The relationship between non-financial reporting quality (NFRQ) and various company-level factors has been studied extensively, considering the mandatory requirements applicable under the ...Non-Financial Reporting Directive 2014/95/EU (NFRD) of the European Union. The purpose of this research is to systematize the results of previous published studies on the relationship between NFRQ and company size, financial performance, corporate governance, market performance, and sustainability performance, under a mandatory regime. Our study contributes to the literature by proposing a taxonomy of company-level factors grouped into five categories. We analyze the post-2017 period, focusing on the application of NFRD in the European Union. By applying systematic inclusion and exclusion criteria to a population of 618 articles from Scopus, we obtain a sample of fifteen articles that are subject to an in-depth analysis of correlation matrices. The systematic review resorts to the vote counting methodology to assess the existence and strength of relationships between the NFRQ and company-level factors, based on correlation coefficients. The summarized results indicate that company size, corporate governance, and sustainability performance are positive factors of NFRQ. Regarding corporate governance, we find that board independence, board size, foreign ownership, gender diversity, corporate governance quality, the existence of a sustainability committee, and sustainability-linked remuneration positively influence NFRQ. Our findings emphasize the need to explicitly consider the role of corporate governance and sustainability performance in improving NFRQ while transitioning to improved corporate sustainability reporting under the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive 2022/2464 (CSRD). Our study has implications for academics who seek to engage in empirical research on various factors with positive or negative influence on sustainability reporting, throughout the transition from the NFRD to the CSRD. Policymakers may find our study useful in addressing specific areas of sustainability reporting that have a negative impact on corporate transparency, while practitioners may obtain valuable information on the challenges of transitioning to sustainability reporting and the implementation of mandatory assurance.
Food waste is a social, environmental, and economic challenge today. The European Union’s Green Deal demands tackling this problem. Our research question is: “What are the solutions regarding food ...waste prevention across the companies’ supply chain?” The mixed research method consisted of content and thematic analysis. We collected information from the reports published by European food companies that have joined the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy. The data were structured using a theoretical model in which we integrated ten essential stages of the food chain. The findings show that most of the information is reported for the manufacturing/production stage. Although transfer to landfill is unavoidable in supply chains, organizations make substantial efforts to reduce the proportion of food waste. The methods applied by food companies are inspired by European regulations regarding environmental protection. Our research identifies solutions brought about by the Green Deal on food waste prevention.
Incorporating eco-sustainability criteria into the corporate agenda means assigning the natural environment such attributes as power, legitimacy, urgency and proximity. The complexity and ...interconnectedness of global ecosystems make it difficult for managers to determine specific impacts on these systems; but that is only an excuse for trivial sustainability reporting and dubious triple-bottom-line assessments. And it is the very relationship between accountability in the form of disclosure and 'shareholder value' that has kept the business-case controversy alive. There is also a second thing of vital importance, which they dare say has never been empirically tested: the effect of managerial discretion on environmental performance. Since legitimacy is now universally considered a vital resource for the organization, it is natural to hypothesize that in the long run those who do not use the power in a responsible manner will tend to lose it.
Climate change mitigation is at the core of the preoccupations of governments worldwide. The main research gap is that little is known about a powerful tool used by corporations to address climate ...change, namely carbon reduction and energy transition targets. In the official statistics, companies are designated as the biggest polluters. The purpose of this research is to investigate the targets set by the largest European companies and their achievement status regarding the carbon reduction and energy transition process. Target setting was analyzed by reference to the pressures hypothesized by the institutional theory. To answer the research question, the targets set by the companies included in the STOXX All Europe 100 Index were extracted from various sources. Hypothesis testing was conducted on the existence of mimetic, coercive, and normative isomorphism. A new scoring system was proposed to measure the level of corporate commitment regarding carbon reduction and energy transition targets. The findings suggest that most targets are established for the short and medium term and refer to absolute emissions, some of them already achieved. All forms of isomorphism apply to the selected sample. The research has implications for policy setting, as relaxed targets may lead to greenwashing and prevent countries from meeting international strategic goals.
The objective of this research was to evaluate the development and digitalization of professional services in the field of accounting and finance, as well as to calculate and compare several ...indicators of the development of the profession in each European country. We also sought to identify the factors that drive the development of the accounting and finance profession at the international level. We collected rich information on 337 professional associations in 40 countries in Europe. Using this dataset, 20 accounting and finance services and 14 membership services and benefits provided by professional associations were identified. Digitalization of the profession is a prominent membership service, but also a characteristic of country competitiveness. The results of the intergroup analysis showed that high-income countries have a significantly larger number of professional associations and services compared to middle-income countries. Furthermore, the accounting and finance profession in high-income countries covers a larger number of accounting and membership services. The size of the population and the competitiveness of the national economy are the main predictors of the development and digitalization of the accounting and finance profession in a country. This research has implications for professional associations and national regulators in reducing disparities between European countries on the matter of accounting education and service quality. The scale of this research can provide institutional actors with a holistic perspective on the accounting and finance profession at the national and international level.
The COVID-19 pandemic generated a switch from in-person to online learning. Using data from four academic years and two related disciplines (Management accounting and Performance measurement and ...control), we analyzed the impact of medium-term and exclusive online learning on student engagement, learning outcomes, and student perception of online learning. The sample consisted of four groups of undergraduate accounting students (a total sample of 415 students) from the most important university of economics in Romania. We applied paired t-tests and independent t-tests, correlation measures, and principal component analysis. The results showed a decline in learning outcomes from one discipline to another (seminar scores, exam results), and a decline for one discipline (Performance measurement and control) over a three-year period. Also, a weaker student engagement during the second year of the pandemic indicated that the passage of time highlighted the disconnect between students and the academic environment. Surprisingly, student engagement and learning outcomes were not correlated with two measures of student satisfaction (cognitive stimulation and convenience). It appears that student satisfaction with online learning remained at a high level despite an increased risk of academic failure. Unsurprisingly, there was a rebound in academic performance when classes switched to in-person education in the spring of 2022. Our results have implications for the future design of online and blended learning in universities.
Purpose - Is the natural environment a stakeholder of the firm? And is there a business case for achieving sustainability? The purpose of this paper is to trace a tripartite relationship, involving ...environmental disclosure, environmental performance, and financial performance of environmentally sensitive activities of companies in a European setting.Design methodology approach - A sample of 60 of the largest European Union industrial business groups, extracted from the FTSEuroFirst 300, and an environmental disclosure index inspired by the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines, form the basis for the content analysis of the most recent sustainability reports published before the end of 2008.Findings - A significant association is found between contemporaneous environmental performance and disclosure, in that bigger polluters tend to disclose more on their activities, but only to a moderate statistical effect. However, no association is found between environmental performance and financial performance, as well as between environmental disclosure and contemporaneous firm performance.Practical implications - This result suggests that even though big polluters tend to report more, the transparency level of their activities may not be sufficient for a viable assessment of sustainability. For such "environmentally challenged" companies, their reputation-building strategy is mainly focused on preserving or repairing legitimacy.Originality value - The paper considers two complementary aspects: first, that the relationship between sustainability commitment and financial performance may be so weak that it is barely detectable; and second, that cross-sectional studies may fail in capturing a relationship that is normally shaped over longer periods of time.
