Voluntary disclosure of Sustainable Development Goals in mandatory non‐financial reports: The moderating role of cultural dimension

The Directive 2014/95/EU represents one of the main innovations introduced by the European Commission to encourage large companies to disclose their contribution to sustainable development. Since its introduction, the Directive 2014/95/EU has put into motion an intense debate about its effectiveness...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of international financial management & accounting 2022-02, Vol.33 (1), p.83-106
Main Authors: Pizzi, Simone, Del Baldo, Mara, Caputo, Fabio, Venturelli, Andrea
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic staff
accountability
Companies
Cultural differences
cultural dimension
Cultural factors
directive 2014/95/EU
Disclosure
EU directives
Financial reporting
Hofstede
Innovations
Mandatory reporting
Policy making
Public interest
SDGs
Sustainability
Sustainability management
Sustainable development
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Summary:The Directive 2014/95/EU represents one of the main innovations introduced by the European Commission to encourage large companies to disclose their contribution to sustainable development. Since its introduction, the Directive 2014/95/EU has put into motion an intense debate about its effectiveness. Academics and policymakers agreed on the need to rethink mandatory non‐financial reporting to enhance the contribution to the 2030 Agenda. In fact, despite a quantitative increase in the overall number of non‐financial reports published yearly in Europe, only a limited number of companies explicitly disclose information about their contribution to the SDGs. In this sense, the disclosure of information about SDGs is driven by factors related to institutional and organizational dynamics. Building on a sample of 873 Public Interest Entities, an empirical analysis was conducted to fill the theoretical gap about the enabling role covered by cultural factors on SDG reporting. The analysis revealed that companies operating in institutional contexts characterized by long‐term orientation and an adequate degree of balance between indulgence and restraints are more oriented to disclose their contributions to the SDGs. Our insights underlined the need to consider cultural dimensions in policymaking and standard‐setting to encourage large companies to voluntarily disclose their contribution to 2030 Agenda.
ISSN:0954-1314
1467-646X
DOI:10.1111/jifm.12139