The global reporting initiative and the quest for a conceptual framework

Citation

(2010), "The global reporting initiative and the quest for a conceptual framework", International Journal of Accounting & Information Management, Vol. 18 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijaim.2010.36618aad.019

The global reporting initiative and the quest for a conceptual framework

Article Type: AMIS statement and abstracts From: International Journal of Accounting and Information Management, Volume 18, Issue 1

Abstract

This paper aims to produce an original model distilling a conceptual framework for sustainability reporting. Two levels of information reliability are described, derived mainly from accounting conceptual frameworks, and global reporting initiative (GRI) guidelines. We follow an inductive approach: we analyze the qualitative characteristics of specific environmental indicators, in order to assess the degree of relevance and reliability of each particular provision. We will finally make an attempt to derive the objective of sustainability reporting, while evaluating the degree of usefulness of this type of documents that closely follow the more formalized process of financial reporting. We conclude that there are a number of reasons for not reporting; most of these are related to internal data reliability. Hence, stakeholders cannot distinguish between different types of data unreliability; and the GRI does little on this matter.

Keywords Sustainability, Accounting conceptual framework, Corporate reporting, GRI, Stakeholder theory

Voicu Dan Dragomir

The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania

Corresponding author

Voicu Dan Dragomir can be contacted at: voicudragomir@gmail.com