Toward an integration of environmental and social data in a company’s reports for more effective decision-making and reporting purposes

Abstract

This study investigates an integration of environmental and social data in annual reports that linked with the information in a voluntary disclosure enables more effective decision-making and improves the information needs to stakeholders. In Thailand, an integration of environmental and social data in mandatory reports and voluntary disclosures in Thai context appears however less attention. In addition, the linkage between environmental and social data in annual reports and voluntary disclosures is not widely explored. This could be less potential to enable accounting communication between a company and its stakeholders while having difficulty to meet sustainability targets in the global market. This study investigates an integration of environmental and social data in a company’s reports and CSR disclosures to see where an integrated reporting is met. A set of questions in a survey is created to collect data through the review of documents – annual reports and CSR disclosures provided on website of the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Pearson correlation analysis is employed to examine environmental and social performance indicators in annual reports and CSR disclosures. Stakeholder theory explains the key concerns and objectives of stakeholders regarding environmental and social data in the reports. The results of the study indicate that companies in Thailand integrated environmental and social data in a financial statement consistently with the information reported in a corporate social responsibility (CSR) at statistically significant level 0.01. Environmental and social data in a company’s report is positively associated with the information needs of stakeholders that meet integrated reporting initiatives at statistically significant level 0.05. And, companies indicated that environmental and social data reported in a financial disclosure is positively associated with the information in a corporate social responsibility (CSR) at statistically significant level 0.05.