Construction of a sustainability reporting score index integrating sustainable development goals (SDGs). The case of Sri Lankan listed firms

R.N.K. Soysa, Asankha Pallegedara, A.S. Kumara, D.M. Jayasena and M.K.S.M. Samaranayake

Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, 2024, vol. 31, issue 3, 190-202

Abstract: Purpose - Although publicly listed firms in Sri Lanka have been increasingly adapting sustainability reporting into their annual reporting practices, a limited number of firms prepare sustainability reports by integrating sustainable development goals (SDGs) into reporting mechanisms. This study attempts to develop an index to monitor firms' sustainability reporting practices based on Global Reporting Institute (GRI) guidelines integrating SDGs. Design/methodology/approach - This paper develops a sustainability score index using the 17 SDGs utilising the results of content analysis of corporate annual reports of a selected sample of 100 firms listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). Principal component analysis was employed to examine the reliability of data in the developed index. Findings - Findings show that the developed scoring index is efficient for evaluating the contents of the sustainability reports of Sri Lankan firms. Sustainability reporting practises with regard to the SDGs were observed to have a turbulent period from 2015 to 2019 and the SDGs 12 and 15 were identified to be mostly reported in Sri Lankan corporate sustainability reports. Research limitations/implications - The results of the study add to knowledge on the monitoring of sustainability reporting practises with reference to SDGs. The study outcomes are useful for the investors, stakeholders, and statutory bodies to measure the sustainable performance of business firms and assess the firm’s commitment towards the global sustainability agenda. Originality/value - To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that constructs a sustainability reporting score index integrating SDGs.

Keywords: Sustainability reporting index; Sri Lanka; Public listed firms; Principal component analysis; SDGs; M14; M41; Q01; Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jabesp:jabes-05-2023-0149

DOI: 10.1108/JABES-05-2023-0149

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies is currently edited by Nguyen Trong Hoai and Toan Luu Duc Huynh

More articles in Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().