Voluntary coercion? Conditions for sustainable reporting by small and medium-sized enterprises

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the determinants and possibilities of dis-seminating sustainability reporting among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the basis of the accounting theory, legal regulations, and the opinions of SME representa-tives. Methodology/approach: A review of the literature and other sources. Cluster analysis, the k-means method, and the one-way ANOVA test were used to prepare the results of the survey conducted through AAP. Findings: Only stakeholder theory provides explanations that are useful for identifying the determinants of the dissemination of sustainability reporting among SMEs. The major-ity of SMEs are indirectly obliged to report, as a result of maintaining relationships with entities that are required to report non-financial information on the entire value chain. In our survey, we identified two groups. The first represents skeptics. They do not report non-financial information and do not support the introduction of a single, simplified, EU sus-tainability reporting standard for SMEs. The second group believes that SMEs should report non-financial data. They are usually entities that already report such information. Research limitations/implications: The limitations of the study are due to sample se-lection and size. In the implications, we emphasized the advantages of indirectly obliging SMEs to report non-financial information by requiring that their key stakeholders collect such information. Originality/value: The article fills a gap in the literature by providing empirical research on non-financial reporting in SMEs. Keywords: non-financial reporting, corporate sustainability reporting, small and medium enterprises.

EU regulations on reporting sustainable development as a determinant of limiting the environmental pressure of chemical enterprises in Poland

“…This Directive was implemented by the amendment to the Accounting Act of 15 December 2016 (Act, 2016) and the regulation of the Minister of Finance of 25 May 2016, amending the regulation on current and periodic information provided by issuers of securities and the conditions for recognising as equivalent information required by the law of a non-member state (Regulation, 2016). In Poland, these regulations were supposed to cover about 300 entities, but in fact, they mainly concerned the largest of the big public trust entities (148) (Mućko et al, 2021).…”