Sustainability reporting in the Austrian, German and Swiss public sector
International Journal of Public Sector Management
ISSN: 0951-3558
Article publication date: 11 May 2015
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent public sector entities in Austria, Germany and Switzerland apply sustainability reporting (SR) guidelines in line with the global reporting initiative (GRI) to respond to societal pressure. It further assesses the kind of data reported in order to illuminate whether well-balanced share of economic, environmental and social information are provided.
Design/methodology/approach
This study provides an empirical analysis of SR based on a documentary analysis of external reports by public sector organisations (PSO) included in the GRI’s database for the years 2012-2014.
Findings
PSO applying the GRI guidelines comply to a relatively great extent but show considerable variations and a clear imbalance of information reported concerning the three pillars of sustainable development.
Originality/value
The paper offers insight into GRI reporting practices by PSO in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Additionally, a country and sector comparison was conducted. As previous studies mostly focus on SR in private corporations, the results contribute to advancing research on SR in the public sector where PSO increasingly have to demonstrate their (sustainable) contributions to the public benefit.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The paper has greatly profited from the very helpful comments given by the participants of the EURAM Mini-Conference 2015, and the very constructive comments provided by the editors of the special issue and the reviewers.
Citation
Greiling, D., Traxler, A.A. and Stötzer, S. (2015), "Sustainability reporting in the Austrian, German and Swiss public sector", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 28 No. 4/5, pp. 404-428. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-04-2015-0064
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited