CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is an important part of communication with stakeholders and a response to the need for non-fi nancial reports. Regrettably, the rules of non-fi nancial reporting are almost not regulated. CSR reports are drafted using a variety of principles and guidelines, which limits comparisons across enterprises, transparency and assessment of progress. The reasons for reporting non-fi nancial information cited in the specialist literature, and by enterprises preparing CSR reports are examined, and the benefi ts of standardising reports of nonfi nancial information are determined. The literature review and empirical research into the motivations for CSR reporting and the trends in reporting of non-fi nancial information helped to verify the initial hypotheses: 1. Communication with stakeholders is the fundamental reason for reporting non-fi nancial information. This is confi rmed by the literature review, with most authors believing this is the prime reason for preparing CSR reports. Authors indicating other motivations still treat it as the fundamental cause which exists jointly with other motivations. 2. The need to standardise CSR reporting to ensure its transparency and clarity is noted by reporting organisations. This is proven by surveys of organisations drafting CSR reports – approximately 80% of all reports follow the GRI guidelines. This means the reporting enterprises wish their reports to be clear, transparent and comparable and for their stakeholders to be able to fully satisfy their information requirements. This is also evidence of the care for good relations with stakeholders, who receive standardised data although this is not binding on enterprises. A growing tendency for CSR reporting to follow guidelines other than the GRI can be noted in the entire period under analysis. This will not necessarily be a single compulsory standard, yet a model report would need to be followed to assure transparency and comparability. The Regulations of the Directive 2014/95/EU are a step forward since they will help to standardise rules of reporting non-fi nancial information and will improve its transparency and utility.
Purpose:The objective of the article is to invistigate how market structure influenced the financial effectiveness of life insurance companies (Branch I). Design/Methodology/Approach: A critical review of literaturę is undertaken, contens of factors which influence financial effectiveness of insurance companies are analysed, and econometric methods are applied. A panel model is constructed and results of its estimation are analysed. Findings: The research assumed the existence of a relationship between the share in the insurance market and the financial efficiency of life insurance companies. ROE (Return On Equity) was adopted as the dependent variable (explained feature) measuring the financial efficiency of insurance companies. The share in the insurance market, measured by gross written premium, was considered one of the explanatory variables. The results of model's estimation indicated that all independent variables are statistically significant and the signs are in accordance with theory and hypothesis. The main variable which influence the variability of ROE is share in the market measured by gross written premium. Practical Implications: The results may be taken advantage of life insurance companies. They indicate factors of financial effectiveness life insurance companies. Origiality/Value: The paper contains the authors' original research into a representative group of life insurace companies, that can be generalised to the entite population. The study will contribute to the developmet of theories concerning factors of the financial effectiveness of insurance companies.
Raportowanie informacji niefinansowych w zakładach ubezpieczeń w Polsce This paper aims to show causes of non-financial reporting and to present conclusions from an evaluation of the extent and principles of this area of reporting with regard to the prevailing practice of companies in the Polish insurance market. The paper reviews literature of the subject and applicable regulations and uses the methods of deduction and induction, analysis of the contents of non-financial reports and the author's own observations. The initial part is a review of relevant literature concerning causes of nonfinancial reporting. The second section describes the unique nature of insurance companies as public trust organisations and its effects on management systems of insurers and qualitative characteristics of nonfinancial reports. Non-financial reports have been examined that were drafted in 2001–2015 by insurance companies operating in Poland as of 31 December 2015. Reports submitted to the GRI as reports from Poland and reports of parent entities have been studied. Image considerations have been found to be the fundamental cause of non-financial reporting. 48.2% of insurance companies produced reports although it was not mandatory at the time. No results of research using a similar sample have been found in academic literature.
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