Integrated Reporting in Municipally Owned Corporations: A Case Study in Italy

Municipally owned corporations (MOCs) are autonomous organisations owned by municipalities that are used to produce or deliver local public services outside of the local bureaucracy. Profit maximisation is not the primary goal of MOCs, since they are also required to achieve other objectives, such as social outcomes, innovation, and employment. The integrated report, due to its structure, could provide a holistic perspective of an MOC’s performance. This chapter aims to elucidate the trends in the literature about MOCs’ accountability and the implementation of an integrated reporting system. Using a case study analysis, the results of the research demonstrate how the International Integrated Reporting Council’s framework is useful to pursue accountability policies and the benefits derived from the implementation of integrated reporting

Corporate Governance mechanisms as drivers that enhance the credibility and usefulness of CSR disclosure

The aim of this paper is to examine what kinds of CG mechanisms (institutional, firm or group level) are driving getting an Assurance or a GRI application level, like CSR disclosure decisions linked with credibility and usefulness of the information disclosed, in the particular context of energy companies. Previous evidence is scarce and does not jointly consider all levels of CG mechanisms. Our sample is composed by 176 energy companies worldwide which currently report about CSR through a sustainability report. On the basis of our findings, we could support the idea that the credibility of the CSR report of the utilities companies will be greater if the company listed in a Relation-Based country has an Assurance report. In addition, those companies that have a concentrated ownership and the fewer insiders sitting in the BoD present more probabilities of having an Assurance. Moreover, the usefulness of the CSR information provided by this kind of firms will be higher, the greater the efficiency of the BoD will be. The enhancement of the credibility and the usefulness of the information reported is essential for companies involved in this sector due to the frequent claim of window-dressing behaviours