Corporate Reporting and Assurance by ISE Portfolio: A discussion on ISE Governance and Isomorphic Mechanisms

Event Date: 16 February 2022

Speaker: Dr Thereza Raquel Sales de Aguiar, University of Aberdeen

Time:  2pm (Zoom details emailed to faculty the week prior, otherwise please email donna.irving@strath.ac.uk)

Abstract:

This article aims to understand how isomorphic mechanisms influence practices related to non-financial reporting and assurance of companies listed in the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) of the B3 Stock Exchange in Brazil. Three different but complementary data sets are analysed. Expert-led discussions about reporting practice in Brazil as well as documental analysis were explored using deductive thematic analysis as well as 121 corporate reports covering a 10-year period analysed using content analysis. The results suggest a two-way influence. Firstly, this research presents ISE as an institutional field and as such, the way ISE is governed has an impact on reporting practices. Secondly, the type of reporting practices can also influence ISE as a field by helping it to sustain current capitalistic status quo, which justifies the sustainability of the business and utility maximization. More specifically, this research critically analyses a homogeneous approach to sustainability reporting and auditing among companies in the ISE field. As a result, a behaviour pattern is emerging towards low assurance quality and a perception of integrated reporting that overemphasise investors’ needs and replicates patterns of financial information into non-financial information, reinforcing the relevance of integrated thinking to attract foreign investments and to sustain profit maximization.  

Published: 16 February 2022