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Scoring CSR Reporting in Listed Companies – Evidence from Italian Best Practices
Author(s) -
Romolini Alberto,
Fissi Silvia,
Gori Elena
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
corporate social responsibility and environmental management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.519
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1535-3966
pISSN - 1535-3958
DOI - 10.1002/csr.1299
Subject(s) - corporate social responsibility , sustainability reporting , accounting , business , transparency (behavior) , sustainability , stock exchange , maturity (psychological) , accountability , best practice , quality (philosophy) , index (typography) , public relations , finance , political science , economics , management , ecology , world wide web , computer science , law , biology , philosophy , epistemology
In the last decade, political pressure from international organisms has contributed to the divulgation and the adoption of social accountability practices. Using an inductive method, this research examines the state of the art of best social reporting practices carried out by Italian listed companies, by scoring and assessing the different maturity levels in application of the principles required by the main reporting models mentioned and by exploring the indicators disclosed in corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. We analyze CSR reporting by Italian companies making up the FTSE ECPI Leaders Index of the Italian Stock Exchange. The findings show an overall good level of disclosure. The data confirm the results of previous studies as they highlight the escalation in sustainability reporting: both the quantity and quality of sustainability information are increasing. However, the results may raise doubts that companies consider CSR as a ‘fashion’. In fact, one of the criticisms levelled against CSR is that information is self‐gathered and self‐reported. More mandatory rules may improve transparency; however these may compromise the CSR concept, so it is necessary to further investigate the findings. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.