IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v10y2001i1p15-28.html

Environmental reporting by the Fortune Global 250: exploring the influence of nationality and sector

Author

Listed:
  • Ans Kolk
  • Seb Walhain
  • Susanne van de Wateringen

Abstract

While research on environmental reporting frequently includes large multinational enterprises, the number of surveys that systematically analyses a whole set of such firms, including the non‐reporters, is limited – and mainly focuses on the United States. This article presents the state of environmental reporting by the Fortune Global 250, all large multinationals with a potentially large impact on other firms. Of these 250 firms, 35% has a recent environmental report, with another 32% publishing other types of environmental information. Reporting frequencies between the financial and non‐financial sector differed considerably, at 15 and 44% respectively. Besides an analysis of the number and contents of environmental reports, the importance of sectoral differences and firms' nationality is also considered. A framework is developed that posits the existence of reporting legislation in firms' home countries (some in place/pending, or none) against the direct environmental impact of the sector (large or small). The results of the analysis fit partially in this framework. Only a small number of reporting firms originates from countries with some kind of legislation (particularly The Netherlands), but national societal pressure seems to play a large role (especially in the UK, The Netherlands and Germany). Many operate in sectors with a substantial direct environmental impact (chemicals, pharmaceuticals, oil and motor vehicles and parts); reporting in sectors with more indirect effects is getting off the ground. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Suggested Citation

  • Ans Kolk & Seb Walhain & Susanne van de Wateringen, 2001. "Environmental reporting by the Fortune Global 250: exploring the influence of nationality and sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 15-28, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:10:y:2001:i:1:p:15-28
    DOI: 10.1002/1099-0836(200101/02)10:13.0.CO;2-Y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/1099-0836(200101/02)10:13.0.CO;2-Y
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/1099-0836(200101/02)10:13.0.CO;2-Y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Douglas J. Lober & David Bynum & Elizabeth Campbell & Mary Jacques, 1997. "The 100 plus corporate environmental report study: A survey of an evolving environmental management tool," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 57-73, May.
    2. Rugman, Alan & D'Cruz, Joseph, 1997. "The theory of the flagship firm," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 403-412, August.
    3. Glen Dowell & Stuart Hart & Bernard Yeung, 1999. "Do Corporate Global Environmental Standards in Emerging Markets Create Or Destroy Market Value," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 259, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    4. Catherine C Langlois & Bodo B Shlegemilch, 1990. "Do Corporate Codes of Ethics Reflect National Character? Evidence from Europe and the United States," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 21(4), pages 519-539, December.
    5. Pauly, Louis W. & Reich, Simon, 1997. "National structures and multinational corporate behavior: enduring differences in the age of globalization," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(1), pages 1-30, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Nicolai J. Foss, 2012. "Linking Ethics and Economic Growth: a Comment on Hunt," Contemporary Economics, Vizja University, vol. 6(3), September.
    2. Mitzi Cubilla‐Montilla & Ana‐Belén Nieto‐Librero & Ma Purificación Galindo‐Villardón & Ma Purificación Vicente Galindo & Isabel‐María Garcia‐Sanchez, 2019. "Are cultural values sufficient to improve stakeholder engagement human and labour rights issues?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 938-955, July.
    3. Svensson, Göran & Wood, Greg & Callaghan, Michael, 2010. "A corporate model of sustainable business practices: An ethical perspective," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 336-345, October.
    4. A. D. Martin & D. J. Hadley, 2008. "Corporate environmental non‐reporting – a UK FTSE 350 perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(4), pages 245-259, May.
    5. Watson, Sharon & Weaver, Gary R., 2003. "How internationalization affects corporate ethics: formal structures and informal management behavior," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 75-93.
    6. Raimo, Nicola & Zito, Marianna & Caragnano, Alessandra, 2019. "Does national culture affect integrated reporting quality? A focus on GLOBE dimensions," EconStor Conference Papers 199012, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    7. Aki Tomizawa & Li Zhao & Geneviève Bassellier & David Ahlstrom, 2020. "Economic growth, innovation, institutions, and the Great Enrichment," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 7-31, March.
    8. Bert Scholtens & Riikka Sievänen, 2013. "Drivers of Socially Responsible Investing: A Case Study of Four Nordic Countries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 605-616, July.
    9. Xu Zhang, 2018. "Multiple creators of knowledge-intensive service networks: A case study of the Pearl River Delta city-region," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(9), pages 2000-2019, July.
    10. Jana Kozáková & Mária Urbánová & Radovan Savov, 2021. "Factors Influencing the Extent of the Ethical Codes: Evidence from Slovakia," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, January.
    11. Murat Çolak & Melce Elegel, 2020. "Human Resources Practices in Effective Corporate Governance Approach," International Journal of Human Resource Studies, Macrothink Institute, vol. 10(3), pages 223237-2232, December.
    12. Peter J. Buckley & Peter Enderwick, 2025. "The Global Factory Revisited," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 65(4), pages 615-635, August.
    13. Jean-François Hennart, 2020. "More than intent: A bundling model of MNE–SME interactions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(7), pages 1176-1194, September.
    14. Zeng, Ka & Eastin, Joshua, 2012. "Do Developing Countries Invest Up? The Environmental Effects of Foreign Direct Investment from Less-Developed Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(11), pages 2221-2233.
    15. Lam, Alice, 2008. "The Tacit Knowledge Problem in Multinational Corporations: Japanese and US Offshore Knowledge Incubators," MPRA Paper 11487, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Stajkovic, Alexander D. & Luthans, Fred, 1997. "Business ethics across cultures: A social cognitive model," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 17-34, April.
    17. Philip Peck & Knud Sinding, 2003. "Environmental and social disclosure and data richness in the mining industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 131-146, May.
    18. Hood, Jacqueline N. & Logsdon, Jeanne M., 2002. "Business ethics in the NAFTA countries: A cross-cultural comparison," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(11), pages 883-890, November.
    19. repec:jtr:journl:v:4:y:2012:i:1:p:78-113 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Isaac M Dinner & Tarun Kushwaha & Jan-Benedict E M Steenkamp, 2019. "Psychic distance and performance of MNCs during marketing crises," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(3), pages 339-364, April.
    21. Calderón Reyes & Ferrero Ignacio & Redin Dulce M., 2013. "Ethical codes and corporate responsibility of the most admired companies of the world: Toward a third generation ethics?," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 14(4), pages 1-24, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:bstrat:v:10:y:2001:i:1:p:15-28. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    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.