PurposeThis study examines the effect that environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure generates on the cost of equity capital in the food and beverage (F&B) sector.Design/methodology/approachThis study analyses a sample of 171 international listed firms pertaining to the F&B sector and headquartered in North America, Western Europe and Asia Pacific (developed), forming an unbalanced panel of 1,316 observations, spanning the period 2010–2019. We run a fixed-effects panel regression model to test the relationship between ESG disclosure and the cost of equity capital.FindingsOur empirical outcomes suggest a significant negative relationship between ESG disclosure and the cost of equity capital. We find support for the notion that increased levels of ESG disclosure are linked to an improved access to financial resources for firms.Originality/valueThis is the first study that analyses the impact of ESG disclosure on the cost of equity capital in the F&B sector, taking existing literature a step further into more detailed and specific aspects of the relationship of focus.

Purpose In recent years, integrated reporting has emerged as a tool to provide environmental information in an interconnected way. However, in the academic literature, the amount of environmental information contained in integrated reports has never been analysed. This study, through the stakeholder-agency theory, aims to fill this important gap by examining the impact of the corporate governance mechanisms on the level of environmental information disseminated by the firms through integrated reports. Design/methodology/approach A manual content analysis based on an environmental disclosure index consisting of 30 items was performed to measure the amount of environmental information. In addition, a regression analysis was performed on a sample of 129 international firms to examine the impact of the corporate governance mechanisms on the level of environmental information disseminated through integrated reports. Findings The results show a positive effect of the board size, board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility committee existence on the level of environmental disclosure. Furthermore, they show a non-significant impact of board independence. Originality/value This study enriches the literature in several ways. First, it extends the field of application of the stakeholder-agency theory. Second, this study extends the analysis of environmental disclosure to another document – the integrated report – still unexplored by academic literature. Finally, it shed light on the determinants of environmental disclosure.

The attention to integrated reporting has more and more increased, since the birth, in 2010 of IIRC, to the present day. This practice, in recent years, is arousing the interest not only of practitioners, but also of academics. In this perspective, the reconstruction of the development process and a series of in-depth analyses on the topic can represent an important source of information for practitioners and a solid basis for future research by academics. This study aims to meet this dual need through a reconstruction of the development process and an analysis of the benefits and of the current state of integrated reporting in the world. The study also presents an important focus on the situation of integrated reporting in Italy by virtue of the recent implementation of Legislative Decree n. 254 of December 30, 2016. This rule provides for the obligation to prepare a non-financial statement starting from the year 2017 and offers many insights on the progress of integrated reporting. The study shows the central, but not unique role of legislation in the adoption and dissemination of integrated reporting.

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Purpose This paper aims to contribute to the emerging debate on materiality with novel and original insights about the managerial and theoretical implications related to the adoption of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) as reporting standards. Furthermore, the paper will evaluate the main drivers that favor the combination of the two standards by companies to develop new knowledge about the hierarchical relationship between financial and sustainability materiality. Design/methodology/approach Building on a sample of 2,046 US listed companies observed during the period 2017–2020, the research is conducted using quantitative methods. Multinomial logistic regressions are used to evaluate the differences between GRI and SASB’s adoption. Findings The analysis highlights that financial and sustainability materiality are driven by different purposes. In detail, SASB’s adoption is driven by factors directly related to financial dynamics, while GRI’s adoption is influenced by the existence of corporate governance mechanisms inspired by sustainable and ethical principles. Furthermore, the last analysis reveals that the combination of the two standards is characterized by the predominance of sustainability materiality. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study on the relationship between financial and sustainability materiality.