The growing attention to social, environmental and governance issues has increased the pressure on companies to disclose information that goes beyond the financial aspects. In this scenario, integrated reporting (IR), represents a tool able to bridge the information gap, through a focus on the financial and non-financial aspects, on the existing interconnections between the different business dynamics and on the ability of the company to create value in the short, medium and long term. Several aspects of integrated reporting have been studied in the academic field. However, no study has investigated the level of alignment of integrated reports with the <IR> framework. This study aims to fill this gap, first of all developing an adequate measure to assess the level of compliance with the <IR> framework and secondly investigating some determinants of the alignment level. The results show first of all, on average, a high level of compliance of the integrated reports analysed with the <IR> framework and, secondly, they show a positive and significant impact of the firm size and of the industry environmental sensitivity on the level of alignment. This is the first study that investigates the determinants of the level of alignment of the integrated reports with the <IR> framework.

In recent years, corporate disclosure policies have undergone important changes due mainly to greater requests from stakeholders and the presence of limited resources. Companies are forced to rethink their disclosure strategies and the way they communicate to the outside, in order to increase transparency and meet the needs of their stakeholders. In this context, Integrated Reporting (IR), developed by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), represents a new way to provide, in a single document, interconnected information on strategies, risks, performance, governance and future prospects. In the development process of this reporting tool, South Africa played an important role. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the level of alignment of integrated reports with the IIRC framework in the South African contest. The results show first of all that South African companies provide integrated reports with high levels of alignment with the IIRC framework. Secondly, the analysis of the determinants shows how firm size, firm profitability and financial leverage positively affect the level of compliance of the integrated reports with the IIRC requirements.

According to the legitimacy theory, disclosure can be considered as a tool for responding to the changing perceptions of a company's stakeholders. Based on this theory, this study, through a case study, examines the reaction of companies in terms of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure to catastrophic events that have a negative effect on the corporate image. Specifically, this study examines the integrated reports provided by Atlantia in the two years preceding the collapse of the Morandi bridge and in the year of the catastrophic event. The results, however, do not demonstrate significant changes to the ESG disclosure by Atlantia following the catastrophic event. The changes made can in fact be considered as a normal evolution of disclosure policies and not as an attempt to repair the lost legitimacy.