Do institutional investors drive corporate transparency regarding business contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals?

Abstract

Institutional investors show increasing interest in how companies align their corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations (UN). The information disclosed in this regard is essential to know and monitor business contribution to the 2030 Agenda. In this paper we analyze the influence that institutional investors have on the adoption of the disclosure strategy established by UN and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) - GRI-SDG Compass - by companies. The results obtained for a sample of 989 international companies, which prepare their sustainability reports according to the GRI, show that ownership by foreign investors, pension funds and “other” investors boosts the relevance of the information disclosed in relation to the 2030 Agenda. On the contrary, government, financial institutions and cross-holdings have no impact on the information systems developed in this regard.