 Imitation is the sincerest form of institutionalization: Understanding the effects of imitation and competitive pressures on the reporting of sustainable development goals in an international contextGiovanni Zampone, Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez and Giuseppe Sannino Business Strategy and the Environment, 2023, vol. 32, issue 7, 4119-4142 Abstract: Companies integrate Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their sustainability reports for various reasons. This paper examines whether and how imitation and competitive pressures drive the SDG reporting in an international context. Drawing on institutional theory and employing data collected from 36 countries over 6 years (from 2015 to 2020), we found that, at the industry level, the extent of SDG reporting is associated with (a) the average extent of SDG reporting, (b) the extent of SDG reporting of the largest company, and (c) the average extent of SDG reporting of the companies awarded for their sustainability commitments. Additionally, we provide evidence of a positive effect exerted by competitive pressures, as well as evidence that the interaction between various forms of imitation and competition negatively affects SDG reporting. Our results are robust to different subsamples and have key implications for practitioners, regulators, and policymakers. Date: 2023 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:32:y:2023:i:7:p:4119-4142 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Business Strategy and the Environment is currently edited by Richard Welford More articles in Business Strategy and the Environment from Wiley Blackwell |
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