Publication: How Do Multinationals Report Their Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts?: Evidence from Global Reporting Initiative Data
Loading...
Files in English
555 downloads
Date
2017-12
ISSN
Published
2017-12
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This paper examines the role of multinational enterprises in sustainability reporting. The study assesses how multinational enterprise status correlates with a company's average disclosure rate and probability of reporting on economic, labor and social, environmental, and governance indicators. It uses a unique data set that offers company-level information on sustainability reporting from the Global Reporting Initiative, which covers 2,020 companies in 81 countries and 54 sustainability indicators. The summary statistics show that multinational enterprises and large domestic companies have higher average disclosure rates than small and medium-size enterprises. However, the econometric analysis suggests that multinational enterprise status does not matter for the average disclosure rate, but company size shows a strongly positive correlation. Differentiating by type of multinational enterprise reveals that the relationship becomes positive and significant for private companies. By contrast, the correlation between multinational enterprise status and the average disclosure rate does not vary by listing status, sector, region, or income level. Focusing on the relationship by development category also shows no significant correlation. Finally, accounting for the heterogeneity of the sustainability indicators, the study analyzes the relationship between multinational enterprise status and the probability of disclosure at the detailed indicator level, and confirms a significant correlation for 12 indicators.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Winkler, Deborah. 2017. How Do Multinationals Report Their Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts?: Evidence from Global Reporting Initiative Data. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8274. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29010 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication The Future of Poverty(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-07-15)Climate change is increasingly acknowledged as a critical issue with far-reaching socioeconomic implications that extend well beyond environmental concerns. Among the most pressing challenges is its impact on global poverty. This paper projects the potential impacts of unmitigated climate change on global poverty rates between 2023 and 2050. Building on a study that provided a detailed analysis of how temperature changes affect economic productivity, this paper integrates those findings with binned data from 217 countries, sourced from the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform. By simulating poverty rates and the number of poor under two climate change scenarios, the paper uncovers some alarming trends. One of the primary findings is that the number of people living in extreme poverty worldwide could be nearly doubled due to climate change. In all scenarios, Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to bear the brunt, contributing the largest number of poor people, with estimates ranging between 40.5 million and 73.5 million by 2050. Another significant finding is the disproportionate impact of inequality on poverty. Even small increases in inequality can lead to substantial rises in poverty levels. For instance, if every country’s Gini coefficient increases by just 1 percent between 2022 and 2050, an additional 8.8 million people could be pushed below the international poverty line by 2050. In a more extreme scenario, where every country’s Gini coefficient increases by 10 percent between 2022 and 2050, the number of people falling into poverty could rise by an additional 148.8 million relative to the baseline scenario. These findings underscore the urgent need for comprehensive climate policies that not only mitigate environmental impacts but also address socioeconomic vulnerabilities.Publication Exports, Labor Markets, and the Environment(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-07-14)What is the environmental impact of exports? Focusing on 2000–20, this paper combines customs, administrative, and census microdata to estimate employment elasticities with respect to exports. The findings show that municipalities that faced increased exports experienced faster growth in formal employment. The elasticities were 0.25 on impact, peaked at 0.4, and remained positive and significant even 10 years after the shock, pointing to a long and protracted labor market adjustment. In the long run, informal employment responds negatively to export shocks. Using a granular taxonomy for economic activities based on their environmental impact, the paper documents that environmentally risky activities have a larger share of employment than environmentally sustainable ones, and that the relationship between these activities and exports is nuanced. Over the short run, environmentally risky employment responds more strongly to exports relative to environmentally sustainable employment. However, over the long run, this pattern reverses, as the impact of exports on environmentally sustainable employment is more persistent.Publication The Macroeconomic Implications of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Options(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-29)Estimating the macroeconomic implications of climate change impacts and adaptation options is a topic of intense research. This paper presents a framework in the World Bank's macrostructural model to assess climate-related damages. This approach has been used in many Country Climate and Development Reports, a World Bank diagnostic that identifies priorities to ensure continued development in spite of climate change and climate policy objectives. The methodology captures a set of impact channels through which climate change affects the economy by (1) connecting a set of biophysical models to the macroeconomic model and (2) exploring a set of development and climate scenarios. The paper summarizes the results for five countries, highlighting the sources and magnitudes of their vulnerability --- with estimated gross domestic product losses in 2050 exceeding 10 percent of gross domestic product in some countries and scenarios, although only a small set of impact channels is included. The paper also presents estimates of the macroeconomic gains from sector-level adaptation interventions, considering their upfront costs and avoided climate impacts and finding significant net gross domestic product gains from adaptation opportunities identified in the Country Climate and Development Reports. Finally, the paper discusses the limits of current modeling approaches, and their complementarity with empirical approaches based on historical data series. The integrated modeling approach proposed in this paper can inform policymakers as they make proactive decisions on climate change adaptation and resilience.Publication The Asymmetric Bank Distress Amplifier of Recessions(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-07-11)One defining feature of financial crises, evident in U.S. and international data, is asymmetric bank distress—concentrated losses on a subset of banks. This paper proposes a model in which shocks to borrowers’ productivity dispersion lead to asymmetric bank losses. The framework exhibits a “bank distress amplifier,” exacerbating economic downturns by causing costly bank failures and raising uncertainty about the solvency of banks, thereby pushing banks to deleverage. Quantitative analysis shows that the bank distress amplifier doubles investment decline and increases the spread by 2.5 times during the Great Recession compared to a standard financial accelerator model. The mechanism helps explain how a seemingly small shock can sometimes trigger a large crisis.Publication Impact of Heat Waves on Learning Outcomes and the Role of Conditional Cash Transfers(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-07-14)This paper evaluates the impact of higher temperatures on learning outcomes in Peru. The results suggest that 1 degree above 20°C is equivalent to 7 and 6 percent of a standard deviation of what a student learns in a year for math and reading tests, respectively. These results hold true when the main specification is changed, splitting the sample, collapsing the data at school level, and using other climate specifications. The paper aims to improve understanding of how to deal with the impacts of climate change on learning outcomes in developing countries. The evidence suggests that conditional cash transfer programs can mitigate the negative effects of higher temperatures on students’ learning outcomes in math and reading.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Impact of the World Bank Group's Social and Environmental Policies on Extractive Companies and Financial Institutions : Phase One(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-06)The World Bank Group (WBG) has emerged as a standard bearer that members of the international corporate community assess themselves against, often regardless of whether they are involved in a direct funding relationship. For example, a trend has been noted that some extractive industry companies, who, for the most part are not direct recipients of WBG assistance, are changing the way they do business and adopting practices that follow social and environmental guidelines similar to those prescribed by the World Bank. This research effort, commissioned by the WBG's Extractive Industry Review Secretariat, examined a number of extractive companies, and the private financial partners and export credit agencies that finance them, to ascertain the impact - if any - the WBG guidelines are having on their environmental and social policies and practices. Research was focused in particular on smaller exploration and production companies which are not direct clients of the WBG. Key findings indicate that WBG policy impacts on small Exploration & Production (E&P) companies appear indirect and minimal, and that the WBG appears to have a more significant and direct impact on private financial partner and Export Credit Agency (ECA) environmental and social initiatives.Publication Inclusive States : Social Policy and Structural Inequalities(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008)This series New Frontiers of Social Policy aims to promote social development through systematic attention to the underlying social context and the social outcomes of development interventions and public policy. It compels the reader to think of social policy in terms of increasing access to productive assets, infrastructure, and goods and services; strengthening governance and accountability; enabling the rights and obligations of citizens to promote equitable access to development opportunities; and managing the social dimensions of conflict, natural disasters, and climate change. It recognizes the central role of social policy in ensuring that development policies and programs are sustainable. This book series has been conceived and produced for the broader development community, rather than for social policy specialists alone. This book places particular emphasis on, and attempts to overcome, the underlying causes of structural inequalities whereby social groups based on ethnicity, race, tribe, gender, or cultural differences are systematically disadvantaged compared with other groups with which they coexist. These inequalities prevent many developing countries from realizing their full potential and may undermine the sustainability of development outcomes.Publication Towards Sustainable Mineral-Intensive Growth in Orissa : Managing Environmental and Social Impacts(Washington, DC, 2007-05-30)The study's objective was to support the socio-economic development program of the Government of Orissa by helping to analyze and formulate practical strategies for strengthening an institutional and regulatory framework with respect to managing the environmental and social impacts of investments in the mining and industry sectors. This study, conducted for about a year, focused on two sets of issues: (i) the need to create mechanisms to share the concentrated benefits of mineral-intensive investments across the community, and (ii) the need to address the externalities of accelerated mineral-intensive through improved enforcement and compliance of environmental and mining regulations. Significant attention was given to the capacity needs of the Orissa Pollution Control Board (OPCB), as the main agency to monitor and enforce compliance with environmental regulations and standards. This analytical work was undertaken with strong support from the Department of Environment (DOE), the Orissa Pollution Control Board (OPCB), Department of Steel and Mines (DoS&M), and the Department of Industry (DoI).Publication The Environmental Implications of Privatization : Lessons for Developing Countries(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002-04)Governments worldwide have increasingly recognized the economic potential and fiscal advantages of privatization. What is less well recognized is that, under the right conditions, privatization can also yield environmental benefits and contribute to sustainable development. This report reviews a number of case studies to draw lessons about the environmental implications of privatization. It emphasizes that privatization offers an opportunity for making strategic decisions with longer-term impacts; streses that integrating environmental and social considerations into the privatization process leads to better, more sustainable outcomes; and recommends approaches to building on the positive linkages between privatization and environmental protection.Publication Financing the Environment : Ukraine's Road to Effective Environmental Management(Washington, DC, 2003-02)This study presents a detailed analysis of the system of environmental expenditure in Ukraine with a particular focus on public expenditures. It examines the extent to which the present system meets national environmental objectives and identifies ways in which it can be improved and made more cost-effective. Since environmental spending is closely tied to sources of environmental revenues (partly a result of earmarking and partly because of the regulatory role that pollution charges and fines play), this review also covers revenue issues. The study is based on international systems of environmental accounting established by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Algeria Economic Update, Spring 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-06-26)This Algeria Economic Update reports on the main recent economic developments and policies. It places them in a global and longer-term context and assesses the implications of these developments and policy changes for Algeria’s economic prospects. The report is intended for a broad audience, including policymakers, business leaders, financial market participants, and the community of analysts and professionals working in/on Algeria. The report is divided into two chapters. Chapter 1 presents macroeconomic developments in Algeria over the year 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, while Chapter 2 describes the short- and medium-term outlook for the Algerian economy.Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Commodity Markets Outlook, October 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-29)Commodity prices are expected to decrease by 5 percent in 2025 and 2 percent in 2026. The projected declines are led by oil prices but tempered by price increases for natural gas and a stable outlook for metals and agricultural raw materials. The possibility of escalating conflict in the Middle East represents a substantial near-term upside risk to energy prices, with potential knock-on consequences for other commodities. However, over the forecast horizon, longer-term dynamics—including decelerating global oil demand, diversifying oil production, and ample oil supply capacity—suggest sizable downside risks to oil prices, especially if OPEC+ unwinds its latest production cuts. There are also dual risks to industrial commodity demand stemming from economic activity. On the one hand, concerted stimulus in China and above-trend growth in the United States could push commodity prices higher. On the other, weaker-than-anticipated global industrial activity could dampen them. Following several overlapping global shocks in the early 2020s, which drove parallel swings in commodity prices, commodity markets appear to be departing from a period of tight synchronization. A Special Focus analyzes commodity price synchronization over time and considers the relative importance across commodity cycles of a wide range of demand and supply shocks, including global demand shocks and shocks specific to different commodity markets. It concludes that, while supply shocks were the dominant commodity price driver in the early 2000s and around the global financial crisis, post-pandemic price movements have been more substantially shaped by commodity-specific shocks, such as those related to conflicts.