Title: Impact of firm characteristics on corporate sustainability reporting: a meta-analysis

Authors: R.N.K. Soysa; Asankha Pallegedara; A.S. Kumara; D.M. Jayasena; M.K.S.M. Samaranayake

Addresses: Faculty of Applied Sciences, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka ' Department of Industrial Management, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka ' Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka ' Department of Industrial Management, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka ' Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Business Studies and Finance, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka

Abstract: The study explores the commonly identified determinants of corporate sustainability reporting by conducting a systematic review and a meta-analysis. The systematic review conducted for 20 years from 2000 to 2019 returned a final sample of 55 empirical journal articles, and meta-analysis was performed considering effect size as correlation coefficient. The findings reveal that the frequently identified determinants in prior research were firm size, firm age, profitability and leverage, using the proxies of natural logarithm of total assets (LTA), years since establishment (YEST), return on assets (ROA) and ratio of total debt to total assets (TD/TA) respectively. Firm size reported a significant positive overall effect (0.376) on sustainability reporting (SR), irrespective of the country setting. The results suggest some policy and practical implications to policymakers and practitioners of SR.

Keywords: sustainability reporting; SR; systematic review; meta-analysis; firm attributes; correlation; subgroup analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSOC.2022.125646

International Journal of Sustainable Society, 2022 Vol.14 No.3, pp.201 - 220

Received: 07 Oct 2021
Received in revised form: 28 Apr 2022
Accepted: 29 May 2022
Published online: 18 Sep 2022 *

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