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Corporate reporting by cooperatives: Mapping the landscape and identifying determinants
... Cooperatives aim to provide sustainable economic and social development for their members (Fouché and Polo-Garrido, 2024). In other words, they serve as a means or tool for members to achieve their goals. ...
Purpose
This study aims to identify indicators of social performance in health cooperatives, emphasizing the crucial need for cooperatives to systematically monitor their social performance with members, thus strengthening relationship and ensuring sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a descriptive research design with a qualitative approach, this study analyzed interviews with cooperative managers through content analysis.
Findings
A total of 23 indicators were identified covering financial aspects, personal and professional training facilitated by cooperative education and the promotion of active participation and engagement among cooperative members.
Research limitations/implications
As for the limitations of this research, it is possible to mention the proposition of performance indicators based on the perception of the managers, who were the interviewed. A better description and validation of the indicators could be done through a survey with the cooperative members, who are the most interested and affected by actions and social results of the cooperatives.
Practical implications
The main managerial implications of the results indicated the need to implement a monitoring structure so that the indicators of the cooperative’s actions with its members can have the same importance as the monitoring of the economic–financial indicators.
Social implications
By making information available to members, with transparent and effective communication, it is possible to infer that members have a broader perspective of the cooperative’s actions and the benefits of being part of it. The engagement of members in a cooperative with quality governance improves the feeling of belonging and ensures the perpetuity of the cooperative. Also, it is expected that the results of this research can favor and influence other studies and help cooperatives to improve their planning with permanent actions to monitor their social performance in relation to their members.
Originality/value
Performance indicators of cooperatives should be treated and analyzed in a particular way because cooperatives have particularities regarding their economic and social functions. There are several indicators to evaluate the economic-financial performance of cooperatives, but there are few indicators to verify the social performance of the cooperative with its members.
... For example, they contribute to SDG 1: No Poverty, by promoting financial inclusion and providing access to financial services for marginalized populations [57]. Additionally, they align with SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, as they promote local economic development and financial inclusion, thereby supporting sustainable economic growth and decent employment [200]. They are also connected to SDG 10: Reduced Inequality by offering accessible and fair services to all their members, regardless of income level, thereby contributing to a more equitable distribution of resources. ...
Credit unions in Latin America play an important role in the financial system, making a significant contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their focus on financial inclusion, sustainability, and economic resilience. Assessing the social responsibility of these cooperatives ensures ethical, sustainable operations that benefit the population. Unlike traditional financial institutions, cooperatives are based on principles focused on mutual benefit, democratic participation, and responsibility toward their members and the community. This critical literature review, conducted through scientific databases, synthesizes findings on social responsibility in credit unions. The financial system is relevant for global economic stability and growth, comprising institutions like credit unions that facilitate capital flow. It operates through financial instruments, intermediaries, and markets, ensuring efficient resource allocation and risk management. Effective financial management involves planning, organizing, directing, and controlling resources to achieve stability and growth, integrating social responsibility. Credit unions in Latin America highlight cooperative principles, emphasizing member service, community development, and sustainable practices over profit maximization, thereby fostering economic inclusion and ethical business practices. In conclusion, credit unions provide affordable financial services while promoting values of solidarity and equity. However, as entities directly linked to communities, it is essential for them to monitor their actions in terms of social responsibility. This is important to measure and ensure their impact on society and its context. Finally, future research should focus on balancing economic viability with social responsibility, exploring innovative models, governance frameworks, and technological impacts.
This paper presents an in-depth contextual analysis of the rise and recent demise of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). The IIRC entered its 'Breakthrough Phase' for Integrated Reporting ( ) in 2013 and progressed to its 'Momentum Phase' in late 2018. The 'Global Adoption Phase' of was expected to commence in 2021 and conclude in 2026. However, by the middle of 2023, the IIRC ceased to exist as a separate entity and the future adoption of its much vaunted Framework was fundamentally uncertain. Drawing on a comprehensive examination of documentary evidence and a series of 34 in-depth interviews with key players associated with the IIRC's development, this paper studies how and why the IIRC went so rapidly from being a notable 'is' to a definitive 'was' in less than a decade. Our analysis traces the IIRC's shifting strategic priorities in pursuit of a new corporate reporting norm and illustrates how these priorities underpinned a concerted effort at institutional integration in the corporate reporting field. We show how the nature of this attempted integration eventually led to the IIRC's demise. In seeking to understand the IIRC's strategic choices and actions we pinpoint the interrelated significance of 'invisibilities and exclusions', 'the dance of agency', and 'con-ceptual promiscuity'. We conclude that the IIRC's ultimate legacy may not be what it integrated in terms of corporate reporting but what it chose or was required to exclude or forget.
In 2014, all larger Swedish private firms were required, at short notice, to adopt a new reporting standard (K3) based on IFRS for SMEs (2009 version). Using this shock to the reporting environment, we study the effects of the new reporting standard on groups’ financial reporting properties and cost of debt financing. We find that, following the introduction of K3, private groups exhibit reporting changes consistent with improved accounting quality; their financial statement comparability increases; and their cost of debt declines. Our results suggest that the cost-of-debt decline is related to changes in accounting numbers that are imputed to lending models. Our findings add to the literature on factors shaping private firms’ financial reporting and inform the ongoing discussion on accounting regulation for private firms.
Purpose
It has been more than 20 years since the idea of binding multinational corporations directly to international law was abandoned. Since then, concerned actors have sought to manage corporate conduct through voluntary regulation. However, little is known about the instruments produced in this regard. This study aims to understand the properties of the instruments that govern or regulate corporate social responsibility at the international level.
Design/methodology/approach
Systematic literature review and content analysis methods were combined to compile a list of 229 international corporate social responsibility instruments (ICSRIs) produced by intergovernmental (IGOs) and international nongovernmental (INGOs) organizations. These instruments were categorized according to an adapted classification framework.
Findings
The majority of instruments from our sample are produced by INGOs, focus on management activities and are applicable to specific industries. The most common issues addressed by the instruments are related to worker protection, human rights, governance and the environment. A limited number of instruments specify stakeholders’ involvement or feature an external orientation. Instruments rarely address issues related to product quality and safety, economic contribution or social performance.
Practical implications
Without a comprehensive overview, it has been difficult to develop broad-based understandings about voluntary regulation as a mechanism for controlling corporate conduct internationally. This study’s findings offer valuable insights, allowing policymakers and industry practitioners to understand the effectiveness of, and make appropriate enhancements to, ICSRIs.
Social implications
By enhancing ICSRIs to address the limitations highlighted in the current study, multinational corporations can be induced into contributing more productively to the sustainable development of the societies they impact and play a greater role in the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Originality/value
Previous research has largely concentrated on analyzing small numbers of carefully selected instruments in a conceptual or descriptive approach. In contrast, this study represents a novel approach of systematic compilation and quantitative classification for a comprehensive list of ICSRIs.
Multiple roles and objectives are naturally inherent in the co-op idea, captured by the Statement on the Co-operative Identity (ICA, 1995) and thus in co-operative enterprises’ practices. This complex nature derived from the co-operative mission has been conceptualized as the dual nature, which is in the DNA of all co-operatives. However, the concept is somewhat ambiguous and a comprehensive theoretical framework is missing. Prior research has approached duality at different, and not clearly delineated levels, either as individual member motivations, organizational characteristics, or community impact, discussed in this paper. Further, we examine duality and paradox framings in co-operative enterprise research to underscore complementary features that define co-operative enterprise, and contribute an elaboration on the associative practices at the heart of these debates. Associationalism is described in this paper as the common action and responsibilities of membership regarding collective contributions, ownership, benefit, decisionmaking and control. Further, we extend the argument that co-operatives have the strongest impact when they acknowledge and take advantage of their unique organizational values and characteristics, informed by their associative foundations.
This paper investigates the impact of Directive 2014/95/EU on both the quantity and quality of non-financial disclosure (NFD) and its relationship with corporate financial performance (CFP) in 20 Italian listed companies. The current study considers both the annual reports (AR) and social and environmental reports (SER) released two years prior (2015–2016) and two years after (2017–2018) the Directive’s application. A manual content analysis was conducted and OLS regression analyses were carried out to evaluate the relationship between NFD and CFP, measured by ROA, ROE and Tobin’s Q. The findings show that the Directive affected the quantity of NFD, but not the quality, and that a transfer of information occurred from the different reporting mediums considered. Overall, NFD quality is significant and positively associated with CFP when measured by ROA and ROE, however, the mandatory NFD quality following the Directive does not show a significant relationship with CFP.
Purpose
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a requirement for energy enterprises as different stakeholders deem environmental and social responsibility the duty. This study aims to explore the determinants that affect CSR disclosure in energy enterprises of developing nations.
Design/methodology/approach
Panel data of energy companies is used that are listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange. A comprehensive CSR disclosure index is developed using seven themes, i.e. environment, employees, energy, emissions, product, community development and other CSR-related activities. A random effect model of regression is used on the sample of data.
Findings
The finding of the study reveals that profitability, financial leverage, board size and being a multinational subsidiary has a significant relationship with CSR disclosure level.
Research limitations/implications
The sample is confined to a certain number of years and publicly traded energy companies. Further studies can explore the relationship of CSR among different groups of firms, such as SMEs, non-listed companies and state-run enterprises to document whether the findings are significant or not. The opinions and ideas of external stakeholders could also be explored using various qualitative methods such as interviews.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first study of its kind whose only focus is energy sector enterprises. A comprehensive scale is used to measure CSR practices. It is helpful for upcoming studies to examine the various aspects of CSR research and figure sound outcome.
In a recent contribution to this journal, Deng et al. (2021) draw on an extensive range of theoretical and empirical literature to make the case for the tendency of social capital resources of agricultural cooperatives in the Western world to decline over time. The present paper revisits this argument by drawing on a Luhmannian systems-theoretic perspective that takes the capitalist economic system to be limitedly sensitive and receptive to a broad variety of human needs. Whereas many of these needs remain marginalized and neglected, some of them may be codified or translated into a profit-making calculus. Cooperatives are shown to present one of the channels through which this codification may be possible; namely, the codification effect of cooperatives enables the incorporation of a multitude of mutual self-help activities into the economic system. This incorporation gives rise to intrasystemic adjustment processes that can be considered complete when the mutual self-help activities introduced by cooperatives no longer require the cooperative form and are integrated into the activities of investor-owned firms. If this view is accepted, then declining social capital may be an indicator of the successful codification process, which helps to make the economic system less exclusionary and more sensitive to human needs.
The aim of the present study is to examine the sustainability reports of cooperatives, which may play an important role in achieving the sustainable development goals and help to identify which economic, environmental, and social sustainability indicators cooperatives are currently reporting. For this purpose, a total of 168 sustainability reports were examined for cooperatives that use the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 reporting, and that are included in the Sustainability Disclosure Database (SDD-GRI). As a result of this study, it was determined that the economic performance indicator disclosure levels of cooperatives that are active in the financial services sector are higher compared with those of cooperatives that are active in other sectors. In addition, it was also observed that the labor practices and decent work sub-category indicator disclosure levels of cooperatives active in the agriculture sector are lower compared to those of cooperatives that are active in the healthcare services and financial services sectors. Another outcome of this study was the finding that the social performance indicator disclosure levels for large-scale cooperatives are greater than those of small- and medium-sized (SME) cooperatives.
This study investigates whether shareholders are willing to pay for higher levels of corporate financial, social, and environmental disclosure. We conduct a choice-based conjoint experiment wherein 65 shareholders are asked to make 12 choices, choosing each time between two predetermined randomized combinations of different levels of investment returns, financial disclosure, environmental disclosure, and social disclosure. Results indicate that whereas shareholders are willing to pay for financial disclosure and environmental disclosure, they are unwilling to pay for social disclosure. Hence, the latter finding does not provide conclusive evidence on the overall question. However, the result that investors are willing to pay for non-financial disclosures—such as environmental information—constitutes our main contribution as prior research has not been able to provide strong evidence that investors are willing to forfeit investment returns in order to gain access to more corporate disclosures. The use of a choice-based conjoint experiment to examine these matters is novel and potentially opens avenues for future research. We believe our theoretical and practical contributions to be of interest to various stakeholders, including firms in making decisions about disclosure levels and regulators in assessing the need for disclosure regulation.
We present a literature review of the role played by agricultural cooperatives in influencing farm sustainability. We first focus on the theoretical literature to highlight the various economic behaviours of cooperatives. Then we investigate all three dimensions of sustainability in developing and developed countries. We aim at linking the empirical findings to the theoretical understanding of cooperatives, in particular members’ heterogeneity. This paper shows that cooperatives play a non‐negligible role in farm economic sustainability and in the adoption of environmentally friendly practices, suggesting that both public policies and private initiatives in cooperatives may be complementary. As regards social sustainability, there are only a few studies existing on the role of agricultural cooperatives. The trade‐off between economic and environmental sustainability in cooperatives would need to be further investigated.
The purpose of the development of a multifunctional cooperative sector is to realize the opportunities of cooperation and effective use of its potential for economic growth and the social orientation of Ukraine’s diversified economy. The authors prove in the article that the scale and pace of the cooperative sector’s formation of the economy depend on the development of the system of cooperatives, mainly: agricultural, consumer, credit and social services. In the future, the regional sector of the cooperative economy will be formed on the basis of different types of cooperatives. Integration into the cooperative sector should take place in two ways: the intra-system integration of cooperatives and the creation of a national cooperative sector of the economy. It was found that globalization, as an irreversible phenomenon in the development of the world economy, makes it possible to learn that in most Western countries, the cooperative sector occupies a leading position in the economy and is characterized by a variety of forms and types of cooperative activities. The processes of globalization, which are the basis for the formation of a non-economic system, pose a real threat to the very existence of the cooperative movement. Adequate response on the part of cooperatives and their unions should be to overcome competition between cooperatives of different types and kinds and to integrate the cooperative movement not only within national economies but also outside them.
Cooperatives have a different ownership structure compared with investor owned firms, which causes frictions in the development of accounting standards. This paper critically reviews the history of cooperatives in the accounting standards for business combinations and identifies and studies five problematic aspects of the application of the acquisition method. A guidance to identifying Business Combinations Under Common Control between cooperatives is proposed. Incompatibilities between the cooperative law and accounting standards are identified, a modified cost of business combination is proposed, inequalities between members arising in the application of the acquisition method are indicated and above all it is shown that the IASB’s decision to allow only one method has proven ineffective in avoiding accounting arbitrage.
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the use of legitimacy strategies via the usage of photographic disclosures in sustainability reporting as an attempt towards creating value.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used visual content analysis to identify disclosure trends and value creation themes from sustainability-related photographs in the annual and sustainability reports of Fonterra Co-operative Group over a ten-year period. The findings were interpreted using legitimacy theory.
Findings
The findings show a significant increase in the usage of photographs to legitimise and reinforce the organisation’s sustainability messages. The photographs are dominated by images signalling to stakeholders’ positive sustainability messages, as a systematic method for managing stakeholder expectations to maintain, gain and even repair legitimacy. A majority of photographs have supporting textual narrative, which could be construed as an attempt by the company to make their sustainability messages explicit and provide greater legitimacy of activities and performance with the ultimate aim of enhancing organisational value.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes towards an in-depth understanding of attempts at seeking legitimacy and creating organisational value through the systematic usage of photographic disclosures in sustainability reporting.
Practical implications
This study has the potential to inform stakeholders on linkages between sustainability photographs, value creation and legitimacy. It can help inform and assist report preparers, designers and users on the potential of photographs as a substantive medium to manage legitimacy in sustainability reporting.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the scant literature on the growing use of photographs as a value adding apparatus in sustainability reporting. This paper also extends the applicability of legitimacy theory to visual disclosure and suggests that legitimacy can be systematically sought to create value.
Within the 2030 Agenda, the United Nations have explicitly required that the Member States introduce within their jurisdictions new forms of regulations about non‐financial reporting practices. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects related to the transposition of Directive 2014/95/EU by analyzing firm‐level, governance‐level, and report‐level determinants of business reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To conduct such an analysis, this study defines and introduces the SDG Reporting Score (SRS)—a qualitative proxy representing a firm orientation toward SDG reporting. The study sample includes the non‐financial reports of 153 Italian Public Interest Entities. The results show a positive relationship between a firm's SRS and various determinants, such as the presence of independent directors on the board, expertise with non‐financial reporting, and length of the report. Finally, the highest levels of SRS are achieved by firms operating in environmental sensitive sectors.
Corporate governance disclosures form a key part of a company’s non-financial reporting. Several studies consider the determinants of corporate governance reporting, including external factors such as country-specific legislation and scandals, and internal factors such as financial performance, size and culture. Others consider the consequences of corporate governance reporting, using simple proxies for corporate governance mechanisms such as board composition characteristics to analyse the impact on financial reporting quality and company valuation. Yet the determinants and consequences of corporate governance reporting may be interlinked, and many quantitative studies fail to consider these links and their multiple effects adequately. Poor financial performance, for example, can be both a determinant and a consequence of the underlying governance mechanisms that corporate governance reporting aims to capture. The framework provided in this paper considers both the determinants and consequences of corporate governance and likely links between them, and also considers internal corporate governance mechanisms and the measures that are used as their proxies. In combining these three aspects of corporate governance and showing potential links, the framework offers insights into future research opportunities. The framework can be adapted to any country or organisational setting and also offers the opportunity to consider theories other than agency theory when studying corporate governance disclosures.
There has been growing criticism of the established practice of automatically including control variables into analyses, especially with survey studies. Several authors have explained the pitfalls of improper use and have provided some best practice advice. I build upon this foundation in suggesting a programmatic approach to the use of control variables that can provide evidence to support or refute feasible explanations for why two or more variables are related. The hierarchical iterative control (HIC) approach begins by establishing a connection between two or more variables and then hierarchically adds control variables to rule in or out their possible influence. The HIC approach involves conducting a series of studies to iteratively test relationships among target variables, utilizing a variety of control variable strategies involving multiple methods. A 7-step programmatic approach is described beginning with development of the research question and background literature review and then conducting empirical tests in a hierarchical (within a study) and iterative (across studies) manner.
The main objective of this research is to contribute to the economic literature on cooperative entrepreneurship as a model for sustainable development, taking into account the special alignment of the cooperative principles (ICA) with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It offers new empirical evidence from Spain, based on Stakeholder Theory, about the differences between cooperatives (Coops) and Capitalist Firms (CFs) in relation to the distribution of economic value between the different stakeholders. For this purpose, panel data was analysed using the Correlated Random Effects approach. The results reveal that cooperative firms generate value for some of the stakeholders analysed, specifically for their partners and creditors, but no significant differences have been found with CFs in terms of workers and the state. In both cases, it can be inferred that the period analysed has influenced the results, since it has been found that, first, cooperatives adjust wages downward rather than dismiss workers during a recession, which is in line with previous research, and second, that their tax contribution to the state is lower because they are subject to a more favourable tax system in Spain.
Corporate reporting and governance are interlinked: Accounting and reporting inventions created the modern company, and without the modern company there is no entity from which to report. Due to its raison d’etre, reporting remained finance-centered, to protect financial capital providers. From the 1970’s, the question of the interests of ‘stakeholders’ emerged, with attempts of ‘social reporting’, ‘corporate social responsibility’, ‘environmental’, and ‘social and environmental’ and finally ‘integrated’ accounting and reporting. These trends are reflected also in the European Union legal framework, both in regulation of especially financial intermediaries and the ‘non-financial’ reporting. This article is based on an extensive literature review, research conducted in the Sustainable Market Actors for Responsible Trade (SMART) project, and socio-legal and economic empirical research based conceptual analysis of the impact of these reporting systems and their relationship to financial accounting and reporting. The result of the research is that sustainability is reduced to focus on institutional investors and other members in the investment supply chain, and climate change issues only, and new regulatory solutions are required. Based on the most recent developments in EU law and in European jurisdictions, possible paths forward are envisaged to encourage sustainability in reporting and assurance, and through that, in governance. As an outcome a set of regulatory reform proposals are given based on the SMART recommendations.
This paper provides an integrated analysis of the structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions of social capital in cooperatives. The social capital concept is integrated with cooperative lifecycle theory to describe the change of cooperative social capital along the lifecycle. We propose that cooperatives in different stages of the lifecycle are featured with different levels of social capital. Cooperatives usually enjoy a high level of social capital in the early stages of the lifecycle. However, the level of social capital in cooperatives exhibits a declining trend along the development of the organization. The decrease of social capital will lead to an imbalance of the social and economic attributes of cooperatives. The cooperative’s governance structure must change accordingly. We argue that it is important for cooperatives to maintain and develop the social capital strategically over time. Otherwise, the comparative advantage of the cooperative business form may disappear.
The R package mvord implements composite likelihood estimation in the class of multivariate ordinal regression models with a multivariate probit and a multivariate logit link. A flexible modeling framework for multiple ordinal measurements on the same subject is set up, which takes into consideration the dependence among the multiple observations by employing different error structures. Heterogeneity in the error structure across the subjects can be accounted for by the package, which allows for covariate dependent error structures. In addition, different regression coefficients and threshold parameters for each response are supported. If a reduction of the parameter space is desired, constraints on the threshold as well as on the regression coefficients can be specified by the user. The proposed multivariate framework is illustrated by means of a credit risk application.
The paper aims at investigating mechanisms that affect the possible development of integrated reporting (IR) practices in the healthcare sector. Through a performative case study in a university hospital, this paper discusses the process of production, construction, and consumption of a management commentary, which is a report combining financial and non-financial information about organizational performance; a management commentary can be considered the natural setting to develop IR. Findings from interviews with both the report’s preparers and institutional users show that the management commentary mainly addresses normative requirements, which results in a heavy document stemming from the preparers’ silo mentality, with very limited usefulness for its users. Interviews with users provided insights about the material non-financial information that would have added value to their decision making if addressed within the hospital’s reporting practices. Users reported that the management commentary could be meaningful if it arose from a shared planning process emphasizing the connectivity of the university hospital’s activities with the local stakeholders’ activities. This latter assertion, however, is not shared by the organization’s top management. Although the implementation of an IR framework is recommended in the literature, even in the context of the public sector, it emerges that the features of an organization can challenge its applicability.
This study develops a corporate social responsibility (CSR) measure for abnormal CSR. Based on a microeconomic framework, we argue and show that firm-level variables determine a firm-specific, normal (expected) level of CSR performance, where the marginal costs of CSR equal its marginal benefits. Any deviation from these equilibrium points is a proxy for abnormal CSR, which is negatively related to a firm’s short-term financial performance (i.e., profitability). Hereby, larger values result in proportionally larger decreases in financial performance (inverted U-shape). We conduct our empirical analyses using cross-sectional CSR performance data for U.S. listed companies from 1991 to 2013. Further analyses reveal that this negative effect of abnormal CSR exists for both positive and negative abnormal CSR. Our results hold for alternative measures of firm and CSR performance, an instrumental variable regression, and propensity score matching. Our model could serve as a first indicator for abnormal CSR for investors and other stakeholders.
This collection is the first comprehensive selection of readings focusing on corporate bankruptcy. Its main purpose is to explore the nature and efficiency of corporate reorganisation using interdisciplinary approaches drawn from law, economics, business, and finance. Substantive areas covered include the role of credit, creditors' implicit bargains, non-bargaining features of bankruptcy, workouts of agreements, alternatives to bankruptcy, and proceedings in countries other than the United States, including the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the progress and future prospects of two relatively “new” institutions in this field: the European Commission (EC), together with the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reflexively analyses the recent events that characterise the European Union (EU) regulatory standard-setting landscape in the sustainability field. It is mainly based on publicly available documents.
Findings
After analysing the different routes followed to enter the field, this paper shows how the EC/EFRAG takes a wider view than the IFRS Foundation on certain key reporting aspects, that is, target audience, materiality and reporting boundary. As for the reporting scope, although it seems that the IFRS Foundation has a more restrictive vision, it is working to broaden it.
Practical implications
This paper provides some ideas about the potential cooperation between the two institutions. This paper also highlights some potential problems stemming not only from their intrinsic characteristics but also from the routes they have taken to enter the field.
Social implications
By envisioning how the EU sustainability reporting standard-setting landscape might evolve, this paper sheds light on how companies might need to approach sustainability reporting to adapt to the new institutional demands. Suggestions for collaboration between the two institutions could help them reach common ground and, thus, prevent misunderstandings for companies and stakeholders.
Originality/value
The reflections and takeaways benefit from the authors’ first-hand information, as both are involved in the EU process. The authors could, therefore, feed into further discussions on the developments and challenges facing the EU in this domain.
This article focuses on co-operatives’ faltering position in 21st century Canadian public opinion. I argue co-operative education’s introverted bias toward ‘boardrooms and classrooms’ neglects public opinion; and that shifting international norms and historical conditions have reinforced this retreat from mass media and the public sphere. A co-operative communication gap of international significance is the result. Cultural hegemony theory and qualitative methods are used to develop the argument. Historical analysis first demonstrates that educational conventionalism dangerously discounts the contemporary cultural environment’s threat to mutualism. It is argued that the International Co-operative Alliance’s (ICA) contradictory doctrine has deepened normative confusion about co-operative education’s scope, further delaying media activism and popular education. Textual analysis illustrates this contradiction in key documents. These include the Report of the ICA Commission on Co-operative Principles (1967), the Statement on the Co-operative Identity (1995), and the Guidance Notes to the Co-operative Principles (2016). Finally, conjunctural analysis shows that contradictory tendencies inside and outside international mutualism reshaped an inward-turning pedagogy from 1995 to 2016. Findings thus extend our understanding of the communication gap by accounting for barriers to popular educational innovation, both conceptual and strategic.
Cooperative organizations are generally capable of accommodating diverse needs of their members. Particularly in today’s agrifood systems, this capacity often makes the governance of cooperatives themselves extraordinarily challenging. To meet some of these challenges, the paper develops a new conceptual approach to cooperative governance by differentiating between core and peripheral activities of cooperatives. While core activities are based on members’ truly common interests, peripheral activities include all else. This approach allows tracing governance challenges of agricultural cooperatives back to the inflation of peripheral activities which in turn reflects the growing complexity of the present-day agrifood systems. Based on this approach, cooperative leaders are advised to focus on minimizing these activities and on drawing clear boundaries between core and periphery.
Cooperatives serve a competitive yardstick role in markets dominated by market power such as monopsony or monopoly. This paper argues they can also serve a normative yardstick role in efforts to provide contextual social indicators for sustainability reporting that aims to instigate transformative change. The Statement on the Cooperative Identity, which includes cooperative values, principles, and purpose of associative economic organizing (ica.coop), can serve as a blueprint for the construction of social sustainability indicators.
The paper then addresses two issues: one, it answers the question what should cooperatives measure and why; and two, it suggests the framework for transformative indicators informed by the purpose of cooperative organizing. In particular, cooperative enterprise model contributes to fair income distribution, promotes economic democracy, de-commodifies necessities and fictitious commodities, and contributes to community development by investing in the real economy. These impact areas ought to be measured and disclosed.
The agricultural cooperative may significantly impact the adoption of environmentally friendly production technologies, which eventually help the farmers with better living standards and productivity. However, critical evaluation of how and to what extent the cooperative organization's participation leads the farmer's adoption of environmentally friendly technology (EFT) is relatively unclear. Thus, to critically explore the knowledge gap, the study evaluates the effects of cooperative participation towards adopting environmentally friendly production technologies based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The key variables used in the study have been extracted from an extensive literature investigation, while the empirical data has been collected from October to December 2020 from 292 kiwi-fruit farmers within the Shaanxi province of China. Simultaneously, the partial least square of structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) tools has been utilized to craft the final assessment. The factor loadings of all three latent variables have been statistically significant and interrelated for quantifying the proposed model. The statistically proven framework portrayed that cooperative organizations' participation positively impacts and shapes behavioral factors and facilitates the adoption of environmentally friendly production technologies. The study found the social structure like China, the impacts of cooperation could be crucial. As cooperative participation is an ample predictor for facilitating environmentally friendly technologies, the government should broaden the technical supports, and agricultural extension should also provide extended training for a smooth transition of the cooperatives.
Purpose
Risks resulted from asymmetric information have become crucial barriers for commercial banks to implement supply chain finance (SCF) – mainly the inventory pledge financing (IPF). At the same time, online financial service providers (OFSPs) are emerging as strong competitors in the SCF market. As a result, commercial banks need to update their traditional SCF business models and alleviate their over-dependence on OFSPs.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employ a multi-case-study method to investigate how the Internet of things (IoT) and blockchain technologies can be jointly leveraged to mitigate SCF risks. In-depth interviews were conducted to depict the business models and their novel ecosystem to reinforce traditional banks' ability in SCF services.
Findings
From the perspective of information asymmetry, the authors categorize IPF risks into three groups based on the principal-agent theory: collateral, warehousing and liquidity risk. The findings suggest that IoT can primarily improve traditional banks' information acquisition ability, and blockchain can facilitate credible information transformation, enabling banks to acquire knowledge from collaterals. Besides, the e-platform in the new architecture increases banks' involvement in the supply chain and builds a fair network to curtail warehousing risks. The employment of smart contracts and collaborative mechanism ensure process and outcome control in mitigating liquidity risks.
Originality/value
The research contributes to the literature by confirming the role of emerging technologies in reducing information asymmetry risks. Besides, the findings provide valuable insights for practitioners to promote effective practices and approaches in IPF.
In 2013, India became the first country in the world to require firms to spend two percent of their average profit on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Taking advantage of this unique event, we examine how the mandatory CSR compliance impacts conditional accounting conservatism of Indian firms. We find a positive relation between CSR compliance and conditional accounting conservatism and this relation is stronger for firms that have stronger governance and weaker for family firms. Further, we find that current period accounting conservatism is negatively related to next period CSR spending. Our results are robust to a battery of tests and are consistent with the notion that Indian firms enhance accounting conservatism to decrease earnings to minimize CSR compliance costs. In other words, while policy makers may have intended to use legislation to increase CSR activities by Indian firms, our results suggest that firms use accounting policies and negative accruals strategically to mitigate CSR spending.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of research studies on the drivers and consequences of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper used a systematic literature review using research papers published on the drivers and consequence of global CSR from 2010 to 2020.
Findings
The findings of this paper show that the principal themes of published research articles on the drivers and consequences of CSR are internal drivers, external drivers and consequences of CSR. Publications on the drivers and consequences of global CSR have been dominated by studies that used quantitative approach and cross-sectional design. A significant number of studies also used secondary data source with most of these studies not being sensitive to sectorial influences. More importantly, this study revealed that the emphasis of CSR on actions that demonstrate social responsibility is more associated with overall financial performance and firm value when contrasted against ethical statements of social responsibility which is associated with weaker firm financial performance and outcomes. Moreover the review indicated that the level of CSR engagement and disclosure has been associated with higher share prices whereas low level of CSR disclosure in sensitive industries results in lower share prices. In addition, employees’ intention has been identified as a critical driver for CSR activities. Furthermore, it was also identified that firms engage in CSR because of internal institutional factors such as ethical corporate culture and top management commitment, whereas external drivers of CSR include socio-political factors, globalisation and environmental accountability.
Practical implications
CSR is an area that can be harnessed to contribute to sustainable solutions to global challenges. It also provides an added advantage of ensuring that the perpetuation of the relationship between businesses and society are more complementary.
Originality/value
This review is one of the few studies focussed on highlighting the drivers and consequences of global CSR. This review also provides proof of the areas of research that need attention and provides recommendation on future areas of study on the drivers and consequences of global CSR.
Accounting standards and variance in their application is one of the current topics in economic research. Standardization in accounting represents the accepted organization of financial reporting and being aware of it contributes to making effective business decisions. The purpose of the study is to present the applicable accounting standards for publicly traded companies and for enterprises which do not issue securities, from a global standpoint in general, and for Bulgaria in particular. The results are based on data about the monitored jurisdictions of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation and Bulgaria. The research methodology is based on the methods of analysis and synthesis, comparison and generalization, study of literature and empirical data. The assertions are that the applicable accounting standards have a theoretical nature of working principles, rules, and approaches to financial reporting, and that basic accounting standards are elementary components of methodological accounting tools. It has been established that publicly traded companies apply the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in almost 75% of the states worldwide, while enterprises which do not issue securities adopt IFRS for small and medium-sized enterprises or national accounting standards as a basis for accounting, which constitutes grounds to conclude, that the differences in accounting across the world are not large, and that it is appropriate to perceive the applicable accounting standards as a macroeconomic characteristic. In Bulgaria, the standardization and legal regulation of accounting are in accordance with internationally accepted regulations and established practices of the European Union. The establishment and adoption of global accounting standards is a contribution of accounting to the modern development of mankind.
Purpose
This paper aims to trace subsequent steps of the sustainability reporting evolution in terms of changes in the organisation fields and professional jurisdictions involved. As such, it highlights the (interrelated) organisational and professional challenges associated with the progressive incorporation of “sustainability” within corporate reporting.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on Suddaby and Viale’s (2011) theorisation of how professionals reshape organisational fields to highlight how organisational spaces, actors, rules and professional capital evolve alongside the incorporation of sustainability within corporate reporting.
Findings
The paper shows organisational spaces, actors, rules and professional capital mobilised during the recent evolution of sustainability reporting, starting from a period in which there was no space for sustainability, to more recent periods in which sustainability gained increasing momentum beyond initial niches, and culminating in more integrated forms of sustainability reporting.
Research limitations/implications
Although the analysis is limited to empirical evidence collected by prior research and practice on sustainability reporting, the paper offers a view to imagine how the incorporation of sustainability within corporate reporting relies on and affects organisational fields and professional jurisdictions.
Originality/value
The paper offers a lens to interpret corporate and professional challenges associated with the more recent evolutions of sustainability reporting practice and standard setting. It also allows framing the papers accepted in the special issue on “new challenges in sustainability reporting” and concludes by suggesting an agenda for future research.
Objective - The goal of integrated reporting is to enhance the cohesiveness and efficiency of corporate reporting. It encourages organizations to create greater value by identifying the factors that have a material impact on its operations. The Integrated Reporting (IR) Framework guides the overall content of an integrated report through the Guiding Principles and Content Elements. The Framework has eight elements. This study explores the level of voluntary disclosure of information related to these eight elements by companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia before and after the establishment of the Framework. Methodology/Technique - This study examines the annual reports of 603 Main Market listed companies of Bursa Malaysia between 2012 and 2015. The year 2012 is referred to as the "pre-issuance period" while 2015 is referred to as the "post issuance period". Findings - The findings of the study show that the companies that do disclose more information, do so in relation to three out of the eight elements only. These are: governance, strategy and resource allocation, and outlook. Overall, there is a lack of lineage among the information related to the IR elements presented in the annual reports. Novelty - The findings demonstrate the need for the full adoption of integrated reporting in Malaysia. Type of Paper Empirical Keywords: Content Elements; Integrated Reporting Framework; Listed Companies; Pre and Post Issuance Period; Voluntary Disclosure. JEL Classification: M40, M41, M49.
The diffusion of renewable energy technologies has often been suggested as a means to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, but emphasis tends to be placed on large scale projects. Adoption of renewable energy at the local level provides opportunities for both distributed energy schemes and domestic microgeneration. However, alternative models of ownership, governance and operation are not well developed. Locally managed energy solutions need to respond to varied end users' requirements to ensure that needs are met, so understanding of different types of end users is a prerequisite to the development of robust business models. This paper presents a review of existing models of decentralised energy generation in which actors such as community groups, energy cooperatives, charities and municipalities participate as owners and coproducers. End users can become involved in the design, development and delivery of energy services in a variety of ways. The focus is active user engagement through coconstruction, coproduction and coprovision of energy services. The following categories will be reviewed with reference to current understandings of both sustainable entrepreneurship and social enterprise: (a) energy service companies (ESCos) as commercial actors that undertake management of these projects, (b) energy cooperatives and (c) municipal energy. This analysis is used to reflect on and refine understanding of the relationship between technical, financial and operational constructs in models of decentralised energy generation which can contribute to social and environmental gains.
This paper revisits Rob Gray’s ([2006]. “Social, Environmental and Sustainability Reporting and Organisational Value Creation? Whose Value? Whose Creation?” Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 19 (6): 793–819.) critique of the state of sustainability reporting and its relationship with value creation. It critiques recent developments in the fields of sustainability reporting standard setting and current thinking on value creation in light of Rob’s analysis.
Member shares of co‐operatives are hybrid securities in that they have characteristics of both equity and liabilities. Prior studies propose that in order to classify hybrid securities as equity or liabilities, the economic substance of those securities should be considered. This study aims to examine whether the economic substance of member shares can be considered as equity or liabilities. Systematic risk is used as a proxy of economic substance. This study tests whether the proportion of member shares to equity is positively or negatively related to equity betas. If the test shows a negative relation, member shares can be considered to have the economic substance of equity; a positive relation implies that member shares have the substance of liabilities.
The results show that the proportion of member shares to equity is significantly negatively related to systematic risk of equity, which means that member shares have equity‐like characteristics. The robustness checks taking into account the tax effect of debt support the findings more strongly that redeemable member shares play an equity‐like role in consumer co‐operatives in South Korea. Although the legal and institutional systems in Korea do not provide member shares of consumer cooperatives with a clear status as equity, member shares still show equity‐like economic substance.
An expanding number of methodological resources, reviews, and commentaries both highlight endogeneity as a threat to causal claims in management research and note that practices for addressing endogeneity in empirical work frequently diverge from the recommendations of the methodological literature. We aim to bridge this divergence, helping both macro and micro researchers understand fundamental endogeneity concepts by: (1) defining a typology of four distinct causes of endogeneity, (2) summarizing endogeneity causes and methods used in management research, (3) organizing the expansive methodological literature by matching the various methods to address endogeneity to the appropriate resources, and (4) setting an agenda for future scholarship by recommending practices for researchers and gatekeepers about identifying, discussing, and reporting evidence related to endogeneity. The resulting review builds literacy about endogeneity and ways to address it so that scholars and reviewers can better produce and evaluate research. It also facilitates communication about the topic so that both micro- and macro-oriented researchers can understand, evaluate, and implement methods across disciplines.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) promotes local and fairer food consumption, based on social innovation. CSAs also become active nodes for agroecology prosumption as a tool for socio-economic transformation, but have limitations in terms of their sustainability. The tools provided by the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) and the adoption of digital platforms can be a valuable instrument to counter these limitations. This research focuses on identifying which CSA models have greater prosumer potential, and what role Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play in this challenge. The study focuses on the analysis of the agroecological network generated by the 56 CSAs in the city of Barcelona, and their 177 providers. The results show that professionalized CSA's with better ICT adoption and constituted as agroecology platform cooperatives, have a greater impact and an increased potential for promoting a food consumption model based on agroecology.
Financial cooperatives play an important role in the financial systems of many countries. They act as a safe haven for deposits and are major sources of credit for households and small- and medium-sized firms. A not-for-profit orientation (in many cases) and a focus on maximising benefits to members have ensured the enduring popularity and sustainability of financial cooperatives. This is particularly evident since the global financial crisis when financial cooperatives continued to extend credit to members as many profit-orientated commercial banks restricted credit to households and firms. The overarching theme of the first part of this review is the structural and behavioural characteristics of financial cooperatives. In this part we consider, the origin and diffusion of financial cooperatives, network arrangements, the business model, relationship banking, balancing the interest of members, tax treatment and regulatory framework. The second part has performance and contribution to the real economy as the overarching theme. In this part we consider, efficiency and sustainability, mergers, acquisitions and failures, the benefits (and challenges) of FinTech and the contribution of financial cooperatives to the real economy including during times of crisis. The paper concludes with a summary of what we now know (and do not know) about financial cooperatives and provides suggestions as to where future research may usefully concentrate.
Using a dataset from 30 countries over the period from 2002 to 2017, we examine the effects of auditing clients’ workforce environment on audit fees as well as the role that national labor market flexibility plays in this relationship. We find evidence that audit fees are significantly lower for firms with a good workforce environment, suggesting that auditors perceive such clients as less risky; as a result, auditors expend less effort and/or charge a lower risk premium. Furthermore, we find this effect to be stronger for firms in countries with a more flexible labor market. Our mediation test results indicate that the relationship between the audit client workforce environment and audit fees is mediated by media coverage of workforce controversies. Our study contributes to the international audit fee literature by identifying employee welfare as a distinct audit pricing factor, above and beyond the effects of overall corporate social responsibility practices.
Integrated reporting is the latest novelty in the corporate reporting field. It is a tool capable of better representing the capacity of companies to create value over time. In recent years, attention to this new reporting tool has grown in both professional and academic fields. However, despite past research that has analysed many aspects of integrated reporting, the integrated reporting quality and its determinants are still little explored. This study aims to fill this gap by analysing the effect of board characteristics on integrated reporting quality according to an agency theory approach. The findings, based on a sample of 134 international firms, show a positive relationship between the size, independence, diversity, and activity of a board with integrated reporting quality. This study contributes to enriching literature in this area in various ways. First, it broadens the scope of application of agency theory; second, it identifies further internal determinants of integrated reporting quality. This is the first study that analyses the impact of the characteristics of a board as a determining factor of integrated reporting quality.
We provide new evidence on the codependence among the many country attributes previously linked to financial reporting quality. First, we show that the synchronicity of 21 changing country attributes spikes surrounding mandatory IFRS adoption. Thus, while IFRS adoption “explains” increased reporting quality, this finding disappears after including other changing country determinants of reporting quality. Second, a single underlying factor distills the numerous reporting quality measures used in the international literature. Finally, we document that four underlying country factors largely subsume the individual explanatory power of 72 candidate country attributes in explaining reporting quality levels across countries. We conclude with implications and suggestions for future research on international reporting quality.
JEL Classifications: F30; G15; K22; M41.
Data Availability: Data used in this paper are from publicly available sources and/or are drawn directly from data tabulated in published research papers.
Purpose
To describe the modernization and simplification amendments of certain disclosure requirements of Regulation S-K and related rules and forms recently adopted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Design/methodology/approach
This article provides an overview of the amendments, their effective dates and related practical considerations for companies.
Findings
The amendments cover many provisions within Regulation S-K and affect various forms that rely on the integrated disclosure requirements of Regulation S-K. The amendments are designed to enhance the readability and navigability of SEC filings, to discourage repetition and disclosure of immaterial information and to reduce the burdens on registrants, all while still providing material information to investors. The amendments contain several changes relating to confidential information contained in exhibits. For consistency, parallel amendments have been adopted to rules other than Regulation S-K, as well as to forms for registration statements and reports.
Practical implications
Most of the amendments are effective May 2, 2019. The amendments relating to the redaction of confidential information in certain exhibits became effective April 2, 2019. Given these dates, companies should review the rule changes implemented by the amendment now and consider how they will impact their disclosure in upcoming SEC filings.
Originality/value
Practical guidance from experienced lawyers in the Corporate & Securities practice.
Accountability in the social economy sector is very important because it is inherent in the nature of the organizations of this sector. The literature on the topic of social accounting and accountability is abundant and highlights the benefits and the criticisms of social reporting. The objective of the chapter arises from the literature review that highlights how more in-depth studies are needed on the characters and role of social accountability in decision-making processes. In order to answer the research question (How is social reporting performed and how does social information influence the decision making of the management in a cooperative?), the single case study methodology has been adopted, considering embedded units of analysis and focusing on the social report of an Italian retail cooperative (COOP Lombardia). Thanks to the analyzed case study, it is possible to conclude that the social report can represent a tool of accountability that also informs future decisions, realizing a circular relationship between results achieved and decisions to be taken.