CSR disclosure: un sistema di correlazioni fra informazioni e strumenti. Indagine empirica nel contesto italiano

Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure (CSRD) is the voluntary communication by a firm of environmental and social information in order to inform stakeholders of its responsibilities towards them. It necessitates an adequate flow of relevant communication through suitable channels. This research examines methods of CSRD used by Italian firms listed on the Italian Stock Exchange: publication of a stand-alone report and / or a dedicated section of their website. The main aim of the paper is to verify the existence and describe the characteristics of a “system of relationships” between these methods and the types of information disclosed. About the findings of our empirical research we observed and measured an association between sector of company activity and CSRD and a relationship between tools of disclosure and information given by the company; in particularly we found a clear distinction between cases where a stand-alone CSR report is drawn up and where information is disclosed exclusively on a dedicated webpage. Given its importance, especially for strategy, CSRD has been for some time a focus of academic interest. Several studies examine the reasons that firms adopt CSRD at their own discretion. Other studies, in particularly, focus on the relationship between a firm’s propensity for CSRD and variables (i.e. sector, size, age). The present study aims to enrich the field of research by focusing on CSRD, the same topic, from an additional and different perspective. The study comprises three sections: 1) a theoretical framework - presents the state of the art in CSRD and puts forward hypotheses; 2) an empirical survey - describes disclosure methods used by a sample of firms through (identification of most widely used methods of CSRD; a survey of possible relationships and correlations between CSRD methods and information disclosed), 3) conclusions, limits and outlines for future research.