The Relationship Between Disclosure of Sustainability Reporting and Competitiveness Under the Moderating Role of Firm Age: An Applied Study

Purpose of the research: The research aimed to identify the effect of the company's age on the relationship between the disclosure of sustainability reports and the competitiveness of companies listed on the Egyptian Sustainability Index during the period from 1/1/2016 to 12/31/2023.
Design and methodology: This research was conducted through an applied study that used actual data for the annual financial statements of 71 companies listed on the Sustainability Index of the Egyptian Stock Exchange during the research period, where the number of observations reached 522 annual observations. Many appropriate statistical methods were used through the application of (SPSS) in analyzing the data and extracting the research results.
Results and recommendations: The research results (basic analysis and additional analysis) indicate a positive relationship between the disclosure of sustainability reports and the competitiveness (company value) of companies listed in the Egyptian Sustainability Index, while the effect of the control variables varied in terms of direction and importance in explaining the relationship with the dependent variable. The basic relationship became significantly negative when including the adjusted variable (company age) in the multiple regression model. The researcher recommended that the regulatory authorities in Egypt oblige all companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange to disclose sustainability information in their published financial reports due to its importance to all stakeholders.
Originality and Controbution: This research is in line with accounting research that focuses on the importance of sustainability reports in providing a comprehensive picture of the company's performance for all stakeholders, by providing applied evidence on the effect of the company's age on the relationship between the disclosure of sustainability reports and the competitiveness of companies in the Egyptian business environment, which may contribute to providing results that benefit regulatory and supervisory authorities in controlling the performance of Egyptian companies, and in a way that helps preparers of accounting standards in the future when setting an accounting standard that regulates the disclosure of sustainability reports and its mandatory application.