Sustainability Reporting in Family Firms: A Panel Data Analysis

Giovanna Gavana, Pietro Gottardo and Anna Maria Moisello
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Giovanna Gavana: Department of Economics, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese VA, Italy
Pietro Gottardo: Department of Economics and Management, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia PV, Italy
Anna Maria Moisello: Department of Economics and Management, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia PV, Italy

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: We analyze the largely unexplored differences in sustainability reporting within family businesses using a sample of 230 non-financial Italian listed firms for the period 2004–2013. Drawing on legitimacy theory and stakeholder theory, integrated with the socio-emotional wealth (SEW) approach, we study how family control, influence and identification shape a firm’s attitude towards disclosing its social and environmental behavior. Our results suggest that family firms are more sensitive to media exposure than their non-family counterparts and that family control enhances sustainability disclosure when it is associated to a family’s direct influence on the business, by the founder’s presence on the board or by having a family CEO. In cases of indirect influence, without family involvement on the board, the level of family ownership is negatively related to sustainability reporting. On the other hand, a formal identification of the family with the firm by business name does not significantly affect social disclosure.

Keywords: sustainability reporting; family firms; legitimacy; stakeholders; socioemotional wealth; Global Reporting Initiative (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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