Reporting What Matters, or Reporting What Looks Good? Materiality and Balance in Post–Rana Plaza Apparel Sustainability Disclosure
何が重要かを報告するのか、それとも良く見えることを報告するのか？ラナプラザ後のアパレル持続可能性開示における重要性とバランス (AI 翻訳)
Mahsa Mohammadrezaei, José Carlos Marques
🤖 gxceed AI 要約
日本語
本研究は、ラナプラザ事故後のアパレル企業322件のサステナビリティ報告書を分析。SASB基準とのテーマ整合性とVADER感情分析を用い、企業が労働問題よりも環境問題を優先し、全体的に過度に楽観的なトーンで報告していることを発見。理論的・方法論的貢献に加え、報告書品質監視のための枠組みを提供する。
English
This study analyzes 322 sustainability reports from apparel firms after the Rana Plaza disaster, using SASB thematic alignment and VADER sentiment analysis. It finds that firms prioritize environmental over labor issues and adopt an overly optimistic tone. The findings advance sustainability reporting theory and offer a replicable framework for monitoring disclosure quality.
Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.
📝 gxceed 編集解説 — Why this matters
日本のGX文脈において
本研究は、日本企業のサステナビリティ報告にも示唆を与える。特にSSBJ基準との関連で、重要性判断やバランスのとれた開示の重要性を強調。日本の有価証券報告書や統合報告書でも、過度に肯定的なトーンや特定課題への偏りが問題となり得る。
In the global GX context
This paper provides a replicable method to assess sustainability disclosure quality, directly relevant to global standard setters like ISSB. The findings on legitimacy management and rhetorical optimism are applicable across sectors, helping regulators and assurance providers target verification efforts and improve report credibility.
👥 読者別の含意
🔬研究者:Offers a novel methodology combining SBERT-based thematic alignment and sentiment analysis to measure materiality and balance in sustainability reports.
🏢実務担当者:Provides a framework for companies to self-assess the quality of their sustainability disclosures, particularly for materiality assessment and balanced reporting.
🏛政策担当者:Highlights the need for stricter guidelines on content balance and materiality in sustainability reporting, especially for high-risk sectors.
📄 Abstract（原文）
Sustainability reports (SRs) are widely criticized for vague disclosures and selective emphasis on positive outcomes, yet systematic research on two core SR challenges remains limited: materiality (whether disclosed content is relevant) and balance (whether both achievements and challenges are reported). Drawing on legitimacy and signaling theory, this study examines 322 reports from 69 apparel companies over 7 years following the Rana Plaza disaster, including a 101‐report firm‐level subsample affiliated with the Bangladesh Accord and Alliance. We apply a novel pipeline combining SBERT‐based thematic alignment against SASB material topic benchmarks with VADER sentiment analysis. Among the firms most directly implicated in the disaster, we find a striking prioritization of environmental issues over labor concerns—an unexpected pattern most consistent with a legitimacy management strategy of emphasizing less politically contested terrain. Across all topics and both analytical levels, reporting tone is significantly and increasingly optimistic, a problematic pattern we interpret as sector‐wide rhetorical optimism rather than proof of deliberate misrepresentation. These findings advance the SR literature methodologically and theoretically, and offer a replicable framework for policymakers, assurance providers, and standard setters seeking to monitor SR quality and target verification efforts.
🔗 Provenance — このレコードを発見したソース
- semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70795first seen 2026-05-05 23:23:52
gxceed は公開メタデータに基づく研究支援データセットです。要約・翻訳・解説は AI 支援で生成されています。 最終的な解釈・検証は利用者が原典資料に基づいて行うことを前提とします。