Disclosure of social information by Brazilian companies according to United Nations indicators of corporate social responsibility

Abstract

Several frameworks of social information disclosure have been proposed worldwide to satisfy stakeholders' information needs. In 2008, the United Nations launched a guide with recommendations for corporate responsibility indicators in annual reports based on the Global Reporting Initiative framework and standards of the International Labour Organization, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and International Accounting Standards Board. The objective of the present study was to analyze the disclosure of social information by Brazilian companies of the New Market listing segment traded on the São Paulo Stock Exchange (BOVESPA) in accordance with UN indicators of corporate social responsibility. This was an exploratory and qualitative study based on a review of documents and the literature. The findings were interpreted by way of content analysis to determine the predominance of UN indicators disclosed by Brazilian enterprises. The results were compared to those of a 2008 UN study on social information disclosure by 100 large enterprises in the top ten emerging economies in the world. The companies in our study were found to disclose most of the indicators recommended by the UN in harmony with internationally accepted standards. However, more recently introduced non-financial indicators were less frequently reported.