Departamento de Economía Agraria, Finanzas y Contabilidad
http://hdl.handle.net/10396/97
2024-03-28T13:17:34ZA commentary on the “new” institutional actors in sustainability reporting standard-setting: a European perspective
http://hdl.handle.net/10396/27699
A commentary on the “new” institutional actors in sustainability reporting standard-setting: a European perspective
Giner, Begoña; Luque Vílchez, Mercedes
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the progress and future prospects of two relatively “new” institutions in this field: the European Commission (EC), together with the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper reflexively analyses the recent events that characterize the European Union (EU) regulatory standard-setting landscape in the sustainability field. It is mainly based on publicly available documents.
Findings – After analysing the different routes followed to enter the field, this paper shows how the EC/EFRAG takes a wider view than the IFRS Foundation on certain key reporting aspects, that is, target audience, materiality and reporting boundary. As for the reporting scope, although it seems that the IFRS Foundation has a more restrictive vision, it is working to broaden it.
Practical implications – This paper provides some ideas about the potential cooperation between the two institutions. This paper also highlights some potential problems stemming not only from their intrinsic characteristics but also from the routes they have taken to enter the field.
Social implications – By envisioning how the EU sustainability reporting standard-setting landscape might evolve, this paper sheds light on how companies might need to approach sustainability reporting to adapt to the new institutional demands. Suggestions for collaboration between the two institutions could help them reach common ground and, thus, prevent misunderstandings for companies and stakeholders.
Originality/value – The reflections and takeaways benefit from the authors’ first-hand information, as both are involved in the EU process. The authors could, therefore, feed into further discussions on the developments and challenges facing the EU in this domain.
2022-01-01T00:00:00ZSustainability reporting in focus: analysing Spanish transposition of the Non‑Financial Reporting European Directive in the agri‑food sector
http://hdl.handle.net/10396/27684
Sustainability reporting in focus: analysing Spanish transposition of the Non‑Financial Reporting European Directive in the agri‑food sector
Anguiano-Santos, Carlos; Rodríguez Entrena, Macario
In recent decades, the business world has undergone a paradigm shift, prioritizing social and environmental considerations over the exclusive pursuit of economic profits. Corporate social responsibility has become an essential practice, and Sustainability reports (SRs) play a crucial role in facilitating the disclosure of these practices. In the European Union (EU), Directive 2014/95/EU (Non-Financial Reporting Directive— NFRD) was enacted to compel companies to disclose information on matters addressing social, environmental, ethical, and corporate governance aspects. Spain transposed this directive through Law 11/2018, considered one of the strictest in the EU. This study aims to explore and analyse its impact on the agri-food sector. For this purpose, the SRs of 16 agri-food companies that used the Global reporting initiative standard before and after the enforcement of Law 11/2018 were evaluated applying content analysis along with repeated measures ANOVA. The results show a low level of disclosure for both periods and that Law 11/2018 does not succeed in improving the level of disclosure. This suggests that legislators should develop regulations that ensure the usefulness of the disclosed information and that companies should be more involved in the preparation of SRs.
2024-01-01T00:00:00ZSustainability reporting harmonisation? A utopian endeavour for European agri-food companies
http://hdl.handle.net/10396/27683
Sustainability reporting harmonisation? A utopian endeavour for European agri-food companies
Anguiano-Santos, Carlos; Salazar Ordóñez, Melania; Tornel-Vázquez, Rossana; Rodríguez Entrena, Macario
Regulatory harmonisation stands as a central issue in the European Union (EU), playing a key role in achieving the single market. Accounting harmonisation, in particular, has been the subject of different regulatory frameworks, mainly directives. However, the literature suggests that the implementation of these directives within the EU does not consistently meet its harmonisation goals due to diverse legal, cultural, and business interpretations among the Member States. In the realm of social and environmental accounting, Directive 2014/95/EU (NFRD) compels specific companies to prepare and present Sustainability Reports (SRs), with the primary goal of enhancing the availability of sustainability information while also fostering greater consistency and comparability. Nevertheless, the flexibility afforded by this Directive may give rise to divergences among the national regulations of the EU Member States, as has been the case previously. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the success of the NFRD in harmonising sustainability disclosure by examining the quantity and homogeneity of such information disclosed in the SRs of 100 large agri-food companies in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain. To do so, a content analysis and non-parametric tests were applied. The findings show a limited performance and high heterogeneity in disclosure across countries, suggesting that the NFRD has fallen short of harmonising national regulations on disclosing sustainability information.
2024-01-01T00:00:00ZCollective health research assessment: developing a tool to measure the impact of multistakeholder research initiatives
http://hdl.handle.net/10396/27663
Collective health research assessment: developing a tool to measure the impact of multistakeholder research initiatives
Kork, Anna-Aurora; Antonini, Carla; García-Torea, Nicolás; Luque Vílchez, Mercedes; Costa, Erika; Senn, Juliette; Larrinaga, Carlos; Bertorello, Deborah; Brichetto, Giampaolo; Zaratin, Paola; Andreaus, Michele
Background: The need to more collaboratively measure the impact of health research and to do so from multidimensional perspectives has been acknowledged. A scorecard was developed as part of the Collective Research Impact Framework (CRIF), to engage stakeholders in the assessment of the impacts of health research and innovations. The purpose of this study was to describe the developmental process of the MULTI-ACT Master Scorecard (MSC) and how it can be used as a workable tool for collectively assessing future responsible research and innovation measures.
Methods: An extensive review of the health research impact literature and of multistakeholder initiatives resulted in a database of 1556 impact indicators. The MSC was then cocreated by engaging key stakeholders and conducting semi-structured interviews of experts in the field.
Results: The MSC consists of five accountability dimensions: excellence, efficacy, economic, social and patientreported outcomes. The tool contains 125 potential indicators, classified into 53 impact measurement aspects that are considered the most relevant topics for multistakeholder research and innovation initiatives when assessing their impact on the basis of their mission and their stakeholders’ interests. The scorecard allows the strategic management of multistakeholder research initiatives to demonstrate their impact on people and society. The value of the tool is that it is comprehensive, customizable and easy to use.
Conclusions: The MSC is an example of how the views of society can be taken into account when research impacts are assessed in a more sustainable and balanced way. The engagement of patients and other stakeholders is an integral part of the CRIF, facilitating collaborative decision-making in the design of policies and research agendas. In policy making, the collective approach allows the evaluation perspective to be extended to the needs of society and towards responsible research and innovation. Multidimensionality makes research and innovations more responsive to systemic challenges, and developing more equitable and sustainable health services.
2022-01-01T00:00:00Z