dc.contributor.author | Michelon, Giovanna | |
dc.contributor.author | Pilonato, Silvia | |
dc.contributor.author | Ricceri, Federica | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2015-05-15T15:41:20Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2014-12-01 | |
dc.description.abstract | Research on CSR disclosure points to an increasing lack of completeness and decreasing amount of credibility in the information reported, as well as concerns about overall reporting practices. The aim of this paper is to investigate the (ab)use of three CSR reporting practices: the use of stand-alone reports, assurance, and reporting guidance. These practices may be the outcome of a substantive approach to CSR undertaken to carry out duties of accountability to stakeholders, or conversely they could represent symbolic actions intended to portray corporations as genuinely committed to CSR. Thus, we investigate the use of these three practices in relation to disclosure proxies that capture the quality of disclosure along three different yet complementary dimensions: the content of the information disclosed (what and how much is disclosed), the type of information used to describe and discuss CSR issues (how it is disclosed) and the managerial orientation (the corporate approach to CSR). We find that, on average, companies that use these practices do not provide a higher quality of information, which we interpret as evidence of a symbolic use of these practices. Nevertheless, for those companies providing performance-related disclosures, we obtain limited evidence indicating that disclosures by GRI followers are more likely to be balanced, comparable and precise. Overall, our evidence supports increasing scepticism about the use of CSR reporting practices as tools used to enhance perceived accountability. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Vol. 33, pp. 59–78 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1016/j.cpa.2014.10.003 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/17245 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Elsevier | en_GB |
dc.rights.embargoreason | Publisher's embargo; 18 months from publication | en_GB |
dc.rights | © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. This article is distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs 4.0 (CC-BY-NC-ND) user license, which allows users to copy and distribute the Article, provided this is not done for commercial purposes, and further does not permit distribution of the Article if it is changed or edited in any way, and provided the user gives appropriate credit (with a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI), provides a link to the license, and that the licensor is not represented as endorsing the use made of the work. Further information is available at http://www.elsevier.com/about/open-access/open-access-policies/oa-license-policy/user-licenses | en_GB |
dc.subject | Accountability | en_GB |
dc.subject | Critical | en_GB |
dc.subject | Sustainability | en_GB |
dc.subject | Reporting practices | en_GB |
dc.subject | Disclosure quality | en_GB |
dc.subject | Legitimacy theory | en_GB |
dc.title | CSR reporting practices and the quality of disclosure: An empirical analysis | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.identifier.issn | 1045-2354 | |
pubs.declined | 2015-04-10T09:57:27.545+0100 | |
pubs.deleted | 2015-04-10T09:57:27.545+0100 | |
dc.description | Article | en_GB |
dc.description | Author's accepted manuscript. | en_GB |
dc.description | This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Critical Perspectives on Accounting. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version will be published in Critical Perspectives in Accounting, 2014. DOI: doi:10.1016/j.cpa.2014.10.003 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | Critical Perspectives on Accounting | en_GB |