Historical Account of Key Words in Non-Financial Report Titles (A review of FT 500 corporations from 1989 to 2007)
This paper investigates the history of, and trends in, non-financial reporting, based on title analysis. The database consists of the titles of non-financial reports issued by FT 500 corporations from 1989 to 2007. The frequency and development of the three key words environment, <br />sustainability and responsibility (coded as “environment”, “sustainab” and<br />“responsib” to catch relevant versions) are investigated. The key words were initially applied by a few companies, and then grew in popularity. While “sustainab” and “responsib” are still growing in popularity, “environment” grew, peaked around 2002 and then reduced in frequency as a term in the titles. Based on business theories, the paper discusses alternative explanations for why corporations introduced the new key words in their non-financial reports. Whereas issuing non-financial reports can be understood from a legitimacy perspective, the introduction of new key words in the titles can be explained by a multitude of alternative theories. <br /><br />