Evolution of Corporate Reporting: From Stand-Alone CSR Reporting to Integrated Reporting

• In Event: Breakfast and Research Forum
  In Roundtable Session: Table 19: Reporting Issues

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Both financial and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting are bound by global constraints. What is common between both reporting systems is the movement toward comparability and accountability. Global persuasions initially motivated the push toward stand-alone CSR reporting and now toward integrated reporting. Integrated reports include financial, economic, governance and social information in one report. In the United States, integrated reporting is voluntary and only a handful of companies have issued integrated reports to date. We examine whether the non-financial economic, governance and CSR indicators identified in prior literature as being of interest to retail investors (Cohen et al. 2011) are disclosed in the front-running U.S. integrated reports. Descriptive results indicate these front-running integrated reports cover predominately indicators of economic and social performance with little focus on governance. Results further indicate that the integrated reports examined do not, as a rule, provide the information most highly rated by investors.

Authors

• Darrell Brown, Portland State University

• R. Scott Marshall, Portland State University

• Kathleen Hertz Rupley, Portland State University