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Linkages between Corporate Sustainability Reporting and Public Policy

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  • Dan Beare
  • Ruvena Buslovich
  • Cory Searcy

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the linkages between corporate sustainability reporting and public policy. Interviews with experts from 35 different Canadian corporations that produce a sustainability report were held to address this issue. The interviews specifically focused on exploring how public policy influences sustainability reporting, investigating how corporate sustainability reporting influences public policy, and identifying the barriers to linking sustainability reporting with public policy. The majority of participants explained that their corporation's sustainability reporting has not been heavily influenced by public policy. Even in the relatively few cases where the participating corporations were required to report on sustainability‐related information (i.e. financial and insurance companies), there was little indication that public policy was strongly considered in reporting. Although several participants felt that their sustainability reports could or should influence public policy, there were also indications that corporations are looking for additional guidance on reporting from government. In fact, the lack of direction from government was cited as a key barrier to improved linkages between corporate sustainability reporting and public policy. Future research should focus on addressing this problem, particularly at the individual sector level. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

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  • Dan Beare & Ruvena Buslovich & Cory Searcy, 2014. "Linkages between Corporate Sustainability Reporting and Public Policy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(6), pages 336-350, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:21:y:2014:i:6:p:336-350
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.1323
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    4. Andrés Navarro-Galera & Mercedes Ruiz-Lozano & Pilar Tirado-Valencia & Araceli de los Ríos-Berjillos, 2017. "Promoting Sustainability Transparency in European Local Governments: An Empirical Analysis Based on Administrative Cultures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-20, March.
    5. Olivier E. Malay, 2021. "How to Articulate Beyond GDP and Businesses’ Social and Environmental Indicators?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 1-25, May.
    6. Edward B. Barbier & Joanne C. Burgess, 2017. "Innovative Corporate Initiatives to Reduce Climate Risk: Lessons from East Asia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, December.
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    8. Olivier E. Malay, 2020. "How to articulate beyond GDP and businesses’ social and environmental indicators?," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2020014, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
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