An institutional theory perspective on non-financial reporting

Purpose: The paper aims to explore the impact of institutional factors on non-financial reporting in the Baltic countries. The vast majority of research in the scientific literature references practices of sustainable disclosures in developed countries with a focus on legal factors and their effect on corporate reporting. Meanwhile, there is a lack of in-depth empirical data for identifying correlations between institutional (mandatory, normative and company-specific) factors and non-financial reporting in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach: The theoretical framework of neo-institutional theory was applied to explore how the external environment affects practices of non-financial reporting in developing countries. The approach used in the paper is quantitative. Findings: The research results reveal that if companies are likely to disclose voluntarily one of non-economic aspects in their reports, they are also likely to disclose more about the other non-economic issues. However, no significant correlations were detected between the disclosure of voluntary (non-economic) and mandatory (economic) aspects. Mandatory factors promote both – economic and non-economic reporting – while normative and company-specific factors promote non-economic reporting more. Practical implications: The authors contribute to the foreign investors and practitioners by helping to better understand corporate non-financial reporting practices in post-communistic countries. Originality/value: The research adds to the growing body of research on non-financial reporting practices with particular reference to the developing Baltic context. This study also contributes to scientific literature by exploring the impact of different institutional factors to non-financial reporting in developing countries.