Ana Isabel Dias

This study aims to assess the influences that blockchain technology may have on financial reporting as the first presents unique characteristics that may contribute to transparency, immutability, security, and real-time availability of the latter. Hence, 11 interviews were conducted with professionals related to professors' professionals of accounting, and specialists in blockchain technology, to collect their perceptions on the subject. It was possible to conclude that blockchain technology may influence financial reporting mainly by enhancing its reliability, a qualitative characteristic referred to in the conceptual framework for financial reporting. In turn, reliability, associated with neutrality, ensures authenticity, transparency, and confidence in the information derived from a blockchain system. This study contributes to the literature with new empirical evidence, so that the pros and cons of the adoption of this technology may change the paradigm of obtaining how financial information is analyzed in more detail.

The paradigm of corporate environmental disclosures aimed at investors developed in 2017 with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. Existing literature on social responsibility disclosures points to gender diversity on the board of directors as an influencing factor. This study aims to assess the influence of gender diversity in climate-related financial disclosures, as recommended by the TCFD based on a sample of 27 companies operating within the sectors of electricity, oil, coal and gas, water, and alternative energy that have announced their adherence to the recommendations from 2017 to 2021. By applying a linear regression model, the results indicate the presence of a positive association between the level of TCFD disclosures and board gender diversity, as well as other factors, such as company size, CEO duality, and general liquidity. However, the influence of board gender diversity on corporate reporting based on the TCFD recommendations suggests that the commitment of boards to the reporting of climate change risks and opportunities is not significantly dependent on gender diversity, as the presence of women in the Boards is favorable for the reporting but without a significant impact on the level of disclosures. This research offers insights into sustainability reporting practices, focusing on a relatively new perspective of reporting climate-related financial topics and their determinants. The findings hold implications for organizational leaders and stakeholders, mainly investors, as these recent sustainable reporting practices are challenging but also bring new opportunities related to transparency towards climate-related issues.

Recent developments related to non-financial information (NFI) reporting encourage the adoption of a long-term vision approach to sustainable development, which is also behind the definition of global citizens. In turn, the self-determination theory (SDT) describes which elements explain the students’ motivation. Using NFI as the subject and the SDT as the theoretical framework, this paper aims to identify the elements that can explain accounting students’ intrinsic motivation to learn topics related to NFI. Those elements include the different aspects that integrate the concept of a global citizen as well as sociodemographic variables. Data were gathered from a questionnaire to accounting students in Portugal. Through factorial analysis and linear regression, the findings indicate that all the elements underlying the concept of a global citizen, except empathy, are relevant in explaining students’ intrinsic motivation. Conversely, sociodemographic variables were not relevant for this purpose, which may indicate a more integrated perspective of the learning usefulness of topics related to NFI by self-identified students as global citizens. This paper provides insights into how students of an accounting course are intrinsically motivated to acquire skills in NFI reporting, which is particularly relevant to higher education institutions (HEIs), professors, students, and organizations related to accountancy education.

This study intends to provide additional evidence regarding practices of reporting based on the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, and to relate it with performance scores of reporting based on corporate social responsibility indicators. Despite the announcements of the adoption of those recommendations, the level of compliance is relatively low. Additionally, the relation with corporate social responsibility exists, but only when the comparison is with environmental disclosures. The contribution of this study is to provide evidence that the adoption of the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures is challenging because there are two perspectives for corporate reporting as the disclosure performance based on indicators of corporate social responsibility (inside-out) differs from the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (outside-in). The results may support understanding the companies' challenges in the practical implementation of the existing guidelines.

Recent developments related to non-financial information (NFI) reporting encourage the adoption of a long-term vision approach to sustainable development. In turn, the self-determination theory (SDT) describes which elements explain the students' motivation and how their skills can be better developed from their choices. Using NFI as the subject and the SDT as the theoretical framework, this chapter links both topics aiming to identify the types of students' motivation and for what specific interests are accounting students motivated to learn topics related to NFI. Data were gathered from a questionnaire. The results, using frequency and textual analyses, indicate a higher level of intrinsic motivation. Environmental and social matters are the topics of concern, while governance issues are absent. As an exploratory analysis, this chapter provides insights into how students of an accounting course are motivated to acquire skills in NFI reporting, which is particularly relevant to higher education institutions, professors, students, and organizations related to accountancy education. Request access from your librarian to read this chapter's full text.

This research analyzes the influence that the performance of GHG emissions has on the level of transparency in financial reporting. Content analysis of the financial statement notes allowed the level of transparency to be measured. The results suggest that the level of transparency in financial reporting is negatively related to the performance of GHG emissions when financial reports are prepared on the basis of the International Financial Reporting Standards. It was also concluded that more ‘good news’ is disclosed by companies when their GHG emissions’ performance reduces. This study complements previous literature about transparency in financial reporting, and the necessity to relate it to eco-efficiency measures to empower the decision-making process of stakeholders. The study also provides a reference for European accounting regulators on the behavior of companies with regard to this issue.

This research analyzes the influence that the performance of GHG emissions has on the level of transparency in financial reporting. Content analysis of the financial statement notes allowed the level of transparency to be measured. The results suggest that the level of transparency in financial reporting is negatively related to the performance of GHG emissions when financial reports are prepared on the basis of the International Financial Reporting Standards. It was also concluded that more ‘good news’ is disclosed by companies when their GHG emissions’ performance reduces. This study complements previous literature about transparency in financial reporting, and the necessity to relate it to eco-efficiency measures to empower the decision-making process of stakeholders. The study also provides a reference for European accounting regulators on the behavior of companies with regard to this issue.

This study focuses on the transparency of financial reporting on emission allowances (EA) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). In particular, the different accounting treatments adopted by standard setters and professionals were analyzed to evaluate the influence of regulation in the transparency of financial reporting on EA and GHG emissions. Based on a sample of 85 companies registered with the Portuguese, Spanish, and French National Plans of Allocation (NPAs), data collected from the annual reports were analyzed for the 2008–2014 period. The results were obtained based on descriptive, logistic regressions and panel data statistical techniques, and they show that better levels of transparency of financial reporting on EA and GHG emissions are conditioned by a variety of accounting policies, which compromises the comparability of the financial information. The adoption of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) standards set lead to a greater dispersion in the choice of the accounting approach and a higher probability of not disclosing any information, as well as adopting off-balance sheet policies. Therefore, the regulatory factor is a determinant of the level of transparency of financial reporting on EA and GHG emissions, contributing to reduce strategies of omission.