Sustainability Information in European Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Esther Ortiz-Martínez () and Salvador Marín-Hernández ()
Additional contact information
Esther Ortiz-Martínez: Campus de Espinardo, University of Murcia
Salvador Marín-Hernández: Campus de Espinardo, University of Murcia

Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 2024, vol. 15, issue 2, No 97, 7497-7522

Abstract: Abstract Currently, there is an emphasis on the role of knowledge in corporate sustainability reporting. Europe has just published a new Directive on Corporate Sustainability Reporting Disclosure and elaborating new European Sustainability Reporting Standards. However, no studies on this subject cover the micro (firm-level) spectrum and focus on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the backbone of the European company. This paper aims to analyze sustainability reports voluntarily disclosed by European SMEs using lexical analysis because narrative information requires more than traditional methodology. The variable company’s size is used to check if it supposes differences in the lexical features of the reports. The sample comprises all the voluntarily issued sustainability reports available on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) database for 2016–2018, written in English and pdf format by European SMEs. It is obtained that there is a positive relationship between a company’s size and the length of sustainability reports. Bigger small- and medium-sized companies repeat more words, and the most frequently used words are similar, regardless of the company’s size. Lexical analysis shows that there is some template for drafting these sustainability reports used by all companies, so their narration about sustainable development is the same. This study provides an opportunity to improve knowledge about sustainability disclosure and standards on the SMEs’ scope, which is scarce. Disclosure of sustainability reports is also becoming essential for SMEs to ensure greater comparability and transparency and to cope with the global challenge of sustainability. However, for these companies, this should be proportionate.

Keywords: Non-financial information; Sustainability reports; SMEs; Lexical analysis; GRI; M1 Business administration; M14 Corporate Culture, Diversity, Social Responsibility; M2 Business Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13132-023-01386-7 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:jknowl:v:15:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s13132-023-01386-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/13132

DOI: 10.1007/s13132-023-01386-7

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of the Knowledge Economy is currently edited by Elias G. Carayannis

More articles in Journal of the Knowledge Economy from Springer, Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().