scholarly journals Sustainability Reporting by Firms in the Nigerian Economy: Social versus Environmental Disclosure

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alhassan Haladu ◽  
Basariah Bt. Salim
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Social Reporting ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure ◽  
Environmentally Sensitive ◽  
Social And Environmental Reporting ◽  
The Impact

Purpose: There is need for specialization on individual categories of sustainability information disclosure.  An attempt has been made in this study to make a comparison between the environmental and social categories of sustainability disclosure. Methodology: Guided by the G4 sustainability reporting guidelines, environmentally sensitive companies in the Nigerian economy were analyzed for 6 years (2009-2014).  Separate assessments and comparisons were made between environmental reporting and social reporting on the impact, influence and significance of their relationships using Stata13SE analytical tool. Findings: The results shows that firms performed better on social reporting than on environmental reporting in terms of higher sustainability disclosure rates and significant relationships. Research Implications: The current trend of reporting sustainability information disclosure under both social and environmental reporting is encouraging considering the fact that disclosure on sustainability issues in Nigeria is voluntary. Practical Implications: Firms in environmentally sensitive sectors are disclosing sustainability information than expected. Originality/Value: The uniqueness in comparing sustainability disclosures between environmental information and social information.

Sustainability Reporting

2020 ◽  
pp. 92-117
Author(s):  
Dana Maria (Oprea) Constantin ◽  
Dan Ioan Topor ◽  
Sorinel Căpușneanu ◽  
Alexandru Lucian Manole
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Presentation Format ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure ◽  
External Stakeholders ◽  
The Impact

This chapter presents, in a descriptive manner, the interrelation of the sustainability reporting concepts and the sustainability disclosure through internal and external stakeholders. The main objectives of this chapter are approaching the disclosure of environmental information, presenting the views of the stakeholders on the content and format of environmental reporting. The factors underlying the disclosure of the environmental information and the impact of these, including the views stakeholders on the content and presentation format of the environmental reporting, are presented and analyzed. A case study is also presented in order to highlight the disclosure and presentation of the environmental report of an industrial entity and the importance of the accounting information provided. This chapter brings a theoretical contribution to expand the knowledge on the environmental disclosure and reporting approaches. The authors' approaches remain open to the expansion of these issues at both national and international level and both in the academia and business area.

Factors influencing corporate sustainability disclosure practices: empirical evidence from Indian National Stock Exchange

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kishore Kumar ◽  
Ranjita Kumari ◽  
Archana Poonia ◽  
Rakesh Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Free Cash Flow ◽  
Government Ownership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Flow Capacity ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the nature and extent of sustainability disclosure practices of publicly listed companies in India. Further, it investigates the impact of potential determinants on the sustainability disclosure of companies. Design/methodology/approach The study analyzes data of 75 top listed nonbanking companies operating in India included in NIFTY100 Index for the years 2014-2015 to 2018-2019. In the present study, environment, social and governance disclosure dimensions were considered to evaluate the sustainability reporting performance of companies using content analysis. Panel data analysis was conducted to investigate the impact of various factors on the extent of sustainability information disclosure. Findings Results indicate that environmentally polluting industries disclose significantly higher sustainability information than non-polluting industries in India. The empirical findings suggest that determinants such as company size, age, free cash flow capacity, government ownership and global reporting initiative (GRI) usage positively related to the extent of corporate sustainability disclosure. Contrary to the expectations, financial leverage and profitability were found to be negatively related to the sustainability disclosure of companies in India. Practical implications This study provides empirical evidence for regulators, practitioners and corporate strategists to assess the progress in the sustainability reporting landscape in India. The finding implies that large and established companies can reduce legitimacy costs through higher sustainability information disclosure. Interestingly, this premise did not hold in the case of high leveraged and profitable companies. Overall findings can also help policymakers to incorporate necessary reforms to improve sustainability reporting in India. Originality/value This study is one of the first studies to investigate the nature, extent and potential determinants of corporate sustainability disclosure in India. The paper adds to the existing literature on sustainability reporting by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between sustainability reporting and potential determinants such as government ownership, size, leverage, profitability, age, free cash flow capacity, industry and GRI usage.

scholarly journals Sustainability & Risk Disclosure: An Exploratory Study on Sustainability Reports

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Truant ◽  
Laura Corazza ◽  
Simone Domenico Scagnelli
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Risk Disclosure ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Institutional Pressure ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure ◽  
International Integrated Reporting Council ◽  
Social And Environmental Reporting

Recent policies’ changes in sustainability reporting, such as the ones related to the new European Directive on non-financial disclosure, the standards issued by the American Sustainability Accounting Standard Board (SASB), the G4 guidelines issued by the Global Sustainability Standard Board (GSSB-GRI) and the framework of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) are stressing about the importance of extending the disclosure of ethical, social and environmental risks within social and environmental reporting. Institutional pressure has notably increased among organizations, in setting-up risk management tools to understand sustainability risks within managerial and reporting practices. Given such institutional pressure, the corporate reaction in providing additional sustainability risk disclosure call for attention and scrutiny. Therefore, this study aims at addressing such issues from an exploratory perspective. We based our analysis on a sample of organizations that issued sustainability disclosure in accordance with the GRI G4 guidelines, and we tested the relationship between risk disclosure and other relevant variables. Consistently with the literature, we found that “experienced” sustainable reporters provide a significant volume of disclosure, and that disclosure quality on risk is positively influenced by their international presence and reporting experience. However, when accounting for specific risk-related areas of disclosure, only few of them seems to adopt a management accounting perspective linking strategy, risk metrics and disclosure.

scholarly journals Managing Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure: An Accountability vs. Impression Management Framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 296
Author(s):  
Adelaide Martins ◽  
Delfina Gomes ◽  
Manuel Castelo Branco
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Impression Management ◽  
Organizational Legitimacy ◽  
Social Reporting ◽  
Corporate Accountability ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Social Reporting ◽  
Corporate Social

Institutional environment demands from organizations to be accountable for their social and environmental actions and to provide information allowing the assessment of their long-term prospects for profitability may lead organizations to adopt Impression Management (IM) tactics to manage perceptions. Consequently, organizations may provide accounts demonstrating that they are good corporate citizens and possess the intangible assets required for future good financial performance. Although organizations have increased their corporate social reporting, the quality and reliability of those reports have been questioned. The literature suggests that these disclosures tend to be selective and biased, and do not enhance corporate accountability. This study proposes a formal conceptual framework linking IM, social and environmental accountability, financial performance, and organizational legitimacy. The arguments in this study are of economic, societal, and ethical concern, as IM behaviors may undermine the transparency of social and environmental reporting, and the decoupling between the economic and social image offered by companies through reporting and the reality. These insights also point at the complexities for organizations in dealing with accountability to all stakeholders. The conceptual framework proposed is useful for future studies aiming at understanding how organizations use IM in their corporate social reporting in the accountability process.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Jurisdiction and the Local Authority’s Online Sustainability Disclosure

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Corina Joseph ◽  
Heidi Christy Mingi Michael
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
General Linear Model ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Quantitative Phase ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure ◽  
Bureaucratic Procedure ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Qualitative Phase

<p>The objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between jurisdiction and the extent of sustainability information disclosure on Malaysian local authority websites. The extent of online sustainability disclosure is examined utilizing the coercive isomorphism tenet in both quantitative and qualitative phases.  In the quantitative stage, the analysis of 139 websites was conducted. The General Linear Model is utilized to determine the relationship between jurisdiction (measured by different states) and the extent of online sustainability information disclosure. In the qualitative phase, the semi-structured interviews were carried out to answer the underlying possible reasons derived from the quantitative phase. The quantitative phase provided evidence that various states have applied distinctive degree of coercive pressures on the extent of sustainability information disclosure on Malaysian local authority websites.  The interview findings revealed additional factors that are relating to the jurisdiction: political, state leadership, and bureaucratic procedure implemented by different states. The paper has recognized the impact of coercive isomorphism for the jurisdiction utilizing both quantitative and qualitative phases.</p>

scholarly journals Sustainability Reporting Quality of Peruvian Listed Companies and the Impact of Regulatory Requirements of Sustainability Disclosures

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian R. Loza Adaui
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Regulatory Requirements ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure ◽  
The Impact

Regulations establishing mandatory sustainability reporting practices are proliferating around the world. The empirical evidence comparing sustainability reporting quality (SRQ) in the context of mandatory and voluntary institutional frameworks does not show consensus. Similarly, this occurs with studies addressing the effects of regulatory shocks on SRQ. Moreover, empirical evidence addressing SRQ in Latin American countries is scarce. To fill this gap, this study aims to explore the consequences of introducing new regulatory requirements for sustainability disclosure on SRQ of Peruvian companies. To reach that goal, 81 sustainability disclosure documents published between 2014 and 2016 by 27 companies included in the S&P/BVL Peru General Index of Lima’s Stock Exchange were analyzed using qualitative content analysis methods and adopting a multidimensional approach for SRQ evaluation. The findings show a constant improvement of SRQ regardless of the introduction of the new regulatory requirements. Furthermore, after the entry into force of new sustainability reporting obligations, the number of companies providing third-party independent assurance of the information contained in their sustainability disclosure documents decreases, suggesting that for the Peruvian case, regulatory requirements tend to discourage companies to invest in the credibility of their sustainability disclosure documents, and promote a symbolic application of sustainability disclosure standards.

scholarly journals Governmental Ownership of Voluntary Sustainability Information Disclosure in an Emerging Economy: Evidence from Vietnam

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6686
Author(s):  
Hang Thi Thuy Pham ◽  
Sung-Chang Jung ◽  
Su-Yol Lee
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Emerging Economy ◽  
Government Ownership ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Corporate Governance Mechanisms ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure ◽  
Positive Effect

Emerging economies have increasingly paid attention to sustainability issues in the business circle. However, few studies have explored what facilitates sustainability information disclosure. This study examines how corporate governance mechanisms, particularly government ownership, affect sustainability disclosure in an emerging economy—Vietnam. By combining related research streams, including stakeholder theory, institutional perspective, and principal–agent theory, we present a hypothesis on the effect of corporate governance on sustainability reporting. The logistic regression analysis and analysis of variance on 2678 Vietnamese sample firm-years from 2010 through 2016 indicate that government ownership is negatively associated with voluntary environmental and social information disclosure. Additionally, they demonstrate that ownership concentration tends to lower non-financial information disclosure, while individual largest shareholder has a positive effect. These findings provide managers and policymakers with theoretical and practical implications to encourage firms in emerging Asian economies such as Vietnam to adopt sustainability activities and disclose social information.

The relationship between environmental disclosure quality and earnings quality: a panel study of an emerging market

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 326-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Alipour ◽  
Mehrdad Ghanbari ◽  
Babak Jamshidinavid ◽  
Aliasghar Taherabadi
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Market ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Disclosure Quality ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between corporate environmental disclosure quality (EDQ) and earnings quality (EQ). Design/methodology/approach The paper uses earnings persistence and accruals quality as a measures of EQ. The paper also uses panel data regression to examine the association between EDQ and EQ for a sample of 107 Iran non-financial firms. Two different theoretical frameworks are used to clarify whether and to what extent an association may exist as an explicit relationship between EDQ and EQ. Findings After controlling for several firm-specific characteristics, the results show that between 2011 and 2016, there has been a significant positive relationship between EDQ and EQ. Practical implications This study sheds light on the relevance of regulating corporate reporting within a setting where companies are already voluntarily reporting on environmental information. Findings have implications for policymakers who have mandated or considering mandating environmental reporting. To the policymakers, in particular, this study highlights the need for incorporating, within the listing rules, minimum requirements in relation to the nature and content of environmental reports. Social implications The findings have implications for stakeholders in terms of effective information quality. The findings are important as more environmentally responsible firms may provide higher quality, more reliable and more transparent information to meet the ethical expectations of stakeholders. Originality/value This is the first study in Iran that considered the impact of EDQ on EQ. This study contributes to the literature on the relationship between EDQ and EQ by showing that the EDQ in Iran is associated with the EQ.

scholarly journals Determinants of Environmental Disclosure in Thai Corporate Annual Reports

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muttanachai Suttipun ◽  
Patricia Stanton
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Industry Group ◽  
Common Location ◽  
Simple Sampling

This study investigated the extent and content of environmental information disclosure provided in the annual reports of companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), and tested whether there were any relationships between the amount of environmental disclosure and a number of company characteristics used in previous studies conducted in more developed countries. By using a simple sampling method, 75 listed companies were selected for inclusion in the study based on their 2007 annual reports. The findings indicate that 62 companies (83%) provided environmental information in their annual reports. Companies in the resources industry group made the most disclosure of environmental information, while the least disclosure was made by companies in the agricultural and food industries group. The most common location of environmental reporting in annual reports was under the topic of corporate governance. The most common themes of disclosures were environmental policy, environmental activities, and waste management. There was a positive relationship between the amount of environmental disclosures and size of company.

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