Exploring drivers and factors of benefit impact reports quality: Retracing a stakeholder theory approach

IF 12.5 1区管理学 Q1 BUSINESS

Business Strategy and The Environment Pub Date : 2024-10-16 DOI:10.1002/bse.3974

Paolo Esposito, Arcangelo Marrone, Vincenzo Pontrelli, Angela Rella

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

In the pursuit of global sustainability, firms play an increasingly pivotal role. In this scenario, Benefit Corporations aim to seamlessly integrate profit‐making endeavors with sustainable practices. This corporate model has spread around the world and in Italy; it was adopted through Law No. 208/2015 introducing Italian Benefit Corporations (BCs). Italian BCs must produce a Benefit Impact Report (BIR) alongside their financial statements, as a strategic communication tool for demonstrating the company's commitment to advancing common societal benefits to stakeholders. Leveraging stakeholder theory, this study adopts a mixed methodological approach that incorporates manual content analysis of BIRs from 132 Italian BCs, combined with a regression model exploring the impact of firm characteristics on the quality of BIRs. Findings highlight a positive relationship between firm size, financial leverage, and profitability on the quality of BIRs. This study is the first to explore the quality of BIRs and their determinants, providing academic and practical implications.

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探索影响效益报告质量的动因和因素：追溯利益相关者理论方法

在追求全球可持续发展的过程中，企业发挥着越来越关键的作用。在这种情况下，效益公司旨在将盈利努力与可持续实践完美结合。这种企业模式已在全球推广，在意大利，通过第 208/2015 号法律引入了意大利效益公司（BCs）。意大利的效益公司在编制财务报表的同时，还必须编制一份《效益影响报告》（BIR），作为一种战略沟通工具，向利益相关者展示公司对促进共同社会效益的承诺。本研究利用利益相关者理论，采用混合方法，对 132 家意大利公司的《效益影响报告》进行人工内容分析，并结合回归模型探讨公司特征对《效益影响报告》质量的影响。研究结果表明，企业规模、财务杠杆和盈利能力与 BIR 质量之间存在正相关关系。这项研究首次探讨了企业内部审计报告的质量及其决定因素，具有学术和实践意义。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Business Strategy and The Environment Multiple-

CiteScore

22.50

自引率

19.40%

发文量

336

期刊介绍： Business Strategy and the Environment (BSE) is a leading academic journal focused on business strategies for improving the natural environment. It publishes peer-reviewed research on various topics such as systems and standards, environmental performance, disclosure, eco-innovation, corporate environmental management tools, organizations and management, supply chains, circular economy, governance, green finance, industry sectors, and responses to climate change and other contemporary environmental issues. The journal aims to provide original contributions that enhance the understanding of sustainability in business. Its target audience includes academics, practitioners, business managers, and consultants. However, BSE does not accept papers on corporate social responsibility (CSR), as this topic is covered by its sibling journal Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. The journal is indexed in several databases and collections such as ABI/INFORM Collection, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, BIOBASE, Emerald Management Reviews, GeoArchive, Environment Index, GEOBASE, INSPEC, Technology Collection, and Web of Science.