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.

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.

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs Through Microfinance - A Case of Rural Bangladesh

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Saida Parvin
Keyword(s):  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact

Women’s empowerment has been at the centre of research focus for many decades. Extant literature examined the process, outcome and various challenges. Some claimed substantial success, while others contradicted with evidence of failure. But the success remains a matter of debate due to lack of empirical evidence of actual empowerment of women around the world. The current study aimed to address this gap by taking a case study method. The study critically evaluates 20 cases carefully sampled to include representatives from the entire country of Bangladesh. The study demonstrates popular beliefs about microfinance often misguide even the borrowers and they start living in a fabricated feeling of empowerment, facing real challenges to achieve true empowerment in their lives. The impact of this finding is twofold; firstly there is a theoretical contribution, where the definition of women’s empowerment is proposed to be revisited considering findings from these cases. And lastly, the policy makers at governmental and non-governmental organisations, and multinational donor agencies need to revise their assessment tools for funding.

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 Explanatory Factors of the Environmental Disclosure of Potentially Polluting Companies: Evidence From Brazil

SAGE Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824401982954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lívia Maria da Silva Santos ◽  
Wenner Glaucio Lopes Lucena ◽  
Wesley Vieira da Silva ◽  
Tatiana Marceda Bach ◽  
Claudimar Pereira da Veiga
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Inverse Relationship ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Lower Weight ◽  
Explanatory Factors ◽  
Present Information ◽  
Sustainability Report

This research aims at identifying explanatory factors of the environmental disclosure of potentially polluting Brazilian companies listed on the São Paulo Security, Commodities, and Futures Exchange (BM&FBOVESPA), from 2005 to 2015. Financial and environmental disclosure information of 182 Brazilian companies of the high-, medium-, and low-polluting potential sectors were collected. Data were analyzed through content analysis of documents and Regression with Panel Data. Results indicate that the company’s size, profitability, internationalization, and sustainability report are explanatory factors of the disclosure of environmental information, while indebtedness presents an inverse relationship. This study concludes that the explanatory factors of environmental disclosure of potentially polluting Brazilian companies are, with a higher weight, the publication of the sustainability report and stock market internationalization and, with lower weight, size, indebtedness, and profitability. This study discusses the relevance of environmental disclosure to companies that perform potentially polluting activities to provide support for different agents linked to these companies they may have access. It presents as theoretical contribution the explanatory variables for environmental disclosure of potentially polluting companies, an analysis not yet carried out in the literature. The practical contribution is to present information to interested users that potentially polluting companies, larger in size, internationalized, and with more profitability, disclose their environmental information.

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.

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.

Environmental Reporting Quality

2016 ◽  
pp. 625-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akrum Helfaya ◽  
Amr Kotb
Keyword(s):  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Corporate Reporting ◽  
Business Practitioners ◽  
Global Initiatives

The ultimate question of most business practitioners and policy makers now is how to reduce corporate negative environmental performance. One of the most effective ways is to help corporations to set the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of their sustainability performance and to report these KPIs to their stakeholders using corporate reporting cycle. To improve the environmental reporting quality, companies generally adopt and follow widely recognized reporting guidelines and third-party assurance standards, thus improving their environmental disclosure quality and trustworthiness in minds of their stakeholders. Over the last two decades a number of global initiatives (e.g. GRI, ISO, DEFRA, AA1000 APS, and ISAE 3000) have been developed for use in sustainability reporting. This chapter, therefore, aims to shed light on these credibility initiatives developed by governmental and non-governmental bodies to improve the quality of environmental reporting and to see the extent to which these credibility initiatives are different or similar.

Is voluntary external assurance relevant for the valuation of environmental reporting by firms in environmentally sensitive industries?

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikram Radhouane ◽  
Mehdi Nekhili ◽  
Haithem Nagati ◽  
Gilles Paché
Keyword(s):  
Value Relevance ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Market Value ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Market Participants ◽  
Environmentally Sensitive

Purpose This paper aims to investigate whether providing voluntary external assurance on voluntary environmental information by firms operating in environmentally sensitive industries (ESI) is relevant in terms of market value. It also examines how various characteristics of assurance statements (i.e. level of assurance, scope of assurance and provider of assurance) affect the value-relevance of environmental disclosure by ESI firms. Design/methodology/approach To mitigate the endogeneity problem, the authors use the two-step generalized method of moments estimation approach. Findings Focusing on annual and social reports of French companies listed in the SBF120 index, results show that environmental disclosure by ESI firms and its assurance are destructive in terms of market value. Moreover, while providing a broader scope of assurance and having a professional accountant as the assurance provider enhance the value relevance of environmental reporting of the whole sample, this is unlikely to be the case for ESI firms. In particular, a higher level of environmental disclosure is financially rewarded by market participants for ESI firms that provide a higher level of assurance. Practical implications The study provides a better understanding of the circumstances under which market participants assign value to voluntary environmental information disclosed by companies operating in ESI. It also provides insights into the value added to different characteristics inherent in the quality of assurance provided with regard to environmental disclosure. Social implications The study indicates that the institutional context of the relationship between the firm and its shareholders influence the value obtained from assurance. Results provide value insights regarding cultural and legal dimensions of environmental reporting. Originality/value The study extends the prior literature on the capital market benefits of voluntary assurance practices by focusing on the French legal environment. France can be considered as a new institutional context that has been little addressed by the existing literature.

scholarly journals Corporate Environmental Disclosure Practices in Different National Contexts: The Influence of Cultural Dimensions

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 597-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Consuelo Pucheta-Martínez ◽  
Isabel Gallego-Álvarez
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Cultural Framework ◽  
Similarities And Differences

The influence of different national contexts, including the effects of cultural environments, on corporate environmental disclosure practices has yet to be properly addressed in the literature. The purpose of this research is, therefore, to analyse how cultural factors affect the environmental disclosure practices of companies in different countries. This research is supported by the diversity of cultures across countries. Given that a cultural framework prompts different organisational actions and strategies, the question to be answered through this research is as follows: How do cultural aspects affect corporate environmental disclosure? Cultural factors are precisely those that can explain similarities and differences between stakeholders’ actions and preferences. The sample used in this research comprises companies in 28 countries and 9 economic sectors for the period 2004 to 2015. Our main findings show that companies operating in countries with individualist, masculine and indulgent cultures are less likely to disclose environmental information. Contrary to our predictions, cultures with a long-term orientation also discourage the reporting of environmental information, while uncertainty avoidance contexts tend to promote more environmental reporting.

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