At the virtual presentation on 12 November 2024, Tatjana Stanimirović (Faculty of Public Administration, Ljubljana) and Philumena Bauer (Institute of Management Accounting, Johannes Kepler University Linz) presented the article on the quality of sustainability reports of state-owned enterprises in Austria and Slovenia published in the Public Sector Economics.

Based on the examination of 64 sustainability reports from 2018-2021 of 8 Austrian and 8 Slovenian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and interviews with company representatives, the research reveals that Austrian SOEs slightly outperform their Slovenian counterparts in their sustainability reporting. Despite improvements in both countries, compliance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards remains below 50%, indicating a limited readiness for the expanded reporting scope required by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and EU Taxonomy criteria.

The authors’ findings primarily relate to the definition of public value outcomes, especially economic aspects such as consumer protection and socioeconomic compliance, with some ecological and social value added per GRI standards. The preservation and dissemination of public value by SOEs is evident in their extensive reporting on stakeholder engagement, ethics, anti-competitive behaviour, anti-corruption, consumer privacy, and socioeconomic compliance. Similar patterns are seen with Sustainability Reporting Guidelines – SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), where economic value creation is prioritized (over 70% compliance), while social and ecological contributions are limited.

This paper has some limitations – compliance assessments may be subjective, and the analysis relies almost entirely on document reviews. With the adoption of the CSRD and SDGs within the Non-Financial Information Directive on Sustainability framework, the current non-financial reporting standards will require alignment with European Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (ESRS). Future work could develop an environmental, social and governance disclosure index based on sector-neutral ESRS requirements.

The presentation was moderated by Jasmina Mašović, assistant at the Institute of Public Finance. A recording and a presentation of this lecture are also available.

Photo: Canva