The adoption of the materiality concept in social and environmental reporting assurance: A field study approach

Edgley, Carla; Jones, Michael; Atkins, Jill

doi:10.1016/j.bar.2014.11.001

Cited by 134 publications

(172 citation statements)

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“…Little attention has been given to the growing prominence of materiality analysis by academic literature. The concept of materiality has been borrowed from the field of accounting, where it is fundamental to the production of financial reports and accounts (Edgley et al , ). In the financial context, materiality is used to determine whether an item is significant enough to be included in a financial report.…”

Section: Measuring Sustainability – Indicator Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prioritizing Sustainability Indicators: Using Materiality Analysis to Guide Sustainability Assessment and Strategy

Whitehead

2016

Bus Strat Env

106

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Despite the growing awareness of complexity in sustainable development, the practical implementation of sustainability assessment through the use of sustainability indicators requires prioritizing the myriad indicators available. This study identifies the highest priority sustainability indicators for the New Zealand wine industry using materiality analysis. Thirteen information sources representative of different stakeholder perspectives considered to drive the need for sustainability assessment are analysed to provide a measure of sustainability issue salience and risk. Based on a meta‐analysis of relevant information, it is found that environmental issues make up the highest priority issues, followed by social issues relating primarily to worker wellbeing. Significantly, economic and governance issues were not found to be high priorities. These findings are discussed in the context of the common bias in agricultural sustainability assessment towards environmental issues, and the broader business implications for sustainability assessment, strategy and policy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

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Section: Measuring Sustainability – Indicator Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prioritizing Sustainability Indicators: Using Materiality Analysis to Guide Sustainability Assessment and Strategy

Whitehead

2016

Bus Strat Env

106

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“…Non financial information materiality is a relatively understudied research theme, but some studies provide relevant insight on the matter, such as those by Edgley et al . (); Catasus (); Deegan and Rankin (); Edgley () and Messier et al . ().…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering Stakeholder Engagement: The Role of Materiality Disclosure in Integrated Reporting

2016

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This paper studies the determinants of materiality disclosure among International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) Pilot Program companies implementing the IIRC Framework. In other words, it studies which variables influence the way in which such companies provides information about their materiality determination process. In order to test our hypotheses we performed a number of statistical analyses on a unique hand‐collected dataset including IIRC and non‐IIRC Pilot Program companies for the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years. Our results indicate that industry and some firm‐level characteristics (board size and diversity) do play a significant role in the determination of materiality disclosure, whereas the legal environment in which companies operate does not. Also, we found that IIRC Pilot Program companies disclosed more information about materiality than their competitors that did not join the program. This paper provides interesting insights for policy makers (in particular, the IIRC) and extends previous academic literature on integrated reporting. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

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“…However, the relative importance of nonfinancial information might vary more drastically between individual firms or between industries (Eccles and Serafeim 2013) as well as different reporting standards including their assessment logics employed (Edgley et al 2015). Thus, existing literature already pointed out that considerable attention has to be paid on this determination of materiality in such relevant fields of nonfinancial reporting as sustainability reporting, integrated reporting or the provision of nonfinancial KPIs based on Art.…”

Section: Introduction and Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

In search of materiality for nonfinancial information—reporting requirements of the Directive 2014/95/EU

Baumüller

Schaffhauser-Linzatti

2018

NachhaltigkeitsManagementForum

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Materiality of disclosures is one of the fundamental principles of the nonfinancial reporting regime introduced by the Directive 2014/95/EU ("NFI Directive"). However, despite its close link to the principle of materiality for financial reporting, specific issues arise in the context of these new reporting requirements-leading to a conception that is different also from existing definitions in the field of similar reporting practices. Furthermore, there are different types of "materialities" to be found within the Directive itself. So far, this topic has not been addressed systematically in literature, leaving many questions open and causing confusion by both preparers and readers on nonfinancial reports. Consequently, this paper identifies and links the various types of materiality by analysing, contextualizing and interpreting the relevant sections of the Directive 2014/95/EU and other reporting frameworks. It is shown that despite the expectations of many, with regards to materiality, the reporting requirements of the Directive 2014/95/EU are closer to integrated reporting than it is to sustainability reporting.Wesentlichkeit(en) in der nichtfinanziellen Berichterstattung -Eine Analyse der Berichtspflichten gemäß Richtlinie 2014/95/EU Zusammenfassung Der Wesentlichkeitsgrundsatz stellt innerhalb der durch die Richtlinie 2014/95/EU ("NFI-Richtlinie") eingeführten Berichtspflichten einen zentralen Grundsatz dar. Obschon er in diesem Kontext eine enge Verknüpfung zum Verständnis von Wesentlichkeit im Rahmen der Finanzberichterstattung aufweist, stellen sich doch auch spezifische Herausforderungen des neuen Kontextes -was zu einem erforderlichen Begriffsverständnis führt, das sich von den bisher vorzufindenden vertretenen Auslegungen von Wesentlichkeit unterscheidet. Darüber hinaus zeigt sich Wesentlichkeit sogar innerhalb der neu eingeführten Berichtspflichten in mitunter unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen. Die Vielzahl an damit verbundenen (Auslegungs-)Fragen wurde jedoch von der Literatur noch nicht aufgegriffen, wodurch offene Fragen und v.a. Verunsicherung aufseiten der Berichtersteller und -adressaten verbleiben. Folglich zielt dieser Aufsatz darauf, die verschiedenen Ausprägungen von Wesentlichkeit im Kontext der Richtlinie 2014/95/EU wie auch in Abgrenzung zu anderen Berichtsvorgaben zu identifizieren und zu verbinden. Das Ergebnis zeigt zur Überraschung vieler, dass die Vorgaben dieser Richtlinie von einer stärkeren Anlehnung an das Konzept des Integrated Reporting denn an eine traditionell verstandene Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung geprägt sind.

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The adoption of the materiality concept in social and environmental reporting assurance: A field study approach

Cited by 134 publications

References 38 publications

Prioritizing Sustainability Indicators: Using Materiality Analysis to Guide Sustainability Assessment and Strategy

Prioritizing Sustainability Indicators: Using Materiality Analysis to Guide Sustainability Assessment and Strategy

Fostering Stakeholder Engagement: The Role of Materiality Disclosure in Integrated Reporting

In search of materiality for nonfinancial information—reporting requirements of the Directive 2014/95/EU

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