Shaping Sustainability: Key Influencers of GRI Reporting Among Germany's Top Firms

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ABSTRACT This paper explores the evolving patterns in sustainability reporting in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards among DAX 40 firms as well as the company‐specific factors that influence it from 2021 to 2023. Its objective is to examine how firm attributes like financial leverage, financial strength, profitability, age, and size impact both the depth and quality of GRI‐compliant sustainability disclosures. The study adopts a mixed‐methods approach, combining bibliometric analysis, content analysis, and empirical investigation to achieve a comprehensive and innovative understanding of reporting practices within the DAX 40 index. Employing random‐effects regression models alongside a panel dataset comprising 95 firm‐year observations, the research finds that firms' financial strength, profitability, age, and size are all positively associated with more extensive and higher‐quality sustainability reporting, but financial leverage does not exhibit such a relationship. The results suggest that large, old, and financially robust firms are more inclined to produce thorough and well‐structured sustainability reports, driven by heightened stakeholder expectations and growing regulatory demands. From a practical standpoint, the findings have meaningful implications for corporations, investors, and policymakers interested in the advancement of sustainability reporting in the German financial market. Moreover, the study contributes to the literature by presenting a longitudinal firm‐level analysis of trends in GRI reporting among DAX 40 firms.

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