A Study of the Economic and Non-Financial Performance Indicators in Corporate Sustainability Reports

The purpose of this paper is to identify the performance indicators disclosed in corporate sustainability reports. To perform this study we examined Italian Listed companies that produced a sustainability report in 2012. The indicators were identified using a content analysis. We analysed the core and additional indicators disclosed in sustainability reports as well as all the indicators required by sector supplements adopted by companies. Our results show that indicators are widely disclosed in Italian sustainability reports. Social indicators are on average the most commonly used indicators, particularly those concerning labour practices, followed by the economic and then the environmental indicators. The Oil and Gas and Utilities industry sectors disclosed a superior amount of indicators compared to all other sectors. These industry sectors also show a more homogeneous behaviour, also as regards disclosure of core and additional indicators. This study provides one of the first detailed analyses of the different category of GRI indicators used by Italian companies producing sustainability reports.