INFORMATIONAL QUALITY SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING OF AWARD-WINNING COM- PANIES FOR ITS PRACTICES OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY: AN ANALYSIS BASED ON INDICATORS OF THE ONU

Resumen

Given the importance of the Sustainability Report as an instrument of management and disclosure of investments and actions taken by companies in the socio-environmental area, this study aims to analyze the information quality of Sustainability Reporting (SR) for the period 2007 to 2009, published by companies recognized for their practice of environmental responsibility, based on the indicators of corporate social responsibility of the UN. This is a descriptive study, qualitative and quantitative in nature, bringing a sample of 25 companies awarded in Guia Exame 2009 Sustainability Award or the winners of ECO prize from AMCHAM and the journal Valor Econômico (2007, 2008 and 2009. The information quality of RS was investigated by the technique of content analysis and measured as indicators of the UN. For statistical evaluation we used the cluster analysis. The results show that the categories of the UNâs Guide that had the highest levels of disclosure in the period studied are Technology and Human Resources Development, Health and Safety and Contributions to Government and Society at the expense of Information on corruption, which represent the lower incidence of disclosure, possibly because they express negative externalities of business. In cluster analysis, we found that most companies ranked in cluster 2 (moderate disclosure), representing 76% of firms. Already five companies, equivalent to 20%, were classified in cluster 1 (low disclosure) and only one in cluster 3 (high disclosure), which shows that even companies regarded as a benchmark for its socially responsible practices have a long way to go towards transparency and quality of disclosure of their social and environmental practices.