Towards a Comprehensive Corporate Sustainability Performance Evaluation in Pakistan. An Investigation into Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Quality and Comparison of GRI and non-GRI Firms

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Pakistani corporate sector for its corporate sustainability initiatives. Over a sample of 80 non-financial firms for the period of 7 years ranging from 2014 to 2020, the study captures comprehensive corporate sustainability scores. The firms’ scores have been captured based on both the quality and level of disclosures and a comparison has been made between GRI and non-GRI reporting firms. The study finds that GRI firms are disclosing a greater amount of quality and quantity of sustainability information than non-GRI firms. The GRI guidelines are driving both the quality and level of disclosure. Overall, the disclosure is low, and it is inconsistent. The environmental disclosure is relatively lower than economic and social disclosures among the non-GRI firms. The study also provides evidence of sustainability disclosure at COVID-19 times. The disclosure scores of 21% of firms have been found in a declining trend in the year 2020. The study provides some policy implications that could lead to guide the regulatory authorities in shaping the behaviour of firms toward sustainable initiatives.

The Components of Enterprise Risk Management and Financial Performance of the Non-Financial Firms through Mediation of Corporate Reputation

“…Firm financial performance is a vital indicator for assessing and evaluating how well an organization achieves its corporate objectives for all stakeholders (Agustina & Baroroh, 2016). Corporate reputation is acknowledged as a valuable asset that can safeguard a company's standing in assessments of its quality (Alam & Tariq, 2022). We believe that effective ERM components such as culture, process, structure, and infrastructure can quickly provide a competitive advantage (Laisasikorn & Rompho, 2014;Yang et al, 2018).…”