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サステナビリティ報告書の可読性の二重の役割：ESGパフォーマンスへの含意と難読化仮説

The Dual Role of Sustainability Report Readability: ESG Performance Implications and the Obfuscation Hypothesis (原題)

Serhii Lehenchuk, Iryna Zhyhlei, Olena Ivashko, Paulina Ucieklak-Jeż, Teresa Kupczyk, Leszek Zelek

Preprints.orgプレプリント2026-10-28#開示インフラ経営インパクト: 資金調達対象セクター: cross_sector
DOI: 10.20944/preprints202610.2840.v1
原典: https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202610.2840.v1

🤖 gxceed AI 要約

日本語

欧州消費財・食品飲料101社の2024年サステナビリティ報告書を対象に、可読性指数とLSEGのESGスコア、財務指標の関係を分析した研究。予想に反し、テキストの複雑さはESGスコア（特に社会・ガバナンス）と正に関連し、企業規模がESGスコアの最大の規定要因であった。ROE低下や高レバレッジは可読性の低さと関連するがモデル依存で消費財セクターに限られ、可読性は財務パフォーマンスとESGスコアの関係を媒介しなかった。結論として、文章の複雑さは意図的な難読化ではなく開示の技術的密度を反映していると示唆される。

English

Analyzing 101 European consumer goods and food & beverage firms' 2024 sustainability reports, this study links readability indices to LSEG ESG scores and financial performance. Contrary to the obfuscation hypothesis, greater textual complexity correlated positively with ESG scores, especially social and governance pillars, with firm size the strongest ESG determinant. Lower ROE and higher leverage related to less readable reports but only in consumer goods and were model-sensitive; readability did not mediate the finance-ESG link, suggesting complexity reflects technical disclosure density rather than deliberate obfuscation.

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

日本ではSSBJ基準・有報でのサステナビリティ開示が拡大する中、開示文書の「読みやすさ」をESG評価や投資家理解と結びつけて検証する視点は、統合報告書の質的改善やESG格付対応を進める日本企業に実務的示唆を与える。難読化仮説を否定する実証結果は、専門性の高い記述を過度に簡素化する必要がないことを示す。

In the global GX context

Amid ISSB/CSRD-driven expansion of mandatory sustainability disclosure, this paper tests whether linguistic complexity signals greenwashing or genuine technical density—directly relevant to regulators and standard-setters debating comparability and clarity of ESG reports. Its finding that complexity tracks ESG performance rather than concealment challenges the assumption that simpler reports are inherently more trustworthy.

👥 読者別の含意

🔬研究者:Provides empirical evidence against the obfuscation hypothesis and a replicable readability-ESG methodology, though limited to one year and two sectors.

🏢実務担当者:Corporate disclosure teams can note that technical density in sustainability reports need not signal poor transparency, but report length and sector norms drive complexity.

🏛政策担当者:Regulators weighing readability or plain-language requirements in ESG disclosure should recognize complexity may reflect legitimate technical content rather than concealment.

📄 Abstract（原文）

Investors and rating agencies use sustainability reports, yet their linguistic complexity may either conceal unfavourable information or reflect specialised disclosure. This study examines the associations among sustainability report readability, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores, and financial performance, and tests whether these asso-ciations are consistent with the obfuscation hypothesis. The sample comprises 101 Eu-ropean companies from the Consumer Goods (n = 56) and Food and Beverage (n = 45) sectors for 2024. Five readability indices were aggregated through principal component analysis, and ESG scores were obtained from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). Ordinary least squares regressions with robust standard errors, sector-specific estimations, and mediation analysis were applied. Contrary to expectations, greater textual complexity was positively associated with ESG scores, particularly in the social and governance pillars, whereas firm size was the strongest determinant of ESG scores. Lower return on equity and higher leverage were associated with less readable reports, but these asso-ciations were sensitive to model specification and limited to the Consumer Goods sector. Report length and sector affiliation were the most consistent determinants of complexity, and readability did not mediate the relationship between financial performance and ESG scores. The results suggest that textual complexity reflects the technical density of dis-closure rather than deliberate obfuscation.

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