TY - JOUR
T1 - The impact of corruption on companies' engagement in sustainability reporting practices: an empirical examination
AU - Cicchiello, Antonella Francesca
AU - Kazemikhasragh, Amirreza
AU - Perdichizzi, Salvatore
AU - Rey, Andrea
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - PurposeThis paper aims to investigate whether the perceived level of corruption influences companies' decision to address principles and standards aimed, inter alia, at fighting corruption [i.e. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), (2) United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), (3) International Standards Organisation (ISO) 26,000 and (4) Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines] in companies' sustainability reporting.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a sample of 1,171 sustainability reports published in the year 2017 by organisations from Asia and Africa's low- and middle-income countries.FindingsResults from the Probit model reveal that corruption negatively affects corporate sustainability reporting activity. Indeed, the more companies are exposed to high levels of corruption, the less likely they appear to engage in sustainability reporting. Furthermore, the authors find clear regional and sector-level differences in the extent to which companies engage in sustainability reporting. The results show that Asian companies operating in the agricultural and financial services sectors exhibit significantly higher reporting activity, whilst those operating in the construction and mining sectors report less than the sectors' peers.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors' findings provide important implications for understanding companies' behaviour in the sustainability reporting in emerging economies as well as for designing corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure initiatives in the future.Originality/valueThis paper provides a better understanding of the impact of corruption on companies' reporting behaviour in the context of emerging economies.
AB - PurposeThis paper aims to investigate whether the perceived level of corruption influences companies' decision to address principles and standards aimed, inter alia, at fighting corruption [i.e. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), (2) United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), (3) International Standards Organisation (ISO) 26,000 and (4) Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines] in companies' sustainability reporting.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a sample of 1,171 sustainability reports published in the year 2017 by organisations from Asia and Africa's low- and middle-income countries.FindingsResults from the Probit model reveal that corruption negatively affects corporate sustainability reporting activity. Indeed, the more companies are exposed to high levels of corruption, the less likely they appear to engage in sustainability reporting. Furthermore, the authors find clear regional and sector-level differences in the extent to which companies engage in sustainability reporting. The results show that Asian companies operating in the agricultural and financial services sectors exhibit significantly higher reporting activity, whilst those operating in the construction and mining sectors report less than the sectors' peers.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors' findings provide important implications for understanding companies' behaviour in the sustainability reporting in emerging economies as well as for designing corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure initiatives in the future.Originality/valueThis paper provides a better understanding of the impact of corruption on companies' reporting behaviour in the context of emerging economies.
KW - Corporate social responsibility
KW - Corruption
KW - Emerging countries
KW - Organisational fields
KW - Sustainability reporting
KW - Corporate social responsibility
KW - Corruption
KW - Emerging countries
KW - Organisational fields
KW - Sustainability reporting
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/270101
U2 - 10.1108/IJOEM-03-2022-0418
DO - 10.1108/IJOEM-03-2022-0418
M3 - Article
SN - 1746-8809
SP - 1
EP - 23
JO - International Journal of Emerging Markets
JF - International Journal of Emerging Markets
ER -