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Sustainability reporting: A comparative study of NGOs and MNCs

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  • Charles T. Crespy
  • Van V. Miller

Abstract

This paper investigates the extent to which non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) disclose their sustainability activities. NGOs may lose legitimacy because they, themselves, do not do the very things they ask corporations to do. As such, NGOs' legitimate role in corporate governance is questioned. We define legitimacy as self‐organizing and self‐disclosing activities in the area of sustainability. Using data from Fortune 250 (corporations) and the Forbes 200 (NGOs), we compare these two organizational types with regard to their commitment to sustainable development. Across eight dimensions of legitimacy we found that corporations outscored NGOs. Five of the eight dimensions showed statistically significant differences; two dimensions showed marginally significant findings (p

Suggested Citation

  • Charles T. Crespy & Van V. Miller, 2011. "Sustainability reporting: A comparative study of NGOs and MNCs," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(5), pages 275-284, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:18:y:2011:i:5:p:275-284
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.248
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    2. Lamin B. Ceesay, 2020. "Exploring the Influence of NGOs in Corporate Sustainability Adoption: Institutional-Legitimacy Perspective," Jindal Journal of Business Research, , vol. 9(2), pages 135-147, December.
    3. Enrico Fontana, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility as Stakeholder Engagement: Firm–NGO Collaboration in Sweden," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 327-338, July.
    4. Stéphane Legendre & François Coderre, 2013. "Determinants of GRI G3 Application Levels: The Case of the Fortune Global 500," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(3), pages 182-192, May.
    5. Matthias S. Fifka & Maria Drabble, 2012. "Focus and Standardization of Sustainability Reporting – A Comparative Study of the United Kingdom and Finland," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(7), pages 455-474, November.
    6. Urquía-Grande, Elena & Estébanez, Raquel Pérez & Alcaraz-Quiles, Francisco José, 2022. "Impact of Non-Profit Organizations’ Accountability: Empirical evidence from the democratic Republic of Congo," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    7. Ikenna Elias Asogwa & Maria Estela Varua & Peter Humphreys & Rina Datt, 2021. "Understanding Sustainability Reporting in Non-Governmental Organisations: A Systematic Review of Reporting Practices, Drivers, Barriers and Paths for Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-26, September.
    8. Paolo Esposito & Gianluca Antonucci, 2022. "NGOs, corporate social responsibility and sustainable development trajectories in a new reformative spectrum: ‘New wine in old bottles or old wine in new bottles?’," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 609-619, May.
    9. Gazzola, Patrizia & Amelio, Stefano & Papagiannis, Fragkoulis & Michaelides, Zenon, 2021. "Sustainability reporting practices and their social impact to NGO funding in Italy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    10. Nina Hampl & Moritz Loock, 2013. "Sustainable Development in Retailing: What is the Impact on Store Choice?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 202-216, March.
    11. Wesley Friske & Atanas Nik Nikolov & Todd Morgan, 2024. "Making the grade: An analysis of sustainability reporting standards and Global Reporting Initiative adherence ratings," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 2098-2108, May.

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