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Developments on Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 12467

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Economics and Management, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Interests: corporate social responsibility disclosure; financial reporting; accounting history; accounting standards; accounting standardization in IASB and FASB

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide an opportunity to develop research on recent developments in nonfinancial reporting. In 2014, the European Union (EU) issued Directive (2014/95/EU) that required entities with over 500 employees (listed companies, banks, and insurance companies) to disclose nonfinancial information. As required by the directive, the European Commission has published nonbinding guidelines to help companies to disclose relevant nonfinancial information in a more consistent and comparable manner.

In 2018, these companies issued the first annual reports in accordance with this Directive. In March 2018, the Commission published an action plan on financing for sustainable growth. The aim of this plan was to reorient capital towards sustainable investment, manage financial risks arising from climate change and other environmental and social problems, and foster transparency and long-termism in financial and economic activity. Comment letters about the revision to the nonbinding guidelines are being sent at the moment to the European Commission. Additionally, integrated reporting proposed by the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) has grown significantly over the last decade. Other entities such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB), and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) have issued guidelines that aim to improve sustainability disclosures.

Thus, this Special Issue aims to publish research that deals with sustainability reporting and its developments in recent years.

Prof. Dr. Lúcia Lima Rodrigues
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Nonfinancial Reporting in accordance with the European Directive
  • Integrated reporting
  • Nonfinancial reporting and climate disclosure
  • Sustainability reporting using the GRI guidelines
  • Sustainability standardization and due process
  • Analysis of comment letters on sustainability
  • Sustainability reporting using the accounting standards of SASB

Published Papers (3 papers)

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20 pages, 1931 KiB  
Article
Who Are the Intended Users of CSR Reports? Insights from a Data-Driven Approach
by Charlie Lindgren, Asif M. Huq and Kenneth Carling
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1070; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13031070 - 21 Jan 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3970
Abstract
There is extant research on theorization, conceptualization, determinants, and consequences of corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, what firms include in their CSR or sustainability reports are much less covered and are predominantly covered in case studies of individual firms. In this paper, we [...] Read more.
There is extant research on theorization, conceptualization, determinants, and consequences of corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, what firms include in their CSR or sustainability reports are much less covered and are predominantly covered in case studies of individual firms. In this paper, we instead take a holistic view and simultaneously explore what firms around the globe currently disclose in these reports, more specifically we investigate if firms are shareholder or stakeholder focused. In this investigation, we check the alignment of the reports to the materiality framework of Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) which was developed having shareholders as the intended user. To estimate what firms disclose in CSR reports we used the unsupervised Bayesian machine learning approach latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) developed by Blei et al. We conclude that firms target shareholders as the intended users of these reports, even in environments where stakeholder approach of management is argued to be more dominant. Methodologically, we contribute by demonstrating that topic modeling can enhance the objectivity in reviewing CSR-reports. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Developments on Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting)
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18 pages, 2231 KiB  
Article
A Text-Mining Analysis on the Review of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive: Bringing Value Creation for Stakeholders into Accounting
by Simona Fiandrino and Alberto Tonelli
Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 763; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13020763 - 14 Jan 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5561
Abstract
The recent Review of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) aims to enhance adequate non-financial information (NFI) disclosure and improve accountability for stakeholders. This study focuses on this regulatory intervention and has a twofold objective: First, it aims to understand the main underlying issues [...] Read more.
The recent Review of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) aims to enhance adequate non-financial information (NFI) disclosure and improve accountability for stakeholders. This study focuses on this regulatory intervention and has a twofold objective: First, it aims to understand the main underlying issues at stake; second, it suggests areas of possible amendment considering the current debates on sustainability accounting and accounting for stakeholders. In keeping with these aims, the research analyzes the documents annexed to the contribution on the Review of the NFRD by conducting a text-mining analysis with latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) probabilistic topic model (PTM). Our findings highlight four main topics at the core of the current debate: quality of NFI, standardization, materiality, and assurance. The research suggests ways of improving managerial policies to achieve more comparable, relevant, and reliable information by bringing value creation for stakeholders into accounting. It further addresses an integrated logic of accounting for stakeholders that contributes to sustainable development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Developments on Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting)
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10 pages, 251 KiB  
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CSR Reporting of Stakeholders’ Health: Proposal for a New Perspective
by Ehsanul Huda Chowdhury, Brita Backlund Rambaree and Gloria Macassa
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1133; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13031133 - 22 Jan 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2142
Abstract
Purpose: The aim of the paper is to identify and categorize disclosures from the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards) that have direct or indirect influence on health of external or internal stakeholders. Methodology: GRI core and comprehensive disclosures (as part [...] Read more.
Purpose: The aim of the paper is to identify and categorize disclosures from the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards) that have direct or indirect influence on health of external or internal stakeholders. Methodology: GRI core and comprehensive disclosures (as part of universal standards and topic-specific standards related to economic, environmental and social topics) that can be used by businesses for CSR reporting were grouped as to have direct or indirect influence on external and internal stakeholders’ health. Findings: The study proposes a systematic way of conceiving GRI standards in terms of direct or indirect influence on the health and well-being of internal and external stakeholders. Originality/Value: This is the first study that provides a classification of core and comprehensive GRI disclosures that have direct or indirect influence on the health of external or internal stakeholders. This classification will allow businesses to easily report those CSR activities that might be of importance to stakeholders’ health promotion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Developments on Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting)
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