Trends in Corporate Governance Reporting

Abstract

The debate concerning sustainability has been present in economic literature for the last decades. However, the concept remains ambiguous for both specialists and the general public. For the last years, corporate sustainability reporting has evolved, but it has yet to use a homogenous approach, therefore making it difficult for stakeholders to use the information being reported. This study focuses on the evolution of corporate sustainability reporting on governance issues, with particular interest on two non-financial indicators: board independence and the separation of board chairman and chief executive officer. Through content analysis from both annual reports and company websites, courtesy of the firm Sustainalytics, we assessed the evolution of the above-mentioned indicators for 2894 companies based in developed and emerging Markets, as per the MSCI market classification. For the selected time period, 2011-2014, the general number of companies that publish sustainability related information has increased, attracting a similar evolution in the reporting of the two analysed indicators. This research also highlights the several countries that have demonstrated a particular concern for governance issues, as well as the laggards. We conclude by proposing a number of important attributes for possible future governance reporting standards based on best reporting companies.