Sammanfattning Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om det skett en förändring i mängden redovisning av socialt och miljömässigt ansvarstagande, dvs. hållbarhetsredovisning, i årsredovisningar hos svenska börsnoterade bolag samt undersöka faktorer som kan förklara hållbarhetsredovisning. Metod: Studien har utgått från den positivistiska forskningsfilosofin och använder en deduktiv ansats. För att besvara studiens syfte har en kvantitativ metod använts genom en innehållsanalys samt hypotesprövningar. Populationen består av 142 företag 2012 samt 160 företag 2015 samtliga noterade på Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. Totalt undersöktes 302 årsredovisningar. De data som samlats in är sekundärdata och består av information från årsredovisningar, databaser samt böcker som sedan ställts mot tidigare forskning och teorier. Resultat och slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att det har skett en förändring av socialt och miljömässigt ansvarstagande i företags årsredovisningar. Vårt resultat visar att en positiv förändring av hållbarhetsredovisningen går att utläsa. Dock är denna liten. Studiens statistiska tester visar att det finns ett positivt signifikant samband mellan mängden hållbarhetsredovisning och företags storlek, lönsamhet samt år. Dessutom visar studien att företags bransch har en inverkan på redovisningen men enbart några är signifikanta. Ägarstruktur och kvinnor i styrelsen visar inget signifikant resultat med redovisningen. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studiens praktiska bidrag har kartlagt om det skett en förändring av hållbarhetsrapportering i årsredovisningen hos svenska börsnoterade bolag. Studien påvisar att en positiv förändring har skett mellan 2012 och 2015. Detta kan vara av intresse för de företag som hållbarhetsredovisar. Det teoretiska bidrag denna studie har är att den bidrar med vidare forskning kring variabler som påverkar mängden hållbarhetsredovisning, där lönsamhet och företagsstorlek har en inverkan på hållbarhetsredovisningen. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Förslag till vidare forskning är att ha ett större spann mellan åren för att tydligare kunna utläsa en förändring. Ytterligare ett förslag är att undersöka rapporteringen på företags separata hållbarhetsrapporter. Till sist ges förslaget om att göra en liknande studie när den nya lagen gällande hållbarhetsredovisning trätt i kraft och blir synlig inom rapporter. / Abstract Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine whether there has been a change in the reporting of social and environmental disclosures, i.e. sustainability reporting, in annual reports of listed swedish corporations and to examine factors that can explain the sustainability report. Method: The study is based on positivist research philosophy and uses a deductive approach. In order to achieve the aim of the study a quantitative method has been used through a content analysis and hypothesis tests. The population consist of 142 companies 2012 and 160 companies 2015, all listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. In total 302 annual reports were examined. The data that has been used are secondary data and the information from annual reports, databases as well as books was then set against previous research and theories. Results and conclusion: The result of the study shows that it has been a change in the reporting of social and environmental reporting in annual reports. Our results indicate that a positive change of sustainability reporting can be seen. However the difference is relatively small. The study’s statistical tests indicate that there is a positive significant correlation between sustainability reporting and company size, profitability and time. In addition the study shows that business sector has an impact on the sustainability reporting but only a few are significant. Ownership structure and women in the board shows no significant results with the sustainability report. Contributions of the thesis: This study's practical contribution is to chart if there has been a change over time of this reporting in the annual reports of swedish listed corporations. The study shows that there has been a change between 2012 and 2015. This result can be of interest for corporations that uses sustaniability reporting. The theoretical contribution of this study is that it contributes with further research on variables that affect the production of sustainability reporting. Where profitability and company size have an impact on this accounting method. Suggestions for further research: Suggestions for future research is to have a wider range between the years in order to be able to read a more accurate difference. Another suggestion is to investigate the reporting on companies separate sustainability reports. A further proposal is to do a similar study when the new law enters into force regarding sustainability reporting and becomes visible within the reports.

Det har blivit ett allt större fokus på företags arbete med corporate social responsibility (CSR). Denna uppsats har som syfte att studera sambandet mellan svenska allmännyttiga kommunala bostadsaktiebolags CSR-arbete och mängden CSR-upplysningar i deras årsredovisningar. Dessa bolag ska både driva sin verksamhet enligt affärsmässiga principer och ta ett samhällsansvar, vilket skiljer dem åt från bolag som tidigare har studerats. I studien undersöks 146 bolags CSR-arbete och CSR-upplysningar genom att sekundärdata från en enkätundersökning används och genom att en innehållsanalys av bolagens årsredovisningar från 2016 utförs. Sambandet mellan de två variablerna testas sedan genom en multivariat regressionsanalys, där resultatet visar på ett positivt samband mellan CSR-arbete och CSR-upplysningar. Detta resultat analyseras utifrån legitimitetsteorin och voluntary disclosure theory (VDT), och indikerar på att den senare skulle kunna förklara de allmännyttiga bolagens val vid rapportering av CSR-upplysningar i form av att bolag som utför mycket CSR-arbete vill visa upp detta för sin omgivning.

Bakgrund: Under de senaste decennierna har frivillig informationsgivning blivit vanligare. Den växande digitaliseringen, högre krav på mer informationsgivning från intressenter, ökade krav på hållbarhet samt ökade nivåer av granskning från omvärlden är några förklaringar till den ökade efterfrågan på frivillig informationsgivning. På grund av den växande efterfrågan har ämnet blivit intressant att studera. Syfte: Den här studien undersöker vilken kategori inom frivillig informationsgivning som är dominerande samt vilka likheter och skillnader det finns mellan börsnoterade och icke-börsnoterade företag när det gäller mängden av frivillig informationsgivning. Metod: Studien innefattar en kvantitativ metod där studien baseras på årsredovisningar från 2021 och urvalet består av 30 stora svenska börsnoterade och 30 stora svenska icke-börsnoterade aktiebolags årsredovisningar. Metoden som används för att analysera informationen är ett kodningsschema och chi-2-test. Resultat: Resultatet visar att den dominerande kategorin av frivilliga informationsgivning är “analys av föregående år” samt att det finns en skillnad mellan börsnoterade och icke-börsnoterade aktiebolag angående mängden frivillig informationsgivning. / Background: In recent decades, voluntary disclosure has become more common. The growing digitization, higher demands for more information from stakeholders, increased demands for sustainability and increased levels of audit from the outside world are some explanations for the increased demand of voluntary information provision. Due to the growing demand, the subject has become interesting to study. Purpose: This study investigates which category of voluntary disclosure is dominant and what similarities and differences exist between listed and non-listed companies in terms of the amount of voluntary disclosure. Method: The study includes a quantitative method where the study is based on annual reports from 2021 and the sample consists of 30 large Swedish listed and 30 large Swedish non-listed joint stock companies' annual reports. The method used to analyze the information is a coding scheme and Chi-square tests. Results: The results show that the dominant category of voluntary disclosure is "analysis of the previous year" and that there is a difference between listed and non-listed companies regarding the amount.

As the environmental crises have increased around the world in the past decades, companies have become more aware of the importance of sustainability and social responsibility. While large companies are required by law to perform sustainability reports, small companies do so on a voluntary basis. The purpose of this study is: (1) To investigate what factors affect the quantity of sustainability reporting amongst small, Swedish listed companies; and (2) To investigate how sustainability reporting has developed over the years in small, Swedish listed companies. A quantitative method with cross-sectional and longitudinal design was used in this study. Annual and/or sustainability reports and financial information from 53 companies were collected and examined. Furthermore, we conducted a content analysis with an index of keywords to quantify data from the annual and/or sustainability reports based on predetermined categories. The results show that there is a positive relationship between voluntary sustainability reporting and firm size amongst small, Swedish listed companies. No other relationships were detected in this study. The results further show a remarkable increase in sustainability reporting when studying the years of 2012, 2016 and 2020.

This paper explores the extent to which corporations currently increase the voluntary disclosures in triple bottom line (TBL) reports. Although research already has provided substantial contributions as to why and how firms apply TBL reporting, there remains limited understanding of the motivations for and against making voluntary disclosures. Drawing from literature in environmental management and accounting as well as international auditing, this work focuses on guidance, boundarysetting and external assurance for TBL reports. An inductive case study approach is applied to investigate the credibility of TBL reporting by contrasting the competing predictions from legitimacy theory and voluntary disclosure theory on voluntary disclosures. A set of firm and industry specific factors are identified that are expected to determine a firm’s level and extent of reporting. The sample comprises nine US and EU red biotechnology corporations which aligned their TBL reporting to the GRI reporting standards in at least part of their TBL reports that were published between 2000 and 2009. An initial attempt is made to systematically investigate the credibility of TBL reporting to develop the model of voluntary disclosures. The empirical findings of this case study suggest that current guidance, boundary-setting and assurance for TBL reports are not sufficient to increase the credibility, comparability and reliability of reporting. Voluntary disclosure theory can serve to provide economic motivations, while legitimacy theory is helpful to provide a legitimating motivation. The findings support the notion that the economics-based factors better explain the secrecy strategy of providing mainly soft disclosures. The increase of disclosure levels maybe is considered sufficient to respond to public pressure. This work concludes by suggesting some directions of research in the areas of boundary-setting and assurance that have academic and practical implications.

本研究以1997至2001年國內高研發密度之上市上櫃公司為研究對象，探討高研發密度公司揭露非盈餘以及智慧資本相關資訊之行為。首先探討企業揭露資訊之偏好及趨勢，再分析影響企業揭露非盈餘及智慧資本資訊頻率之因素，並探討企業股價與帳面價值間之差異及股票週轉率與企業揭露智慧資本相關資訊之關聯性。 實證結果發現，公司主動揭露與盈餘有關資訊之頻率有逐年下滑的現象，而揭露非盈餘及智慧資本相關資訊的頻率則有逐漸升高的趨勢。以分組檢定結果而言，未預期盈餘為正且幅度較大的公司在揭露智慧資本資訊方面顯著較未預期盈餘為負且幅度較大的公司積極。就影響企業揭露非盈餘以及智慧資本相關資訊之因素而言，未預期盈餘、員工每人營業利益、研發密集度，以及每人配備率與揭露非盈餘及智慧資本相關資訊之次數均呈顯著正向關係，而董監事持股比率以及用人費用率則與兩項資訊之揭露次數呈顯著負相關。 此外，屬於資訊電子業以及規模較大的公司，揭露非盈餘及智慧資本相關資訊之意願較強。就企業股價與帳面價值之差異以及股票流動性而言，資訊電子業之股價淨值比及股票週轉率均較非資訊電子業為高，策略聯盟（流程資本）資訊揭露次數與股價淨值比呈顯著正（負）向關係，新產品及策略聯盟（人力資本）資訊揭露次數則與股票週轉率呈顯著正（負）相關。 關鍵字：自願性揭露、智慧資本、市價淨值比 / Based on a sample of firm listed on TSE, this thesis investigates the voluntary disclosure behavior ofR&D intensive companies in Taiwan over the period of 1997 to 2001. With an emphasis on non-earnings and intellectual capital-related disclosure policies, we first explore the disclosure behavior in terms of frequency and type of information revealed by management. We then examine whether price-to-book (P/B) ratio and stock turnover ratio reflect the disclosure of non-earnings and intellectual capital-related information. The empirical results suggest a declining trend in disclosing earnings information, with an opposite tendency in non-earnings information over the period examined. In addition, unexpected earnings and variables proxy for intellectual capital determine the disclosure behavior of non-earnings and intellectual capital-related information. Firms with operating performance far beyond market's expectation tend to disclose more intellectual capital-related information than firms with operating performances far worse than market has expected. Variables such as operating income per employee and cost of human resource (proxies for human capital), R&D intensity (proxy for innovation capital), equipment per employee (proxy for process capital) as well as the ratio of directors' shareholding are found to be significantly related to the disclosure frequency of non-earnings and intellectual capital-related information. The findings also indicate that electronics and software industries are more likely to disclose more non-earnings and intellectual capital-related information and have higher price-to-book and stock turnover ratios as compared to other industries in the sample. Firms disclose more (less) strategic alliance (process capital) information is found to have higher price-to-book ratios. Firms disclose more (less) strategic alliance and new product (human capital) information is found to have higher stock turnover ratio. It appears that more disclosure on intellectual capital-related information does not necessarily and monotonously explain the variation in both price-to-book and stock turnover ratios. Key words: voluntary disclosure, intellectual capital, price-to-book ratio, stock turnover ratio

This thesis is a collection of three essays on hedge funds with contributions to the empirical understanding of their fees, and their voluntary disclosure of returns and assets under management, using a large consolidation of widely-employed publicly available hedge fund databases. First, time-series variation in reported fees is analysed using fund launches within hedge fund management companies, and conditioning fees at launch on fund family characteristics. Larger and better performing fund families launch high fee funds. Funds with high management fees at launch do not perform any differently from low fee funds, though funds with high incentive fees marginally outperform. An interval regression technique is proposed to overcome the discrete nature of reported fees. Secondly, the reliability of voluntary disclosures of financial information is analysed with a different measure of time-variation --- tracking changes to statements of historical performance recorded at different points in time. This uncovers evidence that historical returns are routinely revised. These revisions are not merely random or corrections of earlier mistakes; they are partly forecastable by fund characteristics. Moreover, funds that revise their performance histories, significantly and predictably underperform those that have never revised. Finally, the availability, and timing, of the selective disclosure of assets under management by funds is examined. More than a third of funds have asset records falling short of returns published. There is evidence of strategic disclosure by funds --- asset reporting drying up after times of fund stress, such as poor performance or outflows. Furthermore, investors should take heed of the greater propensity for shortfall funds to trigger fraud performance flags. These results suggest that unreliable disclosures: constitute a valuable source of information for current and potential investors; have implications for researchers; and, exhort market regulators to include assets, not just returns, in the debate around mandatory disclosure by financial institutions.

I årsredovisningar kan företag frivilligt ge ut information utöver det som krävs av regler, principer och praxis. En vanlig typ av sådan frivillig information är målsättningar av olika slag. Men varför olika företag väljer att presentera olika antal målsättningar finns det dock inget tydligt svar på. I tidigare forskning har främst finansiella mål studerats, men då dagens informationssamhälle inte bara fokuserar på finansiella resultat finns en stor del övriga mål som företags intressenter kan komma att efterfråga. Syftet med denna studie är att förklara hur många och vilka målsättningar som börsnoterade företag väljer att redovisa samt förklara vilka samband som föreligger mellan antal målsättningar och variablerna: företagsstorlek, lönsamhet, skuldsättningsgrad, Tobins q och bransch. Denna studie är utförd genom en kvantitativ metod med en deduktiv ansats. Data samlades in från årsredovisningar genom en kvantitativ innehållsanalys. För att mäta sambanden mellan studiens beroende och oberoende variabler utfördes regressions- och korrelationsanalyser. Resultatet visade att 94 % av företagen redovisade någon målsättning, 88 % redovisade finansiella mål och 66 % icke-finansiella mål. Medelantalet för finansiella mål respektive icke-finansiella var 3 per företag. Antal totala målsättningar uppvisade ett positivt samband med företagsstorlek och lönsamhet. För finansiella målsättningar fanns ett positivt samband med skuldsättningsgrad medan icke-finansiella målsättningar inte uppvisade något signifikant samband med någon av variablerna. Även skillnader mellan olika branscher uppvisades, där konsumentvaror hade högst medelvärden, medan energi hade lägst. Dessa förhållanden gällde för målsättningar totalt samt uppdelat på finansiella och icke-finansiella. / In annual reports, companies can voluntarily disclose information that go beyond what rules, guidelines and praxis require. One kind of voluntary disclosure that is commonly occurring is different targets. But there is no distinct explanation to why different companies disclose different number of targets. The subject of earlier studies has mainly been financial targets, but in today’s information society financial results isn’t the only focus. Therefore, stakeholders may also be demanding non-financial information and targets. The aim of this study is to explain the number of and which targets listed companies choose to disclose. The aim is also to explain if the number of targets correlates with the variables: company size, profitability, leverage, Tobin’s q and industry. This study was executed through a quantitative method with a deductive approach. Data was collected from annual reports using a quantitative content analysis. To measure the correlation between the study’s dependent and independent variables, both regression and correlation analysis were performed. The result showed that 94 % of the companies disclosed some kind of target, 88 % disclosed financial targets and 66 % non-financial targets. The average number of financial targets was three per company, likewise for the non-financial targets. The number of targets in total proved to be positively correlated with company size and profitability. The financial targets proved to be positively correlated with leverage, while the non-financial targets didn’t show any significant correlation with any of the variables. Differences between industries were also shown, where consumer goods had the highest mean values, while energy had the lowest. These conditions did apply for the number of targets in total, financial targets and non-financial targets.

Introduction - Sustainability reporting is becoming more and more important for businesses all around the world. Extant empirical literature investigating the relationship between family status and sustainability reporting provides inconclusive results. No previous studies investigated this association in the Swedish setting. Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate how family control and influence affects sustainability reporting behavior of Swedish listed firms. Theoretical framework – Sustainability disclosures are considered as effective means for companies to communicate with their stakeholders. Family firms are more concerned about their internal and external stakeholders in order to protect family’s socioemotional endowments. Methodology design – We use panel data on Swedish listed firms over the period of 2008-2015. We analyze data with random-effects ordered probit regression for panel data. Empirical findings - When we treat all family firms as homogenous, there are no statistically significant differences in the levels of reports of family and non-family firms. However, when we take into account internal contexts of family firms, we find that a family member(s) in top management or a family CEO make family firms more transparent about their sustainability performance. Conclusion – We document that presence of a family top manager(s) or of a family CEO is associated with higher level of details of sustainability reports. Family top managers are more likely to be concerned about internal and external stakeholders to preserve the family’s SEW.

O presente estudo investiga qual o efeito que a divulgação de empresas solidárias apoiadoras e da remuneração de dirigentes de Organizações Sem Fins Lucrativos (OSFL) possui na decisão sobre o volume de contribuição e na propensão de doar futuramente por parte do doador individual. O estudo é consubstanciado em pesquisas desenvolvidas por Balsam e Harris (2014) e de Galle e Walker (2013) que encontraram evidências de que doadores reduzem as contribuições subsequente à divulgação, por parte da OSFL, de alta remuneração do dirigente; e, em pesquisa desenvolvida no Brasil por IDIS e Gallup (2016), que relatam a falta de confiança como um dos principais motivos para que doadores deixem de contribuir para as OSFL. Este estudo pressupõe que, divulgar empresas solidárias apoiadoras da OSFL gera compliance, um dos principais elementos de influência social citado por Cialdini e Trost (1998) sobre o doador, levando-o a perceber a OSFL como monitorada e, com maior confiança de que a organização cumpre a missão social para a qual se destina, reduzindo o efeito adverso ocasionado da divulgação pela própria OSFL de valores elevados de remuneração do dirigente. O procedimento metodológico para coleta de dados ocorreu por meio de um experimento, com 140 participantes estudantes de pós-graduação lato sensu em Ciências Contábeis da Universidade Federal do Paraná. Encontraram-se evidências de que o disclosure voluntário pela OSFL de empresa solidária apoiadora possui efeito positivo significativo na propensão de contribuição futura do doador individual, assim como o disclosure da remuneração do dirigente e da empresa solidária apoiadora, de forma interativa, conduz à maior probabilidade de doação futura pelo doador individual. Esperava-se que a divulgação da empresa solidária apoiadora apenas, ou essa em conjunto com a informação de menor remuneração do dirigente gerassem maiores volumes de contribuições pelo doador, contudo, não foram obtidas evidências empíricas que suportem as referidas hipóteses. Os achados também não confirmaram a hipótese de que, divulgados maiores valores da remuneração do dirigente seriam reduzidos o volume de contribuição e a propensão de doação futura. Os resultados implicam que a divulgação da empresa solidária apoiadora pela OSFL suscita uma resposta por parte do doador em relação à probabilidade de doar futuramente em consonância à comunicação explícita da organização, neste caso a solicitação de doação, possivelmente ocorrendo o compliance como forma de influência social de direcionamento pela figura de autoridade legítima exercida pela empresa solidária apoiadora. Isto ocorre inclusive quando a divulgação é realizada em conjunto com a remuneração do dirigente, indicando a relevância do disclosure voluntário por parte das OSFL na captação de recursos. Desta forma, este estudo amplia os conhecimentos sobre o disclosure voluntário em OSFL, principalmente relacionado à divulgação da empresa solidária apoiadora como fonte de autoridade legítima e do efeito de compliance sobre o doador individual. / This study investigates the effect of disclosure of Influential Institutional Partners and senior management\'s compensation on individuals\' decisions to donate for non-profit organizations (NPOs). Prior research (Balsam & Harris, 2014; Galle & Walker, 2013) indicate that donors reduce donations after the disclosure of senior manager\'s high compensation by the NPOs, and in the Brazilian setting (IDIS & Gallup, 2016), lack of trust is one of the main reported reasons for donors to stop contributions for NPOs. Based on the literature on social influence, this study argues that the Influential Institutional Partner\'s disclosure increases the donors\' compliance with the NPOs (Cialdini & Trost, 1998). This behaviour should lead donors to conclude that the NPO is an entity under monitoring, and drive higher trust that the organization reaches the social mission for which it is intended, reducing the adverse effect caused by the disclosure of senior management\'s high compensation. The experimental is conducted with 140 graduate accounting students at the Federal University of Parana (UFPR). The results indicate that NPOs voluntary disclosure has a significant positive effect on the individual donors\' propensity of future donations, as does, interactively, the disclosure of senior management\' compensation and of the Influential Institutional Partners. However, no empirical evidence was found supporting the main or interactive effects of disclosure of Influential Institutional Partners and senior management\'s compensation on donors contribution\'s amount. Findings also did not confirm that disclosure of senior management\'s higher compensation result in lower propensity of future donations by individual donors. The results imply that the Influential Institutional Partner\'s disclosure by NPOs drives a response from donors with respect to the probability of making future donations in accordance with explicit communications by the organization, leading to the compliance as a form of social influence, exerted by the legitimate authority figure represented by the Influential Institutional Partner. This also happen when the disclosure is made in conjunction with senior management\'s compensation, indicating the relevance of the NPO\'s voluntary disclosure in fundraising. This study broadens the knowledge on voluntary disclosure by NPOs, in particular about the Influential Institutional Partner\' disclosure as a source of legitimate authority, and the effect of compliance on individual donors.