Mandatory Nonfinancial Disclosures: The State of Art

Abstract

Academics and practitioners are clamoring for convergence and/or harmonization of nonfinancial disclosures (NFD). Previous studies show the de facto harmonization of the application of main standards (GRI, IIRC) by companies. Several studies investigate the degree of flexibility of the contents of NFD regulations and if the mandatory regime can determine the typologies of sustainable performance disclosed by companies and the comparability of reports. No research has broadened the perspective to several countries in the world adopting a comparative approach. The objective of our research is to bridge this gap by discussing the convergence in NFD regulatory provisions of different countries. A manual text analysis of legislation has been performed. The analysis is focused on ten countries with reporting rates of sustainability higher than 90%. The main results highlight that there are no similarities between the different legislations. Most of the regulations have a flexible approach leaving a wide margin of discretion to companies. Moreover, while it is true that the NFD today finds a regulatory base in most countries of the world, each legislation differs from the others. There are situations of convergence regarding the position of the report. There is wide flexibility on the choice of framework; despite this, there is a de facto comparability in terms of adopted standards. The need for harmonization can therefore also be refuted at a regulatory level, except for specific sectors or groups of countries.