2010-2014: A Comparative Evolution of Sustainability Reporting and its Assurance in Europe and the U.S.A

Diana-Maria Tînjală, Lavinia Mirela Pantea and Alexandru Buglea
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Diana-Maria Tînjală: Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara, Romania
Lavinia Mirela Pantea: Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara, Romania
Alexandru Buglea: Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara, Romania

Timisoara Journal of Economics and Business, 2015, vol. 8, issue 1s, 48-69

Abstract: The concept of sustainability has evolved to encompass environmental, social and governance issues regarding corporate behaviour. For the last few years, stakeholders have begun putting pressure on companies to report on sustainability issues. Several national and international regulations and standards have been adopted to guide companies in their reporting. To ensure the accuracy and comparability of non-financial data needed for the stakeholders’ decision making process, there is an increasing preference for the external assurance of sustainability reporting. The internationally recognized CSR report assurance standards are the International Standard on Assurance Engagements, ISAE 3000, and AccountAbility’s AA1000 Assurance Standard (AA1000AS). This study focuses on the evolution of corporate sustainability reporting, using two non-financial indicators: ESG reporting, and Assurance of ESG reporting. The data for the study is based on content analysis of both CSR reports and corporate websites, courtesy of Sustainalytics. We assessed the evolution of the two indicators from June 2010 to February 2014, for 50 listed European companies and 50 American ones. The comparative approach illustrates the different evolutions of sustainability in Europe and the USA, emphasising the need for stronger regulations and guidelines in the USA, similar to those already implemented in European Countries. For the selected time period, US companies are shown to be worse reporters than European ones, having a negligible number of reports externally verified.

Keywords: Sustainability reporting; ESG; Assurance standards; ISAE 3000; AA1000AS. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q01 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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