Marta Sánchez-Sancho

Marta Sánchez-Sancho is a Predoctoral Fellow in Business Administration and Economics (Universidad de Salamanca), specifically in the field of accounting and finance. Her research interests focus on: i) sustainability reporting and assurance; ii) the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs); iv) investment decisions and capital market reactions.

She holds degrees in Business Administration and Law, both from the University of Salamanca. Furthermore, she have been specialized in the academic field with a Master's degree in Economics and Business Research. She also has research experience in accounting and finance, having worked as a researcher on the project "Gestión Económica para la Sostenibilidad" (CLU-2019-03), funded by the Junta de Castilla y León and the European Regional Development Fund. Currently, she is developing her PhD project with a prestigious pre-doctoral contract (FPU22/00699) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

EDUCATION

- Degree in Business Administration and Management (Universidad de Salamanca)
- Degree in Law (Universidad de Salamanca)
- Master's Degree in Economics and Business Research (Universidad de Salamanca)
- Predoctoral fellow in Business and Economics (Universidad de Salamanca)

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Business, Management and Accounting, Accounting, Finance

Scopus Publications

Socially Responsible Investors and Corporate Resistance to Climate Disruptions: Agents of Change or Passive Participants?
Alejandro J. Useche, Marta Sánchez‐Sancho, Jennifer Martínez‐Ferrero, Emma García‐Meca
Accounting and Finance, 2026
Climate change is a global challenge with far‐reaching implications for firms and capital markets. This study examines whether ownership by socially responsible investors (SRIs) enhances firms' resilience to climate shocks. Focusing on transition and physical climate risks, we analyse whether SRI ownership reduces firms' stock return sensitivity to climate events. Using a panel of listed European firms (2018–2022), we find that SRI ownership is associated with greater corporate capacity to manage climate disruptions. Further analyses show that SRIs are linked to firms' adoption of science‐based climate targets, higher green revenue shares, and lower carbon emissions intensity. However, these effects are conditional. SRI stewardship is stronger when investors are domiciled in countries with stringent climate regulations, maintain longer investment horizons, and invest in firms with high climate change exposure and located in jurisdictions with strong climate performance. These findings highlight the role of SRIs as catalysts for corporate climate adaptation while emphasizing boundary conditions that shape their active ownership.
Sustainability Assurance Practice Diversity and Idiosyncratic Risk in Carbon-Intensive Firms: A Textual Analysis Approach
Marta Sánchez‐Sancho, Jennifer Martínez‐Ferrero, Javier Perote‐Peña
Accounting and Finance, 2025
Sustainability assurance practice remains highly fragmented, resulting in considerable variation in assurance outcomes. Using a dataset of 1465 assurance reports (2018–2022), this study investigates the relationship between the level of assurance professionalism reflected in assurance reports and idiosyncratic risk in carbon‐intensive firms. Assurance professionalism is defined as the presence in assurance reports of explicit evaluations of qualitative dimensions of sustainability disclosures, including balance, materiality, completeness, reliability and accuracy. Our findings reveal that firms with higher levels of assurance professionalism exhibit lower idiosyncratic risk. In the context of carbon assurance, this effect depends on both the proportion of emissions assured and the level of assurance obtained. Moreover, higher assurance professionalism enhances firms' resilience to risks arising from climate transition shocks. Finally, the effects of assurance professionalism are more pronounced in voluntary assurance settings. This study contributes to ongoing debates on the heterogeneity of assurance practices and the role of assurance mechanisms in fostering accountability.
The paradigm of female directors in the managerial capture of sustainability assurance: an analysis supported by natural language processing methods
Meditari Accountancy Research, 2025
Managerial capture of sustainability assurance. Empirical evidence and capital market reactions
Marta Sánchez-Sancho, Jennifer Martínez-Ferrero, Javier Perote-Peña
Sustainability Accounting Management and Policy Journal, 2024
Purpose This paper aims to investigate the potential influence of managers on sustainability assurance. When the quality of sustainability reporting is questionable because of subsequent restatements, the authors explore whether assurance is used to enhance its credibility as a legitimization tool or as an impression management strategy. Additionally, the authors analyze how capital markets react to this potential managerial capture and, particularly, whether investors penalize this practice through the cost of capital. Design/methodology/approach Using an international sample from 2012 to 2016 and panel data regressions, this study relies on DICTION’s master variables of optimism and certainty to examine the impact of managers on assurance and the market’s reaction to these practices. Findings The study shows that some managers might use assurance as a legitimization tool rather than as a means of reinforcing the credibility of sustainability reporting. In such cases, the results reveal that investors penalize (reward) managerial influence (no influence) on assurance. Practical implications The new findings help companies understand that they will not improve their financing terms if investors perceive that managers have influenced assurance. Moreover, these findings emphasize the need for standardization to clarify assurance criteria and prevent managerial influence. Social implications Managerial influence on assurance raises doubts about its value in terms of reducing information asymmetry and especially improving investors’ decision-making. Originality/value The present study represents the first evidence of the potential use of assurance for non-informative purposes. The authors provide clear evidence of how investors penalize managerial influence on assurance, in contrast to the mainstream literature, which shows that this practice always improves investors’ decision-making and is rewarded.

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

Socially Responsible Investors and Corporate Resistance to Climate Disruptions: Agents of Change or Passive Participants?
AJ Useche, M Sánchez‐Sancho, J Martínez‐Ferrero, E García‐Meca
Accounting & Finance , 2026
2026
The paradigm of female directors in the managerial capture of sustainability assurance: an analysis supported by natural language processing methods
J Martinez-Ferrero, M Sánchez-Sancho, E García-Meca
Meditari Accountancy Research 33 (5-6), 1293-1328 , 2025
2025
Citations: 1
Sustainability Assurance Practice Diversity and Idiosyncratic Risk in Carbon‐Intensive Firms: A Textual Analysis Approach
M Sánchez‐Sancho, J Martínez‐Ferrero, J Perote‐Peña
Accounting & Finance , 2025
2025
Citations: 3
Managerial capture of sustainability assurance. Empirical evidence and capital market reactions
M Sánchez-Sancho, J Martínez-Ferrero, J Perote-Peña
Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal , 2023
2023
Citations: 20
La fiscalidad ambiental como mecanismo activador del modelo de economía circular en España: el camino hacia una tasa de residuos de carácter medioambiental
M Sánchez Sancho
2022
Citations: 1

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

Managerial capture of sustainability assurance. Empirical evidence and capital market reactions
M Sánchez-Sancho, J Martínez-Ferrero, J Perote-Peña
Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal , 2023
2023
Citations: 20
Sustainability Assurance Practice Diversity and Idiosyncratic Risk in Carbon‐Intensive Firms: A Textual Analysis Approach
M Sánchez‐Sancho, J Martínez‐Ferrero, J Perote‐Peña
Accounting & Finance , 2025
2025
Citations: 3
The paradigm of female directors in the managerial capture of sustainability assurance: an analysis supported by natural language processing methods
J Martinez-Ferrero, M Sánchez-Sancho, E García-Meca
Meditari Accountancy Research 33 (5-6), 1293-1328 , 2025
2025
Citations: 1
La fiscalidad ambiental como mecanismo activador del modelo de economía circular en España: el camino hacia una tasa de residuos de carácter medioambiental
M Sánchez Sancho
2022
Citations: 1
Socially Responsible Investors and Corporate Resistance to Climate Disruptions: Agents of Change or Passive Participants?
AJ Useche, M Sánchez‐Sancho, J Martínez‐Ferrero, E García‐Meca
Accounting & Finance , 2026
2026

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

1) Beca de colaboración (Instituto Multidisciplinar de Empresa, Universidad de Salamanca), 2022
2) Researcher (Instituto Multidisciplinar de Empresa, Universidad de Salamanca), 2022/2023
3) Predoctoral fellow (FPU22/00699, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, España), 2024-2028