The impact of international organizations on corporate social responsibility reporting practices on the example of the United Nations Global Compact

The purpose of the conducted empirical research is to identify corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting practices applied by European companies and their relationship with the membership of companies listed under the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). The formulated research hypotheses are intended to confirm, on a large research sample, the impact of membership in the UNGC on non-financial reporting practices, such as: preparing integrated reports, reporting on sustainable development goals (SDGs)–using The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, ISO 26000 CSR guidelines as well as decisions on external assurance of sustainability reporting. The research sample includes companies operating in countries whose reports contain non-financial information published in the publicly available Global Reporting Index (GRI). A sample of 935 companies from 34 European countries has been accepted for the research. The study data and the analysis of the full versions of the non-financial statements of the research sample were derived from the Sustainability Disclosure Database. Quantitative research methods were deemed appropriate to test for the statistical significance of the relationship between the selected variables, including the Pearson chi-square. Quantitative research can provide a more systematic and rigorous way of measuring change and progress trends between different variables, which can help understand how different factors impact CSR reporting practices. It is expected that companies that have implemented CSR reporting practices aim to provide stakeholders with information about their social and environmental performance. Furthermore, this information can help stakeholders assess a company's environmental and social risk management and track progress over time and overall CSR commitment.