Determining the Composition of Integrated Reporting Indicators Under Uncertainty: The Innovation-Based Convergence of Economic, Managerial, Social, and Environmental Contexts

An ever growing complexity of the quintuple helix synergies between economy, society, ecology, and knowledge and innovation in the world’s economies today has challenged the confidence of various stakeholders in the reliability of accounting information disclosed by companies. This new uncertainty issue is particularly pronounced in conventional industries such as agriculture, where companies focus on economic performance metrics when reporting, while non-financial indicators of the environmental and social impact of their operations are poorly represented. To improve the comprehensiveness of company reports, this study identifies key indicators for integrated reporting by agricultural organizations for four categories of stakeholders (businesses, government institutions, civil society, and the academia), covering six categories of capital (financial, production, intellectual, human, social, and environmental). The analysis of literature, using a scoping review method, a survey of 105 respondents from 42 different regions of Russia, and the content analysis of integrated reports from Russian companies, demonstrated the interest of stakeholders in disclosing both financial and non-financial information in company reports. The authors proposed indicators for inclusion in the integrated reporting of agricultural organizations, such as government support received and current prices of products, works, and services (financial capital); biological safety and composition, structure, health, and wellbeing of productive animals (production capital); smart agriculture technologies and R&D in ecology and environmental protection (intellectual capital); collaboration with universities and support for development or young workers (human capital); participation of agricultural organizations in landscaping and other rural development initiatives (social capital); and renewable energy and protection of agricultural land and water resources (environmental capital). The adjusted integrated reporting scorecard can be used in the development of both internal and industry-wide accounting and analytical standards, which could help improve the quality of corporate reporting in agriculture.