Compliance in Sustainability Reporting

Positive Trend ◽

Reporting Practices ◽

Main Achievement ◽

Corporate Reporting ◽

Sustainability Reports

The research is aimed at assessing the benefits of compliance for corporate sustainability and sustainable development. The main achievement of the research is the outcome of the survey on companies' public reports to identify the trends and measure the progress achieved in disclosing information on compliance. There are both business and public drivers for disclosure of compliance information in non-financial reporting. Best practices in disclosing information on compliance by the company-leaders were revealed. There is a positive trend in the expansion of information on compliance in sustainability reports in recent years. Some problematic areas in reporting on compliance were identified. The outcomes of the research call for companies to disclose information on compliance in a more explicit way. The results may be valid for the improvement of corporate reporting practices.

Corporate Sustainability Practices in Polluting Industries: Evidence from India, China and USA

Problemy Ekorozwoju ◽

10.35784/pe.2020.1.17 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 161-168

Author(s):

Prem Sagar Mishra ◽

◽

Ajay Kumar ◽

Niladri Das

Keyword(s):

Financial Reporting ◽

Social Performance ◽

Legitimacy Theory ◽

Reporting Practices ◽

Corporate World ◽

Financial Perspective ◽

Sustainability Reports ◽

Sustainability Practices

In recent years, the tilt of the corporate world towards non-financial reporting can be clearly seen from traditional accounting practices. Sustainability reporting disclosures are an important tool for providing information about the environmental and social performance of companies to their various stakeholders. From a financial perspective, for any firm, there is always a possibility of reporting more of the information that favours their interests or conceal that which is not in their favour. This study evaluates the annual and sustainability reports of 380 Indian, 400 Chinese and 400 USA companies from five highly polluting industries on the basis of GRI (global reporting initiatives) guidelines. From the result, it is inferred that the findings are consistent with the legitimacy theory. The result shows that the profitability and capital structure of firms in the sample do not affect the sustainability reporting practices significantly. In addition, larger firms have a tendency to disclose more information in their annual and sustainability reports than smaller firms.

Matter of opinion

Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal ◽

10.1108/aaaj-11-2016-2788 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

pp. 1043-1072 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jenni Puroila ◽

Hannele Mäkelä

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Stakeholder Engagement ◽

Qualitative Content Analysis ◽

Rational Approach ◽

Content Type ◽

Reporting Practices ◽

Political Role ◽

Sustainability Reports

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the socio-political role of materiality assessment in sustainability reporting literature and discuss the potential of materiality assessment to advance more inclusive accounting and reporting practices, in particular critical dialogic accounting. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on literature on the concept of materiality together with insights from stakeholder engagement, commensuration and critical dialogic accounting the paper analyses disclosure on materiality in sustainability reports. Empirically, qualitative content analysis is used to analyse 44 sustainability reports from the leading companies. Findings The authors argue that, first, the technic-rational approach to materiality portrays the assessment as a neutral and value-free measurement, and second, the materiality matrix presents the multiple stakeholders as having a unified understanding of what is considered important in corporate sustainability. Thus, the technic-rational approach to the materiality assessment, reinforced with the use of the matrix is a value-laden judgement of what matters in corporate sustainability and narrows down rather than opens up the complexity of the assessment of material sustainability issues, stakeholder engagement and the societal pursuit of sustainable development. Originality/value The understandings and implications of the concept of materiality are ambiguous and wide-reaching, as, through constituting the legitimised set of claims and information on corporate sustainable performance, it impacts our understanding of sustainable development at large, and affects the corporate and policy-level transition towards sustainability. Exploring insights from critical dialogic accounting help us to elaborate on the conceptions and practical implications of materiality assessment that enhance stakeholder engagement in a democratic, rather than managerial, spirit.

Why “Less is More” in Non-Financial Reporting Initiatives: Concrete Steps Towards Supporting Sustainability

Accounting Economics and Law - A Convivium ◽

10.1515/ael-2018-0045 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Georgina Tsagas ◽

Charlotte Villiers

Keyword(s):

Financial Reporting ◽

Integrated Reporting ◽

Less Is More ◽

Csr Reporting ◽

Corporate Reporting ◽

Long Run ◽

The Individual ◽

Key Aspects

AbstractCalls are repeatedly made on corporations to respond to the challenges facing the planet from a sustainable development perspective and governments take solace in the idea that corporations' transparency on their corporate activity in relation to sustainability through voluntary reporting is adequately addressing the problem. In practice, however, reporting is failing to deliver truly sustainable results. The article considers the following questions: how does the varied reporting landscape in the field of non-financial reporting impede the objectives of fostering corporations' sustainable practices and which initiative, among the options available, may best meet the sustainability objectives after a decluttering of the landscape takes place?The article argues that the varied corporate reporting landscape constitutes a key obstacle to fostering sustainable corporate behaviour, insofar as the flexible and please all approach followed in the context of corporate sustainability reporting offers little to no real incentive to companies to behave more sustainably and ultimately pleases none in the long run. The case made is that “less is more” in non-financial reporting initiatives and hence the article calls for a revision of key aspects of the European Non-Financial Reporting Directive, which, as is argued, is more likely to achieve the furtherance of sustainable corporate behaviour. Although the different reporting requirements offer the benefits of focussing on different corporate goals and activities, targeting different audiences and allowing for a level of flexibility that respects the individual risks to sustainability associated with each industry, the end result is a landscape that lacks overall consistency and comparability of measurements and accountabilities, making accountability more, rather than less, difficult to achieve.The article acknowledges the existence of several variances relating to the notion of sustainability per se, which continues to remain a contested concept and variances between companies and industries in relation to how each is operating sustainably or unsustainably respectively. Such variances have so far inhibited the legislator from easily outlining through tailored legislation the individual risks to global sustainability in an all-encompassing manner. The end product is a chaotic system of financial reporting, CSR reporting, non-financial reporting and integrated reporting and little progress to increase comparability and credibility in order for companies to be held accountable and to behave in ways that do not harm the planet. A “clean up” of the varied initiatives in the terrain of non-financial reporting is recommended.

The Role of Disability and Accessibility in Corporate Sustainability Reporting

International Journal of Disability Management ◽

10.1017/idm.2020.6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Christian Vogelauer ◽

David M. Herold ◽

Elmar Fuerst

Keyword(s):

Social Dimension ◽

Management Tool ◽

Critical Elements ◽

Corporate Reporting ◽

The Social ◽

Sustainability Reports ◽

Flexible Management

Abstract Although companies increasingly focus on the social dimension in corporate sustainability, there seems to be a lack of understanding how and to what extent disability and accessibility frameworks and activities are integrated in corporate sustainability reports. In this article, we aim to close this gap by (a) analysing the disability and accessibility (D&A) activities from the largest 50 companies in Europe based on their corporate sustainability reports, and (b) advancing a simplified conceptual framework for D&A that can be used in corporate reporting. In particular, we provide an overview about corporate D&A reporting and associated activities according to three identified areas: (a) workforce, (b) workplace, and (c) products and services. Our findings are twofold: First, the majority of the companies address D&A in their corporate sustainability reports mainly under the diversity umbrella, but lack a detailed debate about the three identified areas. Second, we found that existing frameworks for D&A are hardly used because either they are not focused on corporate reporting or seem too difficult or complicated to complete. Thus, our framework not only represents a first opportunity to foster the implementation of a D&A framework within the social dimension of corporate sustainability reports, but also presents a holistic yet flexible management tool that takes into account the most critical elements while shaping implementation, directing evaluation and encouraging future planning of D&A initiatives. As such, this study contributes to and extends the limited amount of research of D&A activities in the social dimension in corporate sustainability reporting.

Measuring the Readability of Sustainability Reports: A Corpus-Based Analysis Through Standard Formulae and NLP

International Journal of Business Communication ◽

10.1177/2329488416675456 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

pp. 52-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Nils Smeuninx ◽

Bernard De Clerck ◽

Walter Aerts

Keyword(s):

Natural Language Processing ◽

Language Processing ◽

Financial Reporting ◽

Important Variable ◽

Syntactic Variation ◽

Corporate Reporting ◽

Language Variety ◽

Sustainability Reports ◽

The Impact

This study characterises and problematises the language of corporate reporting along region, industry, genre, and content lines by applying readability formulae and more advanced natural language processing (NLP)–based analysis to a manually assembled 2.75-million-word corpus. Readability formulae reveal that, despite its wider readership, sustainability reporting remains a very difficult to read genre, sometimes more difficult than financial reporting. Although we find little industry impact on readability, region does prove an important variable, with NLP-based variables more strongly affected than formulae. These results not only highlight the impact of legislative contexts but also language variety itself as an underexplored variable. Finally, the study reveals some of the weaknesses of default readability formulae, which are largely unable to register syntactic variation between the varieties of English in the reports and demonstrates the merits of NLP in report readability analysis as well as the need for more accessible sustainability reporting.

Sustainability Reporting in Turkey: Analysis of Companies in the BIST Sustainability Index

European Journal of Economics and Business Studies ◽

10.26417/ejes.v6i1.p41-51 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 41 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tuğçe Uzun Kocamiş ◽

Gülçin Yildirim

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Global Economy ◽

Global Reporting Initiative ◽

Management Approach ◽

Sustainability Index ◽

Reporting Framework ◽

Sustainability Reports ◽

Voluntary Basis

Sustainability reporting is a responsibility practice that towards sustainable development goals as related to corporate performance measurement, explaining and being accountable to internal and external stakeholders. Non-financial information relating to operating activities can be disclosed through sustainability reports. Sustainability reporting is a vital step of managing change towards a sustainable global economy—one that combines long-term profitability with environmental care and social justice. Sustainability reports developed using the GRI Reporting Framework covers results and consequences the emerged in the context of organization's commitments, strategy and management approach during the reporting period. Through the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Framework, the GRI works to increase the transparency and exchange of sustainability-related information. The Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index, published since 2014 is an important development for the business in Turkey which is aimed sustainable development. Sustainability reports have been prepared on a voluntary basis in Turkey and in many countries. In line with global developments the number of business is increasing who prefer to explain activities of economic, environmental and social dimensions through corporate sustainability reports in Turkey as well. This study conceptually reviews sustainability reporting and its benefits for the business. In order to see the effectiveness of the sustainability reports, sustainability reports of business in the BIST sustainability index will be subjected to content analysis basis GRI Reporting Principles on voluntary basis.

Using a Risk-Based Approach in Preparation of Corporate Sustainability Reporting by Oil and Gas Companies

Auditor ◽

10.12737/1998-0701-2021-7-10-46-53 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 46-53

Author(s):

Thi Lok Doan

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Oil And Gas Industry ◽

Public Companies ◽

Gas Industry ◽

Corporate Reporting ◽

Oil And Gas Companies

The article presents the author’s approach to the formation of corporate reporting of public companies using the example of the oil and gas industry. The key risks of sustainable development are disclosed that correspond to the interests of various significant groups of the company’s stakeholders. The approbation results of a typical corporate reporting model for oil and gas companies in the Petrolimex report (Vietnam) are presented.

Examining the extent of and drivers for materiality assessment disclosures in sustainability reports

Sustainability Accounting Management and Policy Journal ◽

10.1108/sampj-04-2020-0113 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Muhammad Bilal Farooq ◽

Rashid Zaman ◽

Dania Sarraj ◽

Fahad Khalid

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Corporate Governance ◽

Best Practice ◽

Reporting Quality ◽

Corporate Accountability ◽

Content Type ◽

Sustainability Reports ◽

Ordered Logic

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the extent of materiality assessment disclosures in sustainability reports and their determinants. The study examines the disclosure practices of listed companies based in the member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, colloquially referred to as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Design/methodology/approach First, the materiality assessment disclosures were scored through a content analysis of sustainability reports published by listed GCC companies during a five-year period from 2013 to 2017. Second, a fixed effect ordered logic regression was used to examine the determinants of materiality assessment disclosures. Findings While sustainability reporting rates improved across the sample period, a significant majority of listed GCC companies do not engage in sustainability reporting. The use of internationally recognised standards has also declined. While reporters provide more information on their materiality assessment, the number of sustainability reports that offer information on how the reporter identifies material issues has declined. These trends potentially indicate the existence of managerial capture. Materiality assessment disclosure scores are positively influenced by higher financial performance (Return on Assets), lower leverage and better corporate governance. However, company size and market-to-book ratio do not influence materiality assessment disclosures. Practical implications The findings may prove useful to managers responsible for preparing sustainability reports who can benefit from the examples of materiality assessment disclosures. An evaluation of the materiality assessment should be included in the scope of assurance engagements and practitioners can use the examples of best practice when evaluating sustainability reports. Stock exchanges may consider developing improved corporate governance guidelines as these will lead to materiality assessment disclosures. Social implications The findings may assist in improving sustainability reporting quality, through better materiality assessment disclosures. This will allow corporate stakeholders to evaluate the reporting entities underlying processes, which leads to transparency and corporate accountability. Improved corporate sustainability reporting supports the GCC commitment to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and transition to sustainable development. Originality/value This study addresses the call for greater research examining materiality within a sustainability reporting context. This is the first paper to examine sustainability reporting quality in the GCC region, focussing particularly on materiality assessment disclosures.

Sustainability reporting or integrated reporting: Which one is valuable for investors?

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change ◽

10.1108/jaoc-12-2020-0204 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Ika Permatasari ◽

I Made Narsa

Keyword(s):

Value Relevance ◽

Accounting Information ◽

International Integrated Reporting Council

Financial Information ◽

Integrated Reporting ◽

Content Type ◽

Reporting Practices ◽

Corporate Reporting ◽

Sustainability Reports ◽

Purpose This research is motivated by the development of dialogue and debate regarding company reporting in the form of sustainability reporting (SR) – which is separate from the annual report (AR) – or integrated reporting (IR). Research into SR and IR is still fascinating, and this study addresses the debate about them. This study aims to examine which of the two reports is more valuable for investors, and also examine whether IR has value relevance because the information in the IR could reinforce the importance of the accounting information. Design/methodology/approach As with previous studies, we adopted a valuation approach – the Ohlson model – to assess the value relevance of non-financial information (in the form of SR/IR) and financial information. As a preliminary study, we used non-financial information as a binary variable, i.e. a group of companies that issue sustainability reports and a group of companies that issue integrated reports. Therefore, they complement and interact with the financial statements’ information. This paper used panel data consisting of 931 firm-years of SR issuers and 922 firm-years of IR issuers in Europe and Africa in the period from 2005 to 2019. Findings The results showed that SR had a higher value relevance than IR. However, when the authors interact the corporate reporting form with the accounting information, IR had value relevance because the information contained in the IR could reinforce the importance of the accounting information. Practical implications This study will support regulators in various countries to monitor the reporting practices of companies in those countries. The results of this study provide evidence that sustainability reports get a higher response than integrated reports. However, when interacted with the accounting variables, information in the IR is considered to be more relevant than that found in the SR. Therefore, it is hoped that the results of this study will help the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) in reviewing IR practices around the world so that the implementation of IR practices can be realized in accordance with the mission that the IIRC wants to achieve. Originality/value Research into the value relevance of SR and IR has been carried out by several previous researchers separately, but to the best of the author’s knowledge, there are no studies comparing the value relevance of the two.

A Data-Driven Approach to Evaluation of Sustainability Reporting Practices in Extractive Industries

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13168716 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (16) ◽

pp. 8716

Author(s):

Cansu Perdeli Demirkan ◽

Nicole M. Smith ◽

H. Sebnem Duzgun ◽

Aurora Waclawski

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Initial Step ◽

Data Driven ◽

Extractive Industries ◽

Reporting Practices ◽

Data Driven Approach ◽

Sustainability Reports ◽

Over Time

Sustainability reporting is one of the tools that contribute to incorporating sustainable development in the design of extractive operations (i.e., “Design for Sustainability”), and the demand for sustainability reports is increasing due to the increased focus on sustainable development and sustainable financing efforts. The extractive industries are believed to have unique strengths to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Nonetheless, companies are expected to be transparent and accountable not only to investors but to all stakeholders, including communities, suppliers, clients, employees, and governments. Therefore, extractive industries require effective sustainability accounting and reporting to transition and contribute to sustainable development. Through a data-driven approach, this paper examines the scope and consistency of sustainability indicators used in the sustainability reports of eight oil and gas and eight mining companies from 2012 to 2018. Through content analysis and relevant statistical methods, we analyze the ways in which companies reported on their contributions to sustainable development, with a focus on indicators used and trends over time both within each industry and between industries. We demonstrate that extractive industries’ sustainability reporting practices are not consistent over time and that internal issues are better represented than external issues, in particular transportation and supply chain issues. Furthermore, while there are similar trends across the industries in terms of social and environmental indicator reporting, there are significant differences in economic reporting. We conclude that although both industries have established sustainability reporting practices, there are trends that demonstrate what companies are focusing on more, as well as areas for improvement. We see this as an initial step for conceptualizing how these industries can more objectively, consistently, and effectively assess and contribute to sustainable development.