated reporting (IR) is an increasingly adopted tool to fully comply with the requirements of the Directive 2014/95/EU. This study aims to examine the financial benefits of IR quality and specifically the effect on the cost of debt.Design/methodology/approachA manual content analysis is performed to measure the quality of the information contained in integrated reports. A panel regression model is used to test the effect of the IR quality on the cost of debt on a sample of 399 observations (a balanced panel of 133 European listed firms for the period 2017–2019).FindingsResults demonstrate a negative relationship between IR quality and the cost of debt, showing that firms that provide higher quality integrated reports benefit from access to third party financial resources at better conditions.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this study offer important implications for managers and policymakers. The capacity of IR quality to allow a cost of debt reduction should push managers to a greater propensity towards transparency and the dissemination of high quality integrated reports. In addition, in light of the benefits connected to the IR quality, policymakers should push towards the adoption of IR as a solution to fulfil the regulatory obligations deriving from Directive 2014/95/EU.Practical implicationsResults show the goodness of IR as an ideal solution to fulfil the obligations imposed by Directive 2014/95/EU. The important financial benefits associated with IR quality make the high quality integrated report an ideal tool capable of fulfilling regulatory obligations and at the same time guaranteeing a reduction in the cost of debt.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work that analyses the relationship between IR quality and cost of debt.

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Purpose Posterior-only approach arthrodesis by all-pedicle screw instrumentation has a correction rate similar to correction obtained by traditional combined anterior/posterior approach surgery and avoids the complications associated with the thoracic approach. Methods We treated 25 patients, with a mean age 16.5 years, with severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis by posterior-only approach using all-screw instrumentation arthrodesis. Mean scoliosis curve in Cobb degrees was 95°C obb. All cases were treated by the same senior surgeon, by free hand technique, without intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring and spine navigation aids. Results Mean scoliosis curve after surgery was 37°Cobb. Mean follow-up was 4 years. No perioperative complications, curve progression or arthrodesis malunion were reported at the follow-up. Conclusions Posterior spinal fusion with pedicle screwonly instrumentation obtains a good and stable correction of severe scoliosis; compared to hybrid instrumentation, it allows a greater coronal correction of the deformity and less correction loss at the follow-up.