Non-Financial Disclosure and Corporate Financial Performance Under Directive 2014/95/EU: Evidence from Italian Listed Companies

This paper investigates the impact of Directive 2014/95/EU on both the quantity and quality of non-financial disclosure (NFD) and its relationship with corporate financial performance (CFP) in 20 Italian listed companies. The current study considers both the annual reports (AR) and social and environmental reports (SER) released two years prior (2015–2016) and two years after (2017–2018) the Directive’s application. A manual content analysis was conducted and OLS regression analyses were carried out to evaluate the relationship between NFD and CFP, measured by ROA, ROE and Tobin’s Q. The findings show that the Directive affected the quantity of NFD, but not the quality, and that a transfer of information occurred from the different reporting mediums considered. Overall, NFD quality is significant and positively associated with CFP when measured by ROA and ROE, however, the mandatory NFD quality following the Directive does not show a significant relationship with CFP

Disentangling the concept of comparability in sustainability reporting

Purpose As the comparability concept has recently garnered increased attention of policymakers and standard setters in the sustainability reporting (SR) arena, this paper aims to provide a reflexive viewpoint of this concept in this context. Design/methodology/approach To inform the authors’ viewpoint and disentangle the concept of comparability into different facets, the authors review policymakers’ and standard setters’ (including the Global reporting initiative) comparability principles, as well as relevant studies in the field. To provide insights into the different ways in which the comparability facets can be approached, the authors use multi-perspective reflexive practices and focus on the multiple purposes that reporting can serve. To empirically animate the authors’ reflection on the facets, the authors analyse the sustainability disclosures of two Italian banks over three years. Findings This study reveals that three facets form valuable starting points for extending the understanding of the meanings the comparability concept can carry in the SR arena. These facets are materiality and comparability, benchmarking/monitoring and comparability and operationalisation and comparability. Practical implications This study is intended to elicit policymakers’ and standard setters’ thoughts on the role of comparability and its complexities in SR. Social implications By taking a critical and reflexive approach, the authors encourage policymakers and standard setters to reconsider the comparability principle, so it effectively embeds the accountability purpose of SR. Originality/value In this paper, the authors propose three facets for disentangling the concept of comparability

Transcriptional activity of human endogenous retrovirus in Albanian children with autism spectrum disorders

Recent studies suggest that autism spectrum disorders (ASD) result from interactions between genetic and environmental factors, whose possible links could be represented by epigenetic mechanisms. Here, we investigated the transcriptional activity of three human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) families, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from Albanian ASD children, by quantitative real-time PCR. We aimed to confirm the different expression profile already found in Italian ASD children, and to highlight any social and family health condition emerging from information gathered through a questionnaire, to be included among environmental risk factors. The presence of increased HERV-H transcriptional activity in all autistic patients could be understood as a constant epigenetic imprinting of the disease, potentially useful for early diagnosis and for the development of effective novel therapeutic strategies

Transcriptional activity of human endogenous retrovirus in Albanian children with autism spectrum disorders

Recent studies suggest that autism spectrum disorders (ASD) result from interactions between genetic and environmental factors, whose possible links could be represented by epigenetic mechanisms. Here, we investigated the transcriptional activity of three human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) families, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from Albanian ASD children, by quantitative real-time PCR. We aimed to confirm the different expression profile already found in Italian ASD children, and to highlight any social and family health condition emerging from information gathered through a questionnaire, to be included among environmental risk factors. The presence of increased HERV-H transcriptional activity in all autistic patients could be understood as a constant epigenetic imprinting of the disease, potentially useful for early diagnosis and for the development of effective novel therapeutic strategies