The Views of Stakeholders on Mandatory or Voluntary Use of a Simplified Standard on Non-Financial Information for SMEs in the European Union

Paula Gomes dos Santos, Fábio Albuquerque, Maria Albertina Barreiro Rodrigues and Ana Isabel Morais
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Paula Gomes dos Santos: ISCAL—Lisbon Accounting and Business School, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, 1069-035 Lisbon, Portugal
Fábio Albuquerque: ISCAL—Lisbon Accounting and Business School, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, 1069-035 Lisbon, Portugal
Maria Albertina Barreiro Rodrigues: ISCAL—Lisbon Accounting and Business School, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, 1069-035 Lisbon, Portugal
Ana Isabel Morais: Advance/CSG, ISEG—Lisbon School of Economics & Management, Universidade de Lisboa, 1200-781 Lisbon, Portugal

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-22

Abstract: This paper investigates the variables that may explain the views of stakeholders regarding the need for a simplified non-financial reporting (NFR) standard for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union (EU) and whether this standard should be mandatory or voluntary. This paper uses, as a source, 588 answers provided by different groups of stakeholders within the process of public consultation conducted by the EU, from February to June 2020, concerning possible revisions to the provisions of the Directive on NFR. The findings showed that the most consensual attribute that probably explains the views of stakeholders on this matter is the importance attributed by them to the concepts of comparability, reliability, and relevance. From the stakeholders’ perspective, this topic may also be explained by the users’ needs. Notwithstanding, its importance may differ, depending on the type of user. These findings are relevant within the process of developing an NFR model applicable to SMEs based on a mandatory standard, providing evidence that regulators and standard-setters should consider the qualitative characteristics of non-financial information as well as the needs of various stakeholders within this process.

Keywords: comparability; constraints; relevance; reliability; usefulness; users (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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