Have labour practices and human rights disclosures enhanced corporate accountability? The case of the GRI framework

Article

Parsa, S., Roper, I., Muller-Camen, M. and Szigetvari, E. 2018. Have labour practices and human rights disclosures enhanced corporate accountability? The case of the GRI framework. Accounting Forum. 42 (1), pp. 47-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accfor.2018.01.001
TypeArticle
TitleHave labour practices and human rights disclosures enhanced corporate accountability? The case of the GRI framework
AuthorsParsa, S., Roper, I., Muller-Camen, M. and Szigetvari, E.
Abstract

This paper critically evaluates Transnational Corporations’ (TNCs) claimed adherence to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)´s ‘labour’ and ‘human rights’ reporting guidelines and examines how successful the GRI has been in enhancing comparability and transparency. We found limited evidence of TNCs discharging their accountability to their workforce and, rather, we found evidence to suggest that disclosure was motivated more by enhancing their legitimacy. TNCs failed to adhere to the guidelines, which meant that material information items were often missing, rendering comparability of information meaningless. Instead, TNCs reported large volumes of generic/anecdotal information without acknowledging the impediments they faced in practice.

PublisherElsevier
JournalAccounting Forum
ISSN0155-9982
Electronic1467-6303
Publication dates
Online20 Jan 2018
Print01 Mar 2018
Online18 Feb 2019
Publication process dates
Deposited15 Jan 2018
Accepted14 Jan 2018
Output statusPublished
Publisher's version
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Accepted author manuscript
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Copyright Statement

© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/).

Web address (URL)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0155998217300236
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accfor.2018.01.001
LanguageEnglish
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