The relationship between integrated reporting and corporate environmental performance: A green trial

摘要

Integrated reporting is a fairly recent phenomenon in the corporate reporting realm. Its dawn marks a new age of corporate reporting where financial and non-financial information and their interrelation create an integrated and holistic approach for telling a value creation story. In tandem with this transformation, business sustainability in general and environmental performance, in particular, are also gaining prominence in the corporate landscape. This scholarly article investigates the relationship between integrated reporting and corporate environmental performance. A panel-data is used to carry out the study using a sample of 110 firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock exchange for the years 2014-2018, where Integrated Reporting was first mandated. The empirical results are robust and consistent with our predictions in that integrated reporting is found positively associated with corporate environmental performance. Our findings pave the way for a new stream of literature on the transformation and the connectivity functions of integrated reporting.