This paper starts by presenting a theoretical framework based on the evolution of this problem through the EU treaties and a literature review. The focus is then turned to the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper starts by presenting a theoretical framework based on the evolution of this problem through the EU treaties and a literature review. The focus is then turned to the role of some European institutions, namely, the European Parliament, through the Committee on Petitions, and the European Ombudsman for their close relationship: the information and communications technology (ICT)channels that introduced new mechanisms of communication and information; and what level of use this system of dialogue assures citizens’ rights to petition and to complain.
Design/methodology/approach
The first decades of the history of the European Union did not consider the link with citizens as a central priority in the evolution of the European integration process. The idea of Europe, built step by step, was much more dependent on the states’ political elites and bureaucratic European institutions. The democratic deficit, however, changed the perspectives of the different actors involved in the institutional framework. New initiatives were introduced alongside treaties to make the integration process more transparent and closer to European citizens.
Findings
Those results can be confirmed through the statistics and reports presented annually by those institutions.
Originality/value
Due to innovation in the use of ICT, transparency and dialogue with citizens became much more effective.
Details
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Francisca Castilla-Polo and M. Isabel Sánchez-Hernández
This paper aims to review sustainability reporting understood as any type of social and environmental disclosures (SED) in its relationship with corporate reputation within the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review sustainability reporting understood as any type of social and environmental disclosures (SED) in its relationship with corporate reputation within the most reputed companies in Spain according to MERCO business monitor ranking (2014-2016).
Design/methodology/approach
To shed light on the relationship reputation-SED, two alternative models were tested, thought the use of structural equation model (SEM) and partial least squares (PLS), with longitudinal data.
Findings
Both models supported the hypotheses although the model linking reputation to SED was slightly better, questioning the use of SED by reputation leader companies.
Research limitations/implications
The paper study the linkage, sign and causality, between reputation and SED by introducing two alternative models. SED and reputation are receiving considerable attention into the business scope, although their relationship is not agreed by previous literature. There are contradictory evidences that lead us to question the sense of this relation.
Practical implications
The contribution will be of interest to managers in terms of the value of this type of reporting from a strategic point of view. If reputation favours this type of disclosures, these will be issues to be taken into account to obtain a better competitive advantage through market differentiation.
Social implications
The results will be of interest for future studies and actions aimed at regulating the improvement of this type of reporting not only in the hands of academics and practitioners but also investors and regulators.
Originality/value
This study is an advance in the description of the SED-reputation relationship and contributes to this new line of research with new insights. Another contribution is the way to understand sustainability reporting. This paper analyses SED from the twofold point of view of the quantity of information and, the existing references about its quality and adding the lag effect between both variables.
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Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…
Abstract
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.