scholarly journals Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans B. Christensen ◽  
Luzi Hail ◽  
Christian Leuz
Keyword(s):  
Firm Behavior ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Reporting Standards ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Corporate Social

AbstractThis study collates potential economic effects of mandated disclosure and reporting standards for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability topics. We first outline key features of CSR reporting. Next, we draw on relevant academic literatures in accounting, finance, economics, and management to discuss and evaluate the potential economic consequences of a requirement for CSR and sustainability reporting for U.S. firms, including effects in capital markets, on stakeholders other than investors, and on firm behavior. We also discuss issues related to the implementation and enforcement of CSR and sustainability reporting standards as well as two approaches to sustainability reporting that differ in their overarching goals and materiality standards. Our analysis yields a number of insights that are relevant for the current debate on mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting. It also points scholars to avenues for future research.

scholarly journals The Standardization of Down-Streamed Small Business Social Responsibility (SBSR)

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 39-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Corazza
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Standard Management ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Sustainability Report ◽  
Small Business Social Responsibility

Scholars have begun to investigate the prevalence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper studies the implementation of non-financial sustainability reporting tools in Italian SMEs as part of their Small Business Social Responsibility (SBSR) long supply chain compact with large multinationals. The fundamental finding of this work is that because of the down-streaming effect of CSR reporting from large companies to small ones, SMEs approach sustainability as a standard management practice. The sample is composed of 73 Italian multi-certified entities (SA8000/ISO14001/EMAS) that have published their sustainability report online between 2011 and 2013. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to discover three otherwise un-observable underlying effects.

scholarly journals The Environmental Responsibility of the World’s Largest Banks

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bożena Ryszawska ◽  
Justyna Zabawa
Keyword(s):  
Comparison Method ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Reporting Standards ◽  
Professional Literature ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Environmentally Responsible ◽  
Environmental Actions ◽  
And Function ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Role And Function

Abstract Sustainability transition is changing the role and function of banks, specially their products and services also in relation to stakeholders. Banks are one of the main actors supporting the transition to sustainable economy. The purpose of this study is to emphasise the role of world’s largest banks in that process. Banks are slowly responding to the new demand of sustainability and responsibility, and they try to align with it. The paper is based on an overview of the world’s five largest banks that employ corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting standards, together with detailed enumeration of pro-environmental activities included in the reports. The first section of this paper presents the most popular approaches to the problem at hand, as reported in professional literature. Section two presents the characteristics of the CSR actions in banks. The third section discusses the environmental actions of the biggest banks in Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting the most popular standard for reporting non-financial information. And the last part of the paper presents the conclusions resulting from the article. The research was conducted using a variety of sources, such as scientific articles, statistical data, CSR reports of the world’s largest banks, as well reporting principles and standard disclosures. The basic method used in the process of writing was a critical analysis of literature and reports concerning the CSR reporting standards, environmental responsibilities of different kinds of entities, as well as own observations based on special reports of banks. In the article, also the analysis of financial market data, induction method and comparison method have been used. The main conclusions of the analysis of the CSR reports disclosed by the world’s largest banks confirm all three of the theses presented in the article. The findings suggest that the banks under study can be regarded as environmentally responsible entities. Their reports and disclosures are produced according to the internationally recognized standards. There are also critical opinions about the standards for reporting environmental information, but the weaknesses of reporting these aspects do not undermine the benefits of using the GRI guidelines.

scholarly journals Case Study Analysis of Sustainability Reporting of an Agri-Food Giant

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4491
Author(s):  
Irena Jindřichovská ◽  
Dana Kubíčková ◽  
Mihaela Mocanu
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Corporate Management ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Analytical Thinking ◽  
Sufficient Detail ◽  
Corporate Social

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the discussion of how large companies in the agri-food sector cope with the growing pressure to perform sustainably and how they disclose sustainability-related information to their stakeholders. To achieve this goal, we used the case study method. We analyzed Cargill’s specific approach to sustainability reporting, who is a company with a 150-year history and worldwide activities. We used reports from the year 2014 and 2018. The core of our analysis lies in the content analysis of the text using 39 corporate social responsibility (CSR) keywords (Cohen, 2010). The frequency of keywords related to the three aspects of CSR was measured to reveal the areas that the company considers most important and those upon which it draws the attention of users. To complement this analysis, we then investigated the linguistic features of Cargill’s sustainability reports, which employed the LIWC2015 program (LIWC–Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count) and focused on four features of disclosure (analytical thinking, clout, authenticity, and emotional tone). The findings of our research confirmed that the dominant companies in the agri-food business have reacted to challenges of their social environment and changed their attitude to keep up with the current stage of social development. Sustainability reporting is elaborated and covers all aspects of the company’s activity in sufficient detail. This attitude developed continuously despite it not always being appreciated by Cargill’s stakeholders. The main limitation of our study lies in the method which did not allow even with the greatest effort to eliminate subjectivity. The other limitation relates to the specific features of the company and its position within the world economy and also to its long history, which determined the form and extent of reporting. However, our findings are indicative and inspiring for future research. Our results contribute to the debate concerning the form, content, and evolution of sustainability reporting. Moreover, our results can be used in practice by corporate management, when designing their marketing strategy, plans, and programs. We claim that the biggest challenge for big multinationals like Cargill in these days is to effectively protect the nature and respect the law in jurisdictions where there is traditionally low incentive to obey the rules because of poor regulations and many opportunities to misuse their dominant position.

Tax Disclosures in Financial and CSR Reporting as a Deterrence for Evasion

2021 ◽  
pp. 397-427
Author(s):  
Fábio Albuquerque ◽  
Julija Cassiano Neves
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Reporting Standards ◽  
Effective Tax Rate ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Tax Aggressiveness ◽  
Financial Reporting Standards ◽  
Csr Reporting

This chapter is about the mandatory disclosure of income tax as required by international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and standards issued by Portuguese regulatory bodies. The chapter also elaborates the most relevant disclosures from the perspective of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Furthermore, it highlights the most influential CSR reporting standards to answer the question that whether these standards adequately address the issue of income tax payment as a factor of CSR. Finally, it also reviews the international and Portuguese theoretical and empirical academic research available about income taxes and related subjects, such as disclosures, corporate tax as a CSR matter, and tax aggressiveness of corporations. Future research may be conducted geographical reporting of income tax expense and its relationship with the effective tax rate (ETR) and other independent variables.

scholarly journals Revisiting economic burdens of malaria in the face of climate change: a conceptual analysis for Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amsalu Woldie Yalew
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Malaria Incidence ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Malaria Risk ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Purpose Climate change affects the geographic and seasonal range of malaria incidence, especially, in poor tropical countries. This paper aims to attempt to conceptualize the potential economic repercussions of such effects with its focus on Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach The paper is conceptual and descriptive in its design. It first reviews existing literature and evidence on the economic burdens of malaria, and the impacts of climate change on malaria disease. It then draws the economic implications of the expected malaria risk under the future climate. This is accompanied by a discussion on a set of methods that can be used to quantify the economic effects of malaria with or without climate change. Findings A review of available evidence shows that climate change is likely to increase the geographic and seasonal range of malaria incidence in Ethiopia. The economic consequences of even a marginal increase in malaria risk will be substantial as one considers the projected impacts of climate change through other channels, the current population exposed to malaria risk and the country’s health system, economic structure and level of investment. The potential effects have the potency to require more household and public spending for health, to perpetuate poverty and inequality and to strain agricultural and regional development. Originality/value This paper sheds light on the economic implications of climate change impacts on malaria, particularly, in Agrarian countries laying in the tropics. It illustrates how such impacts will interact with other impact channels of climate change, and thus evolve to influence the macro-economy. The paper also proposes a set of methods that can be used to quantify the potential economic effects of malaria. The paper seeks to stimulate future research on this important topic which rather has been neglected.

scholarly journals Analisis Semiotik Pada Pelaporan Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Saat Pandemi Covid-19 Di Pertamina TBBM Baubau

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-320
Author(s):  
Endang Tri Pratiwi
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Adequate Funding ◽  
The Government ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Collection Methods

The Indonesian Government's efforts in dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak require support from private sector/other institutions with adequate funding capacity. One of the BUMNs that actively contributed to the handling of the outbreak was PT. Pertamina. This study aims to determine the semiotic analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting during the Covid-19 pandemic at Pertamina TBBM Baubau. The population were all of Pertamina TBBM Baubau CSR reports, while the sample was Pertamina TBBM Baubau CSR reporting during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Data collection methods were through interviews, documentation, and literature study. The data analysis used is semiotic analysis through a descriptive analytic approach in accordance with the meaning of symbols, words and sentences in the sustainability reporting of Pertamina TBBM Baubau. The results showed that there were four CSR programs that were fully transferred to the handling of Covid-19 at Baubau City in 2020. This condition is a synergy between the Government and managers for efforts to handle Covid-19 through the distribution of CSR funds.

The Standardization of Down-Streamed Small Business Social Responsibility (SBSR)

2019 ◽  
pp. 670-685
Author(s):  
Laura Corazza
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Standard Management ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Sustainability Report ◽  
Small Business Social Responsibility

Scholars have begun to investigate the prevalence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper studies the implementation of non-financial sustainability reporting tools in Italian SMEs as part of their Small Business Social Responsibility (SBSR) long supply chain compact with large multinationals. The fundamental finding of this work is that because of the down-streaming effect of CSR reporting from large companies to small ones, SMEs approach sustainability as a standard management practice. The sample is composed of 73 Italian multi-certified entities (SA8000/ISO14001/EMAS) that have published their sustainability report online between 2011 and 2013. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to discover three otherwise un-observable underlying effects.

scholarly journals Social responsibility reporting standards

2021 ◽  
pp. 27-43
Author(s):  
Ana Rep ◽  
Nikolina Dečman
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Financial Information ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Voluntary Standards ◽  
Sustain Ability ◽  
Corporate Social

It is well known that today, in addition to already established financial reporting, multi-national companies are paying more and more attention to non-financial reporting on social, eco-nomic, environmental and governmental issues. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting is still predominantly voluntary, and it is not standardized. However, there are various international organizations which have been developing frameworks and voluntary standards for non-financial reporting. Those organizations have been putting a sizable amount of effort, time, and knowledge in order to offer some specific solutions to interested organizations preparing CSR reports. Pro-posed standards, guidelines, and frameworks serve as tools for simplifying CSR reporting. In that sense, the most important providers of sustainability reporting guidance, such as GRI, OECD, United Nations Global Compact, International Organization for Standardization, certainly stand out. A significant contribution to promoting the importance of sustainability reporting was also made by the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (2014/95/EU) which obliged large public interest companies with over 500 employees to disclose certain non-financial information. According to the analysis of the content and scope of the most important frameworks and standards of sustain-ability reporting, it can be confirmed that they have certainly contributed to improving the quality of non-financial reporting.

CSR reporting and assurance legitimacy: a client–assuror dyad investigation

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Emily Hickman ◽  
Jane Cote
Keyword(s):  
Vice President ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Similar Work ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Supportive Management

Purpose Drawing on new insights from the experiences and perspectives of a prominent reporting client and its assurance team, the purpose of this paper is to explore the question: what are challenges to the legitimacy of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting and assurance? Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative research approach, in-depth, semi-structured interviews are conducted with a Fortune 200 firm’s Vice President responsible for CSR oversight (including CSR reporting), and with the report’s assurance team from a Top 20 accounting firm. Questions are informed by existing literature, and analysis focuses on new insights that conform to, or contrast with, prior studies in areas that may challenge the legitimacy of CSR reporting. Findings The study documents that reporting and assurance may often serve the respective commercial and professional interests of the firm and the assuror, rather than providing accountability to the public interest. Specifically, the authors find that legitimacy-challenging instances of managerial capture of CSR reporting may co-exist in a firm with management-as-CSR-champion, in contrast with existing literature. Prior research has assumed these two constructs are not likely to co-exist within a single organization. The interviews suggest that managerial influence is fostered by the lack of reporting standards and the absence of agreement regarding the over-arching purpose of CSR reports and their assurance. Research limitations/implications Going forward, researchers should consider the multifaceted role management can play in CSR reporting and assurance, rather than treating managerial capture and management-as-champion as mutually exclusive. Future research could also examine how standards may balance desired comparability with flexibility in CSR reporting. Practical implications The study will interest report users who may assume that a seemingly supportive management would not play a restrictive role in the reporting and assurance processes. Reporters and assurors will benefit from reading the perspectives provided by professionals engaged in similar work, including the challenges they face, such as the consequences resulting from the lack of standards for CSR reporting and assurance. Originality/value The study is the first to provide a behind-the-scenes view of the report–assuror dyad by interviewing both the reporting firm and the assurance team engaged on the same CSR report.

A Study of Corporate Social Responsibility Reports in China (Reporting Year 2009)

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
_ _
Keyword(s):  
Reporting Standards ◽  
Corporate Values ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
International Language ◽  
International Reporting ◽  
Report Quality ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility Reports

Abstract CSR reporting in China is attracting unprecedented attention. In 2009, 582 CSR reports were published, 3.44 times the 169 published in 2008, in a “wellspring’’ increasing trend. While China’s reports comprised roughly 5% of all those published globally, China’s share surged to 15% in 2009. The overall quality of CSR reports in China is not high. Roughly half are still in their beginning phases and lack breadth and depth in the information reported. The coverage rate of various indicators is low, as is the degree to which reports adhere to international reporting standards. They still fell short on responding to the concerns of stakeholders and embodying company’s values. China’s CSR reports are also markedly weaker both in terms of report quality and the composition of the entities on which reports were produced. Still, there is enormous potential for China’s CSR reports. In coming years, we fully expect the number published to sustain its rapid increase, the quality to improve greatly, and we expect these reports to be served as a common international language among corporations, in which their corporate values can be expressed.

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