Reporting of Corporate Sustainability: An Examination of the Global Reporting Initiative Database

Authors

Bruce Bettinghaus, Grand Valley State UniversityFollow
Anne M. A. Sergeant

Department

School of Accounting

College

Seidman College of Business

Date Range

2013-2014

Disciplines

Business

Abstract

Environmental awareness and social responsibility has grown considerably over the last few decades and so too has reporting of corporate sustainability actions. Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) is a database where companies voluntarily report sustainability efforts. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the GRI database, leading to research implications. We present a brief description of the guidelines, principles, and standards for GRI reporting and report summary statistics about the companies who chose to report in the GRI database. We also provide a literature review of factors effecting voluntary sustainability reporting and implications of using GRI for academic research.

Conference Name

American Accounting Association Southwest Region Annual Meeting

Conference Location

Dallas, TX

ScholarWorks Citation

Bettinghaus, Bruce and Sergeant, Anne M. A., "Reporting of Corporate Sustainability: An Examination of the Global Reporting Initiative Database" (2014). Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants. 978.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/fsdg/978