CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE AND LEGITIMACY THEORY: AN EUROPE PERSPECTIVE

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1883-1891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Milanes-Montero ◽  
Esteban Perez-Calderon
Keyword(s):  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Environmental Disclosure

Seeking legitimacy

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1009-1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis M. Patten
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Social And Environmental Disclosure ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose In this essay, the author reflects on the legitimacy theory in corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure research. Design/methodology/approach This is a reflection/review essay based on a review of relevant literature. Findings Although almost constantly under attack from a variety of scholars, legitimacy theory seems to hold on in the social and environmental disclosure arena. However, the failure of the recent wave of CSR-themed work published in The Accounting Review to even acknowledge, let alone engage with, the theory is problematic. Research limitations/implications We, in the CSR disclosure arena, need to do all we can to help emerging scholars (particularly in the USA) find the rich body of research the mainstream journals fail to discuss. Practical implications Legitimacy-based research can help move CSR disclosure at least closer to being a tool of accountability, as opposed to a tool for legitimation. Social implications Perhaps the critique of the mainstream North American literature’s failure to consider legitimacy theory can lead to the recognition of the need to focus on the harm to sustainability that a narrow, shareholder-centric focus leads to. Originality/value This reflection takes a unique look at the contributions of legitimacy theory to CSR disclosure research.

Global financial crisis and relevance of GRI disclosure in Italy. Insights from the stakeholder theory and the legitimacy theory

2018 ◽  
pp. 67-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Fornaciari ◽  
Caterina Pesci
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Stakeholder Theory ◽  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Value Relevance ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Environmental Disclosure

In this study, we examine the effects of voluntary disclosure on the market value of Italian-listed companies adopting GRI guidelines, interpreting our results in the light of both stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory. From a methodological viewpoint, an index is used to measure the level of disclosure of human resources and environmental information. We consider a sample of firms listed on the Milan Stock Exchange for an eleven-year period (2004-2014). The period chosen gave us the opportunity to assess the value-relevance of environmental and social information before and during the Global Financial Crisis. We supplement the previous literature on the topic of the relationship between social and environmental disclosure and value-relevance by arguing that sustainability tools have to be evaluated, remembering that they express a notion of value in the long term and provide information to a large number of stakeholders. Our findings show that environmental information is only value-relevant during the crisis period, when the shareholder perspective comes more into line with other stakeholder perspectives because they are seeking a middle-to-long run notion of value. Finally, we find that a high level of GRI information disclosure is positively evaluated by investors; this result is important also because it was obtained in the Italian market which is largely considered inefficient, and thus it supports the urgent need to provide high-quality information in each type of market.

Environmental disclosure in annual reports: A legitimacy theory perspective

2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-48
Author(s):  
A Savage ◽  
E Gilbert ◽  
J Rowlands ◽  
A J Cataldo
Keyword(s):  
Annual Reports ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Environmental Disclosure

scholarly journals The relationships between reporting format, environmental disclosure and environmental performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abeer Hassan ◽  
Xin Guo
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Strategic Communication ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess whether European companies issue standalone environmental reports in an attempt to gain and maintain legitimacy with relevant stakeholders. This is achieved by creating and empirically testing a model of the relationships between corporate reporting format, industry membership, environmental disclosure, and environmental performance. Design/methodology/approach Data are collected from 100 large European companies in carbon and non-carbon-intensive industries. Hypothesis testing is conducted via structure equation modeling. Findings Evidence exists that companies which disclose environmental information in standalone environmental reports tend to provide higher levels of environmental information than companies which combine financial and environmental disclosure in annual reports. The findings support greenwashing as a new perspective of legitimacy theory: companies in carbon-intensive industry use standalone environmental reports to pose as good corporate citizens even when they are not. Research limitations/implications The sample companies are large European companies and this could limit the generalizability of research findings. The authors call for longitudinal studies examining how the relationship between reporting format and environmental disclosure changes. Practical implications This paper suggests that reporting format be considered a proactive, strategic communication-driven activity rather than a decision that managers passively make in response to external scrutiny. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature by adding to the scarce evidence of the relationship between reporting format and environmental disclosure. Greenwashing as a new perspective of legitimacy theory is used to develop research hypotheses.

scholarly journals Corporate social responsibility reporting by South African mining companies: Evidence of legitimacy theory

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Dube ◽  
W. Maroun
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
South African ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
The South ◽  
Social Event ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Mining Companies ◽  
Platinum Mining ◽  
Corporate Social

This paper offers evidence on the relevance of legitimacy theory for explaining changes in the frequency of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures by South African platinum mining companies following violent strike action during 2012 at Marikana. The results show that all of the South African platinum mining companies provide additional information dealing specifically with the strike taking place at Marikana. This is more pronounced for the company directly involved in the incident. The research also finds evidence of a reaction to the social event by other companies in the South African Platinum Industry which alter the nature and extent of general CSR disclosures to maintain legitimacy. In this way, the study offers evidence in support of the relevance of legitimacy theory for explaining changes in CSR reporting. The findings of this study complement existing research which has ignored the South African market. Although there has been some work on legitimacy theory in the context of environmental disclosure by South African companies, the study is the first to examine a significant social event using legitimacy theory as the frame of reference.

Environmental Disclosure on Cost of Capital: Environmental Risk as a Moderator Variable

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 530
Author(s):  
Haninun HANINUN ◽  
Lindrianasari LINDRIANASARI ◽  
Susi SARUMPAET ◽  
Agrianti KOMALASARI ◽  
Ardi GUNARDI
Keyword(s):  
Stakeholder Theory ◽  
Environmental Risk ◽  
Cost Of Capital ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Environmental Issue ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Moderator Variable

The goal of this research is to test the effect of environmental disclosure on cost of capital. Also, to examines the environmental risk on its relationship on cost of capital. This study is derived on the stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory, and signaling theory. To implement the stakeholder theory, the companies can inform their environmental issues by disclosing their environmental management (Meng et al. 2014). They also disclose their environmental issue to fulfill both national and international regulation on environment to implement the legitimacy theory. Disclosure of environmental issue also indicates investor reliance. The larger disclosure will increase the more investor reliance (El Ghoul et al. 2011). Disclosure also indicate the signal of management to the investor. The design of this study is an explanatory research with quantitative approach. The populations in this study are the companies that listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange. The sampling technique based on purposive sampling. The data used is secondary data; consist of annual report of the company and financial report. The authenticity of this research is the first accounting study in Indonesia that examines environmental risks. The result shows that environmental risk can moderate the relationship between environmental disclosure and cost of capital.

scholarly journals Environmental Disclosure as a Tool for Public Sector Legitimacy

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Enrique Bonsón ◽  
David Perea ◽  
Michaela Bednárová
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
The Other ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Twitter Account ◽  
Different Levels

The purpose of this study is to measure the extent of Twitter environmental reporting by Andalusian municipalities (Spain) and identify the determinant factors of such a disclosure. Thus, factors such as population, geolocation, political signs, and sustainable commitments were analyzed under the legitimacy theory approach. The sample consisted of the official Twitter accounts of the 153 biggest local governments in Andalusia. The classification of the environmental tweets was based on a dictionary based on the GRI reporting standards for environmental disclosure, and a Twitter environmental disclosure index (TEDI) was developed. The results show that most of the local governments in Andalusia (77.78%) have an official Twitter account with different levels of audience, penetration, and activity. On the other hand, it was found that environmental disclosure is very low. However, municipalities with more surplus budget and municipalities with a greater number of sustainable commitments networks tend to report more on environmental issues through Twitter.

Impression management and legitimacy strategies: The BP case

2013 ◽  
pp. 35-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanna Michelon
Keyword(s):  
Impression Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
British Petroleum ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Management Techniques ◽  
Disclosure Tone ◽  
The Empirical Analysis ◽  
A Company ◽  
Texas City

The aim of this paper is to study if and how impression management varies during different phases of the legitimation process, in particular during the legitimacy building and legitimacy repairing phases (Suchman, 1995). We aim at understanding whether and how the disclosure tone adopted by a company in the two different moments is diverse and thus functional to the intrinsic objective of the each phase. The empirical analysis focuses on the case of British Petroleum Plc. We investigated the impression management practices undertaken by the company both during the preparation of the rebranding operation, i.e. a situation in which the company is trying to build legitimacy; and during the happenings of two legitimacy crises, like the explosion of the refinery in Texas City and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The evidence appears in line with the theoretical prediction of legitimacy theory. Results show that while the company tends to privilege image enhancement techniques during the legitimacy-building phase, it uses more obfuscation techniques when managing a legitimacy-repairing process. Moreover, the analysis suggests that the company makes more extensive use of impression management techniques in the disclosures addressed to shareholders, investors and other market operators than in the disclosures addressed to the wide range of other stakeholders.

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