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The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the association between the family status and corporate social responsibility disclosure (sustainability reporting) of large US companies.

The authors gathered data from GRI database as well as from Compustat. They use both univariate and multivariate statistical analyses.

The authors find that there is no statistically significant difference in the likelihood of sustainability reporting between family and non‐family firms of the S&P 500. They document important associations among the propensity to issue sustainability reports, the level of details of sustainability reports and certain firm‐specific and industry characteristic variables.

This study is focused on S&P 500 firms and may not be generalizable to smaller firms. Differences among family firms such as stock ownership and management control may affect sustainability reporting and are important topics for future research.

Society should be aware of the motivations and incentives that govern sustainability reporting decisions by both family and non‐family firms. The authors show that both family and non‐family companies use voluntary disclosure in general and sustainability reporting in particular as a way of mitigating regulatory, political and litigation costs.

No prior study, to the authors' knowledge, has examined the association between sustainability reporting and the family status of firms. The authors include suggestions for future research in this area and hope that their study will provide motivation and guidance to researchers to study this topic further.

This study aims to examine the impact of firm-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) governance characteristics on the extent, quality and comprehensiveness of CSR reporting of Pakistani listed enterprises.

This study used content analysis of corporate annual reports and stand-alone CSR reports available on corporate websites in 2021 to identify CSR-related governance features and to calculate CSR reporting scores. Multivariate regression is used to test relationships. In addition, the analysis tested the moderating role of profitability in these relationships.

Firm-level CSR governance characteristics contribute to the extent, quality and comprehensiveness of CSR reporting in a developing country. Further, results confirm that profitability moderates the relationship between CSR governance and the extent and comprehensiveness of CSR reporting.

This study employed cross-sectional data and focused on a single developing country. Future studies might include a cross-national sample and longitudinal data to demonstrate the broader relevance of these findings. The outcomes of this study are restricted to CSR disclosures based on CSR reports and annual reports. Future research may examine additional corporate communication channels, such as websites and social media platforms.

This research validates the important role of CSR governance mechanisms as a driver of comprehensive CSR reporting. Business leaders and policymakers can facilitate improved corporate reporting by requiring companies to implement CSR-related governance mechanisms.

This is the first study to test the influence of firm-level CSR governance mechanisms in promoting the quantity, quality and comprehensiveness of CSR reporting in a developing country.

The purpose of this paper is to explain how sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement processes serve as vehicles of dialogic accounting (DA), a form of critical accounting that creates opportunities for stakeholders to express their opinions, and the influence of dialogic interactions on the content of sustainability reports.

Content analysis is used to investigate reports published by 299 companies that have adopted Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. This paper studies how organizations engage stakeholders, the categories of stakeholders that are being addressed, the methods used to support stakeholder engagement, and other features of the stakeholder engagement process. Companies that disclose stakeholder perceptions, the difficulties met in engaging stakeholders, and actions aimed at creating opportunities for different groups of stakeholders to interact were subjects of discussion in a series of semi-structured interviews that focus on DA.

Companies often commit themselves to two-way dialogue with their stakeholders, but fully developed frameworks for DA are rare. However, signs of DA emerged in the analysis, thus confirming that sustainability reporting can become a platform for DA systems if stakeholder engagement is effective.

The findings contribute to the accounting literature by discussing if and how sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement can serve as vehicles of DA. This is accomplished via a research design that is based on in-depth interviews and content analysis of various sustainability reports.

This study aims to investigate the effect of financial-tax reporting conformity jurisdictions on the association between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and aggressive tax avoidance.

Using a sample comprising firms domiciled in Europe for the period 2008–2016, this study uses regression analysis to test the impact of financial-tax reporting conformity jurisdictions on the association between CSR and aggressive tax avoidance.

The empirical results show that there is a positive association between CSR and tax avoidance, and firms headquartered in low financial-tax reporting conformity jurisdictions are more likely to engage in CSR to hedge against the potential negative consequences of aggressive tax-avoidance practices as compared to firms domiciled in countries with high level of financial-tax reporting conformity.

This study confirms Sikka’s (2010, 2013) view of “organised hypocrisy” act committed by firms to cover their socially irresponsible activities of aggressive tax avoidance by engaging in CSR. Results have implication for various regulatory bodies and investors in that the type of financial-tax conformity does impact the link between CSR and tax avoidance, and based on that, CSR firms may engage in CSR to overcome any negative reactions that could be caused as a result of tax avoidance.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the impact of financial-tax reporting conformity jurisdictions on the association between CSR and aggressive tax avoidance. This study also contributes to the literature in that, it uses an alternative data set which offers a more objective assessment of CSR measure and covers multiple countries.

This paper aims to examine the relation between firms’ political connections and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in Portugal. The authors argue that in settings where the existence of political connections are viewed as damaging collective interests of stakeholders, political connected firms can deal with legitimacy issues from such connections by resorting to CSR practices and the reporting thereof.

Using archival data from a panel sample of 36 firms from Portugal between 2009 and 2012, the authors examine the relationship between political connections and CSR reporting by way of regression analysis.

The authors find a positive relationship between political connections and CSR reporting.

This study draws on legitimacy theory to highlight that CSR can be used to deal with stakeholder activism and vigilance pertaining to suspicion related to the existence of political connections.

There is a growing concern over the need for greater transparency of quality information by companies about modern slavery to contribute toward elimination of the practice. Hence, this paper aims to examine factors behind the quality of voluntary modern slavery disclosures and major sources of pressure on Australian company disclosures in a premodern slavery legislated environment.

Content analysis and cross- sectional regression modeling are conducted to analyze factors determining the quality of voluntary modern slavery disclosures of the top 100 firms listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and their implications for institutional pressures.

Results indicate that size, assurance by Big-4 firms and publication of stand-alone modern slavery statements are significant drivers of disclosure quality in the sample. Profitability, listing status and the degree of internationalization are found to be unrelated to the quality of voluntary modern slavery disclosures. Industry classification is significant but only partly supports the prediction, and further investigation is recommended.

This paper provides a foundation for regulators and companies toward improving the quality of their modern slavery risk disclosures with a particular focus on prior experience, assurance and size. In practice, contrary to suggestions in the literature, results indicate that monetary penalties are unlikely to be an effective means for improving the quality of modern slavery disclosure. Results of the study provide evidence of poor quality of disclosures and the need for improvement, prior to introduction of modern slavery legislation in Australia in 2018. It also confirms that regulation to improve transparency, through the required publication of a modern slavery statement, is significant but not enough on its own to increase disclosure quality.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research examining company level factors with an impact on voluntary modern slavery disclosure quality and the links to institutional pressures, prior to the introduction of the Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018.

This study aims to investigate the impact of environmental performance, social responsibility and corporate governance (ESG) on bank performance (BP) in the Italian banking sector. It analyzes the relationships between 10 dimensions of ESG pillars and BP indicators during the period 2016–2020.

This study examines a sample of 105 Italian banks and develops three econometric models to verify the effect of ESG initiatives on BP indicators. The independent variables are the ESG dimensions collected from the Refinitiv database, whereas the explanatory variables are performance indicators measured through accounting and market variables.

The findings show that ESG policies negatively affect operational and market performance in the banking sector, suggesting that Italian banks have not fully embraced strong sustainability procedures. However, the relationships between ESG dimensions are mixed if measured individually. The results show a significant positive impact of emission and waste reductions on financial and operating performance, but regarding social aspects, it is proved that better product responsibility decreases accounting performance.

This study offers an in-depth examination of ESG practices in relation to current and future performance. In particular, the findings provide practitioners and academics with an actual set of predictors in the ESG area to improve BP.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the only study that has investigated the impact of ESG issues on BP in Italy. Few prior studies have used all dimensions of ESG policies at a disaggregated level to investigate their effect on various performance indicators.

Lately, sustainability issues are increasingly affecting all sectors, even if oil and gas industry is highly required to improve its social performance because of the societal pressure to environmental protection and social welfare. Sustainability concerns and corporate governance features and practices are more and more connected because sustainability has been perceived as a crucial topic by owners and managers. In this perspective, the empirical analysis aims to explore whether and to what extent, sustainability-oriented corporate governance model is linked with social performance.

By adopting a multi-theoretical framework that includes the legitimacy theory, the stakeholder theory and the resource-based view theory, this analysis used a sample of 42 large European-listed companies belonging to the oil and gas industry. The authors run fixed effects regression models by using a dependent variable, i.e. the social score, available in ASSET4 Thomson Reuters, and some independent variables focused on sustainable corporate governance models, stakeholder engagement, firm profitability, market value and corporate risk level.

Drawing upon the investigation of a moderating effect, findings display that stakeholder engagement is positively associated with corporate social performance and it can be considered an important internal driver able to shape a corporate culture and most likely to address corporate social responsibility issues.

This study confirms the need to develop an organizational and holistic approach to corporate governance practices by analyzing internal and external governance mechanisms. From the managerial perspective, managers should opt for a sustainable corporate governance model, as it is positively correlated with corporate social performance.

There is an urgent need to investigate sustainability issues and their potential association with firm internal mechanisms, particularly in the oil and gas industry. This paper can extend the current body of knowledge by pointing out a positive relationship between stakeholder engagement and firm social performance.

This chapter introduces this book’s topics, purpose, and key themes. It summarizes the main objective of this book which is to examine the trends in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability in developing and emerging economies.

This chapter reviews the extant literature and chapters and offers conceptual development.

Discussion on CSR and sustainability concepts is growing in developing countries, and many stakeholders including businesses, governments, and universities are working toward achieving sustainability. In addition, it is well documented that multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in developing economies contribute significantly to job creation, growth and development, and poverty alleviation. However, when compared to developed countries there is a general perception that companies, in particular MNEs, do not pay much attention to CSR and sustainability issues. The lack of sophisticated institutional developments and capability in many developing economies compound the situation. Thus, business CSR and sustainability practices play a major role in improving stakeholder relationships.

This chapter suggests that in order for developing and emerging economies to move forward and achieve the gains from globalization; businesses, governments, and other stakeholders should work together to benefit from the various initiatives on CSR and sustainability jointly put together for the betterment of the citizens and a prosperous economy.

This chapter contributes to the debate on trends in CSR and sustainability in developing/emerging economies by critically examines what the notions really mean in developing and emerging economies. It emphasizes that CSR and sustainability mean contributing to the well-being of citizens and respond positively to various stakeholder demands by improving the host countries and communities through participation in economic progress, social well-being, improvement in environmental practices, and involvement in citizens’ empowerment and institutional building.

It is commonly recognized that nowadays social and environmental aspects, and more in general stakeholder‐linked issues, are becoming important corporate value drivers. It is also rather clear that there is a strong relationship between the stakeholder perspective, and a number of concepts and practices which stress non‐financial aspects of company behavior, such as corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainability (including environmental respect) and corporate governance. Accordingly, these emerging company ideas and attitudes are here collectively referred to as “stakeholder responsible (or oriented) approaches”. Current literature underlines especially the importance and difficulty of the implementation phase of these approaches into concrete company actions, but it seems to largely overlook the impact which the reporting process has on both concepts and company actions. On the basis of an ad hoc theoretical model, the paper aims to provide insights into the “active role” subtly played by stakeholder oriented reporting (e.g. social and sustainability statements) in constructing and reconstructing the underlying ideas and notions, as well as company behaviors in this field. Far from being a neutral and “passive” mirror of the stakeholder responsible approach implemented, reporting carries out the decisive and constitutive role to concretize abstract concepts, and to visualize company activities, thus substantially contributing to make the “stakeholder philosophy” viable and reliable.