IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i15p8217-d599627.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainability Indicators: Information Asymmetry Mitigators between Cooperative Organizations and Their Primary Stakeholders

Author

Listed:
  • Clea Beatriz Macagnan

    (Finance and Accounting Graduate Program, Universidade do Rio dos Sinos, São Leopoldo 93022-750, RS, Brazil)

  • Rosane Maria Seibert

    (Strategic Organization Management Program, Universidade Regional Integrada do Alto Uruguai e das Missões, Santo Ângelo 98802-470, RS, Brazil)

Abstract

The research aims to identify indicators of representative information on sustainability from the cooperative organizations’ primary stakeholders’ perspective to mitigate information asymmetry. The study develops in seven stages: the primary stakeholders’ selection and training; the evidence survey; the triangulation between stakeholder responses, forming an indicators list; the indicators analysis by specialists; tests for indicators disclosure; and the indicators validation through the disclosure analysis. As a result, a list contains 61 sustainability indicators from the primary stakeholders’ perspective, in four pillars: economic, 20; social, 18; environmental, 13; and cultural, 10. With the cooperative organizations’ websites disclosure analysis, we found that the disclosure policies focus more on information asymmetry mitigating in the pillars: cultural and social, with the environmental and economic being neglected. Therefore, the procedures for disclosing information on sustainability have weaknesses. These policies reduce the primary stakeholders’ reliability about the cooperatives management system respective, limiting the primary stakeholders’ perspective on the cooperative organization value.

Suggested Citation

  • Clea Beatriz Macagnan & Rosane Maria Seibert, 2021. "Sustainability Indicators: Information Asymmetry Mitigators between Cooperative Organizations and Their Primary Stakeholders," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:15:p:8217-:d:599627
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/15/8217/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/15/8217/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arrow, Kenneth J, 1974. "Limited Knowledge and Economic Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(1), pages 1-10, March.
    2. Marta Kuc-Czarnecka & Samuele Lo Piano & Andrea Saltelli, 2020. "Quantitative Storytelling in the Making of a Composite Indicator," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 775-802, June.
    3. Maria del Carmen Pérez González & Lidia Valiente Palma, 2020. "The “business–territory” relationship of cooperative societies as compared to the conventional business sector in the region of Andalusia," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(4), pages 565-583, December.
    4. Dierkes, Meinolf & Preston, Lee E., 1977. "Corporate social accounting reporting for the physical environment: A critical review and implementation proposal," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 3-22, January.
    5. Rosane Maria Seibert & Clea Beatriz Macagnan & Robert Dixon & Davi Souza Simon, 2019. "Social responsibility indicators: perspective of stakeholders in Brazil and in the UK," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 16(2), pages 128-144, July.
    6. Tobias J. Klein & Christian Lambertz & Konrad O. Stahl, 2016. "Market Transparency, Adverse Selection, and Moral Hazard," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(6), pages 1677-1713.
    7. Nicolas Madison & Eduardo Schiehll, 2021. "The Effect of Financial Materiality on ESG Performance Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-21, March.
    8. Eduardo Schiehll & Sam Kolahgar, 2021. "Financial materiality in the informativeness of sustainability reporting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 840-855, February.
    9. Andrea Liesen & Andreas G. Hoepner & Dennis M. Patten & Frank Figge, 2015. "Does stakeholder pressure influence corporate GHG emissions reporting? Empirical evidence from Europe," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(7), pages 1047-1074, September.
    10. Alexandre Guttmann, 2021. "Commons and cooperatives: A new governance of collective action," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(1), pages 33-53, March.
    11. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    12. Philippe Bance & Jérôme Schoenmaeckers, 2021. "The increasing role and the diversity forms of Commons for production and preservation of essential goods and services," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(1), pages 5-12, March.
    13. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    14. Lee Cronbach, 1951. "Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 16(3), pages 297-334, September.
    15. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2000. "The Contributions of the Economics of Information to Twentieth Century Economics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(4), pages 1441-1478.
    16. Wagenhofer, Alfred, 1990. "Voluntary disclosure with a strategic opponent," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 341-363, March.
    17. K.A.K. Gnanaweera & N. Kunori, 2018. "Corporate sustainability reporting: Linkage of corporate disclosure information and performance indicators," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 1423872-142, January.
    18. Emerald Edem Welbeck & Godfred Matthew Yaw Owusu & Rita Amoah Bekoe & John Amoah Kusi, 2017. "Determinants of environmental disclosures of listed firms in Ghana," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-12, December.
    19. Ndubisi, Nelson Oly & Zhai, Xin (Amy) & Lai, Kee-hung, 2021. "Small and medium manufacturing enterprises and Asia's sustainable economic development," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    20. Lawrence T. Corrigan & Daphne Rixon, 2017. "A dramaturgical accounting of cooperative performance indicators," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(1), pages 60-80, April.
    21. Mohammad Jizi & Aly Salama & Robert Dixon & Rebecca Stratling, 2014. "Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: Evidence from the US Banking Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(4), pages 601-615, December.
    22. Andrea Bassi & Alessandro Fabbri, 2020. "Under pressure: Evolution of the social economy institutional recognition in the EU," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(3), pages 411-433, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Li, Yongbo & Barrueta Pinto, Mark Christhian & Kumar, D. Thresh, 2023. "Analyzing sustainability indicator for Chinese mining sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rosane Maria Seibert & Clea Beatriz Macagnan & Robert Dixon, 2021. "Priority Stakeholders’ Perception: Social Responsibility Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-22, January.
    2. Rosane Maria Seibert & Clea Beatriz Macagnan & Robert Dixon & Davi Souza Simon, 2019. "Social responsibility indicators: perspective of stakeholders in Brazil and in the UK," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 16(2), pages 128-144, July.
    3. J. Barkley Rosser, 2003. "A Nobel Prize for Asymmetric Information: The economic contributions of George Akerlof, Michael Spence and Joseph Stiglitz," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 3-21.
    4. Rodríguez, Elsa Mirta M. & Lacaze, María Victoria & Lupín, Beatriz, 2007. "Willingness to pay for organic food in Argentina: evidence from a consumer survey," Nülan. Deposited Documents 1300, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    5. Nunes, P.A.L.D. & Nijkamp, P., 2011. "Biodiversity: Economic perspectives," Serie Research Memoranda 0002, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    6. A. Heene & N. A. Dentchev, 2004. "A strategic perspective on stakeholder management," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 04/253, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    7. Shannon Rogers & Semra Aytur & Kevin Gardner & Cynthia Carlson, 2012. "Measuring community sustainability: exploring the intersection of the built environment & social capital with a participatory case study," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 2(2), pages 143-153, June.
    8. Calixto Salomão Filho, 2015. "Monopolies and Underdevelopment," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16587.
    9. Chan, Edwin H.W. & Qian, Queena K. & Lam, Patrick T.I., 2009. "The market for green building in developed Asian cities--the perspectives of building designers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3061-3070, August.
    10. Lewe, Stefan, 2003. "Wachstumseffiziente Unternehmensbesteuerung," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 20042, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    11. Beckert, Jens, 2011. "Where do prices come from? Sociological approaches to price formation," MPIfG Discussion Paper 11/3, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    12. Homburg, Christian & Klarmann, Martin & Schmitt, Jens, 2010. "Brand awareness in business markets: When is it related to firm performance?," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 201-212.
    13. Fredriksen, Kaja & Runst, Petrik & Bizer, Kilian, 2017. "Masterful Meisters? Voluntary Certification and Quality in the German Crafts Sector," ifh Working Papers 3 (2017), Volkswirtschaftliches Institut für Mittelstand und Handwerk an der Universität Göttingen (ifh), revised 2017.
    14. Iulia Lupu & Gheorghe Hurduzeu & Radu Lupu, 2022. "How Is the ESG Reflected in European Financial Stability?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-14, August.
    15. Radim Valenčík & Petr Wawrosz, 2015. "Transferred Price And The Sector Of Productive Services As The Key Preconditions To Smart, Sustainable, And Inclusive Growth," Economy & Business Journal, International Scientific Publications, Bulgaria, vol. 9(1), pages 179-194.
    16. Michael Reiß & Tobias Bernecker, 2006. "Conjoint Controlling: Organisationsgerechte Controllingsysteme zwischen Better Budgeting und komplex-hybrider Steuerung," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 5-26, March.
    17. Alfred Wagenhofer, 2000. "Disclosure of proprietary information in the course of an acquisition," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 57-69.
    18. Frieden, B. Roy & Hawkins, Raymond J., 2010. "Asymmetric information and economics," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 389(2), pages 287-295.
    19. Reuer, Jeffrey J. & Ragozzino, Roberto, 2008. "Adverse selection and M&A design: The roles of alliances and IPOs," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 195-212, May.
    20. Luis Perez-Batres & Jonathan Doh & Van Miller & Michael Pisani, 2012. "Stakeholder Pressures as Determinants of CSR Strategic Choice: Why do Firms Choose Symbolic Versus Substantive Self-Regulatory Codes of Conduct?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(2), pages 157-172, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:15:p:8217-:d:599627. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.