CSR Disclosure in Polish-Listed Companies in the Light of Directive 2014/95/EU Requirements: Empirical Evidence

Abstract

On 15 December 2016, new non-financial reporting requirements were implemented in the Polish Accounting Act (PAA) which would be enforced from 1 January 2017. This act resulted from the transposition of Directive 2014/95/EU. New requirements oblige certain groups of entities to disclose non-financial information on environmental, social and employee-related matters, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and bribery matters. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. Firstly, this study analyses the new non-financial reporting requirements implemented in PAA, which were created from the transposition of the Directive. Secondly, this study investigates the current extent and quality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) and their compliance with the new requirements. The sample comprises 150 selected listed companies on the WSE. The data were collected from annual reports, separate CSR reports, and companies' websites. Content analysis and a rating scale were used to measure the level of CSR disclosures. The results show that companies prefer annual reports to communicate voluntary CSR disclosures. In the majority of cases, CSR disclosure of companies were not compliant with the new requirements. Companies placed little emphasis on reporting about human rights and anti-corruption. This suggests that the new reporting obligation should increase the extent and quality of non-financial disclosure among Polish listed companies.

CSR Practices in Polish and Spanish Stock Listed Companies: A Comparative Analysis

“…The results were inconsistent with the research conducted by Branco and Rodrigues [4] in Portugal. Moreover, the content analysis and a rating scale conducted by Matuszak and Różańska [57] on the basis of 150 Polish companies also confirmed these results. Szczepankiewicz and Mućko [58] stated that "mining and energy companies are faced with the challenge of responding to the growing demand for energy, while simultaneously improving air quality, reducing emissions and tackling climate change and shrinking resources".…”

Mandatory Nonfinancial Disclosure and Its Consequences on the Sustainability Reporting Quality of Italian and German Companies

“…These researchers confirmed many important scientific contributions [13][14][15][16][17][18], despite other studies having found a significant correlation between quantitative and qualitative measures of SRQ [19]. Researchers have consistently developed different metrics and instruments to measure SRQ, most of which are based on a compounded approach and on content analysis [12,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. According to Helfaya et al [12] (p. 18) quantity can be considered a secondary factor of quality because the most important determinants concern the content of the reports and are related to aspects of sustainability reporting such as information type, adoption of guidelines, and inclusion of quantitative or financial measures of social and/or environmental performance.…”

Corporate Social-Environmental Performance versus Financial Performance of Banks in Central and Eastern European Countries

“…This understanding of CSR is questioned by the intervention of the state, union agreements, implicit cultural and institutional norms and other non-explicit behaviours influencing the CSR engagement. Matten and Moon [56,57] approach to CSR recognizes that not all CSR is entirely voluntary; especially in the European Union (EU), some parts of CSR are highly integrated in institutional norms, values and (regulated) legislation (more e.g., [58]). The differences in perception of CSR between Western and CEE countries may result from the differences in the institutional framework indicated by Ericson [59] and Kornai [60], concerning mainly the socialist legacy and economic development level and growth rate [61].…”