The determinants of business contribution to the 2030 Agenda: Introducing the SDG Reporting Score

Within the 2030 Agenda, the United Nations have explicitly required that the Member States introduce within their jurisdictions new forms of regulations about non-financial reporting practices. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects related to the transposition of Directive 2014/95/EU by analyzing firm-level, governance-level, and report-level determinants of business reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To conduct such an analysis, this study defines and introduces the SDG Reporting Score (SRS)-a qualitative proxy representing a firm orientation toward SDG reporting. The study sample includes the non-financial reports of 153 Italian Public Interest Entities. The results show a positive relationship between a firm's SRS and various determinants, such as the presence of independent directors on the board, expertise with non-financial reporting, and length of the report. Finally, the highest levels of SRS are achieved by firms operating in environmental sensitive sectors.

Automated summary

This study investigates the impact of Directive 2014/95/EU on business reporting of the Sustainable Development Goals. The results show a positive relationship between a firm's SDG Reporting Score and various determinants, such as the presence of independent directors, expertise with non-financial reporting, and report length. Additionally, firms in environmental sensitive sectors achieve the highest levels of SDG Reporting Score.