THE ROLE OF GRAPHS IN ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURES: AN EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM TURKEY

Abstract

Companies voluntarily disclose environmental information in their reports to send messages about their social and environmental actions and monitor and evaluate environmental risk factors by using many ways. Graphs in corporate reports are one of the most powerful communication tools which convey sustainability performance-related information- economic, social and environmental information to the stakeholders. The purpose of the study is to investigate how environmental issues are disclosed in graphs as a way of communication channel used in sustainability reports of a developing country, Turkey and to determine how the extend of environmental disclosure in graphs are related to size, ROA, ROE and ESG (environmental, social and governance) scores. The sample consists of firms listed on the Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Sustainability Index. Listed companies? sustainability reports for the year of 2018 are analyzed. Total 275 graphs in sustainability reports of the selected companies were examined by descriptive analysis and the correlation and regression analysis were used to statistically test the relationship between environmental disclosure and size, ROA, ROE and ESG performance. The findings indicated that there is a negative correlation between size and the amount of environmental disclosure in graphs. ROE, ROA and ESG performance do not have any significant association with graphical disclosure level.