Abstract
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Research handbook of finance and sustainability |
| Editors | Sabri Boubaker, Douglas Cumming, Duc Khuong Nguyen |
| Place of Publication | Cheltenham, UK ; Northampton, MA |
| Publisher | Edward Elgar Publishing |
| Chapter | 5 |
| Pages | 93-109 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781786432636 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781786432629 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
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How useful are CSR reports for investors? The problems of comparing environmental and social disclosures. / Hazelton, James; Perkiss, Stephanie.
Research handbook of finance and sustainability. ed. / Sabri Boubaker; Douglas Cumming; Duc Khuong Nguyen. Cheltenham, UK ; Northampton, MA : Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018. p. 93-109.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Research › peer-review
TY - CHAP
T1 - How useful are CSR reports for investors? The problems of comparing environmental and social disclosures
AU - Hazelton,James
AU - Perkiss,Stephanie
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - This chapter explores the usefulness of corporate sustainability reporting practices and standards for investment decision-making. Two key issues are considered – aggregation and comparability – in the context of four important sustainability issues – energy, water, human rights and corporate political donations. For each issue, current reporting practices and standards are problematic: for carbon, the existence of a global carbon ‘budget’ needs to be taken into account for meaningful firm-level reporting; for water, the localized impact of water withdrawals and discharges means that disaggregated and catchment-specific water information is required; for human rights, the very nature of what should be reported is unresolved, with current recommendations focusing on processes as opposed to outcomes; and for political donations, disaggregated and contextual information required to ascertain the likely impact (and hence appropriateness) of a given donation. Collectively, this analysis shows that mandatory reporting of current corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards will not meet investor needs. We therefore, call for far more contextual and comparable CSR information to be required by the next iteration of CSR reporting standards such as the GRI.
AB - This chapter explores the usefulness of corporate sustainability reporting practices and standards for investment decision-making. Two key issues are considered – aggregation and comparability – in the context of four important sustainability issues – energy, water, human rights and corporate political donations. For each issue, current reporting practices and standards are problematic: for carbon, the existence of a global carbon ‘budget’ needs to be taken into account for meaningful firm-level reporting; for water, the localized impact of water withdrawals and discharges means that disaggregated and catchment-specific water information is required; for human rights, the very nature of what should be reported is unresolved, with current recommendations focusing on processes as opposed to outcomes; and for political donations, disaggregated and contextual information required to ascertain the likely impact (and hence appropriateness) of a given donation. Collectively, this analysis shows that mandatory reporting of current corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards will not meet investor needs. We therefore, call for far more contextual and comparable CSR information to be required by the next iteration of CSR reporting standards such as the GRI.
U2 - 10.4337/9781786432636.00012
DO - 10.4337/9781786432636.00012
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9781786432629
SP - 93
EP - 109
BT - Research handbook of finance and sustainability
PB - Edward Elgar Publishing
CY - Cheltenham, UK ; Northampton, MA
ER -