Responsible Investment and the Disclosure of ESG Information …
461
5 Conclusion
The segment that most reported subthemes of the model was the automobile, with
emphasis on the social and environmental dimensions. The health care was the second segment that presented more adherences to the model with 65% of the subthemes
reported by the companies, with more citations in the Economic dimension. On the
other hand, the consumer goods was the segment that least showed adherence to the
model, addressing only 58% of the subtheme. Looking at the Economic and Social
dimensions, they were the ones that had the highest number of reports by companies,
while the dimension of corporate governance was the one that had the least citations
regarding their sub-themes by the segments. Reports of the selected companies disclosure information on ESG factors, but in varying degrees of disclosure, both in
terms of size and in sectors. See Table 7.
We can arrive to the following conclusions: (a) there is still a long way to go
by companies about the importance of disseminating ESG information; (b) one can
speculate if the low disclosure of corporate governance is due to the lack of knowledge
or disregard by the companies for this information; (c) The Integrated Report is still
being adopted by the companies in a timid manner. This is worrisome given that the
first version of the framework is from 2012.
Finally, the contribution of this study was to facilitate the decision-making process
in sustainable and responsible investments. However, given the quantity and quality
of ESG information reported in this study, there is a concern about how socially
responsible fund managers and responsible investors are making their investment
decisions, since ESG information should be disclosed in the Integrated Reports or in
Sustainability Reports.
The access and availability of company reports were the main limitations for the
development of this study, in which there is no section for the automotive sector in
the IIRC database. As a suggestion of future work, expand this study to more industry
sectors and compare with the conclusions reported here.
Table 7 Adherence of the segments to the model
Segments
Environment
dimension
(%)
Social
dimension
(%)
Economic
dimension
(%)
Corporate
governance
dimension
(%)
Adherence to
the model
(%)
Automobile
83
92
80
71
85
Health care
65
64
100
43
65
Consumer
goods
48
64
80
57
58
Source Author
461
5 Conclusion
The segment that most reported subthemes of the model was the automobile, with
emphasis on the social and environmental dimensions. The health care was the second segment that presented more adherences to the model with 65% of the subthemes
reported by the companies, with more citations in the Economic dimension. On the
other hand, the consumer goods was the segment that least showed adherence to the
model, addressing only 58% of the subtheme. Looking at the Economic and Social
dimensions, they were the ones that had the highest number of reports by companies,
while the dimension of corporate governance was the one that had the least citations
regarding their sub-themes by the segments. Reports of the selected companies disclosure information on ESG factors, but in varying degrees of disclosure, both in
terms of size and in sectors. See Table 7.
We can arrive to the following conclusions: (a) there is still a long way to go
by companies about the importance of disseminating ESG information; (b) one can
speculate if the low disclosure of corporate governance is due to the lack of knowledge
or disregard by the companies for this information; (c) The Integrated Report is still
being adopted by the companies in a timid manner. This is worrisome given that the
first version of the framework is from 2012.
Finally, the contribution of this study was to facilitate the decision-making process
in sustainable and responsible investments. However, given the quantity and quality
of ESG information reported in this study, there is a concern about how socially
responsible fund managers and responsible investors are making their investment
decisions, since ESG information should be disclosed in the Integrated Reports or in
Sustainability Reports.
The access and availability of company reports were the main limitations for the
development of this study, in which there is no section for the automotive sector in
the IIRC database. As a suggestion of future work, expand this study to more industry
sectors and compare with the conclusions reported here.
Table 7 Adherence of the segments to the model
Segments
Environment
dimension
(%)
Social
dimension
(%)
Economic
dimension
(%)
Corporate
governance
dimension
(%)
Adherence to
the model
(%)
Automobile
83
92
80
71
85
Health care
65
64
100
43
65
Consumer
goods
48
64
80
57
58
Source Author