The Challenge of Sustainable Development Goal Reporting: The First Evidence from Italian Listed Companies

Maria Federica Izzo, Mirella Ciaburri and Riccardo Tiscini
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Maria Federica Izzo: Department of Business and Management, University San Raffaele Rome and Luiss Guido Carli University, 00100 Rome, Italy
Mirella Ciaburri: Department of Economics, Niccolò Cusano University of Rome, 00166 Rome, Italy
Riccardo Tiscini: Department of Economics, Mercatorum University of Rome, 00186 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: This research investigates the extent to which the voluntary disclosure of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), assumed to be the most recent innovation in social disclosures and corporate sustainability reporting, is diffused among Italian listed companies through different instruments of disclosure (voluntary or non-voluntary). Our findings reveal that SDGs awareness amongst the business community is high and that the majority of highly-traded, liquid, and highly-capitalized Italian companies have introduced SDGs in their disclosure and story-telling practices, while the exact nature and requirements of the SDGs, and the definitions of specific key performance indicators (KPIs) related to those goals, are still missing. Italian companies prefer using non-financial statements and sustainability reports to disclose information about their commitments to SDGs, and most of them started to report information about SDGs in 2016. Additionally, this research seeks to identify the significant differences between SDG reporters in different sectors, under the assumption that operating in a specific sector could significantly affect a company’s decision to disclose information on their SDGs. This research highlights, following the recent evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure and sustainability reporting, the increasing relevance of SDGs in Italian companies’ disclosure practices and, at the same time, the gaps to be covered for their effective implementation.

Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals; SDG; voluntary disclosure; sustainability report; integrated report (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (36)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:8:p:3494-:d:350101

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