Original title: Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review
Companies can be required to report on social responsibility and sustainability, not just financial results. This paper reviews research from several fields to assess possible effects of such rules on investors, other stakeholders, and company behavior. It also examines how reporting standards might be enforced and how different standards decide which issues count as important. The paper identifies insights for the debate and questions for future research.
Imagine a school asking every student to report how they use energy and treat shared spaces. It is hard to decide what counts, who checks the reports, and whether reporting changes anyone’s behavior. In this paper, the school’s rules stand for required company reporting, while the questions about what to report and who checks it match the issues the authors review.
Rules about sustainability reporting shape what information companies must share and how they are held to account. Investors may use that information, but the effects could reach employees, communities, and firms’ own behavior too.
The abstract describes a review and analysis of potential effects, not a test showing what mandatory reporting actually causes. It does not specify the review’s detailed findings or settle which reporting approach is best.
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Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review — Hans Bonde Christensen, Luzi Hail, Christian Leuz — Review of Accounting Studies — doi:10.1007/s11142-021-09609-5
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.