Human Capital Reporting Practices of German and American Companies

Abstract

Communication of social dimensions of the company plays a key role in the sustainable development of organizations. The aim of this empirical study is to analyze the extent to which German and American companies report on human capital indicators via their websites and the factors that can influence them. A content analysis of the annual sustainability reports of 60 companies listed in the DAX 30 and in the Fortune 500 (top 30 companies) was conducted. Our findings show that Europe`s leading position in sustainability reporting is undeniable, and on the other hand, online disclosure on human capital in the USA is still scarce and in its early stages. The factors influencing it are: sector in which the company operates and country where the company is headquartered. They also show that indicators such as number of employees, gender diversity of employees, and gender diversity of top employees are widely reported, while other indicators such as absenteeism, accidents and diseases at workplace, job stability and seniority are not used to a high extent.