Intellectual capital, digital innovation and gender equality in ESG reporting. The case of Italian listed SMEs

In the era of sustainability transition, digital innovation and gender equality have emerged as pivotal dimensions of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) discourse, while intellectual capital (IC) has reasserted its relevance as a key intangible driver of long-term corporate value creation (de Villiers & Sharma, 2020; Chiucchi & Giuliani, 2022). The convergence of these three thematic pillars—IC, digitalization and gender equality—creates both opportunities and challenges in sustainability reporting, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) listed on capital markets, which increasingly face stakeholder pressure for transparency, legitimacy and performance accountability (Michelon et al., 2015; Arena et al., 2024). While prior studies have explored IC or ESG as separate reporting streams (Cordazzo, 2005; Oliveira et al., 2010), few have systematically investigated their integration—especially in the context of digital transformation and gender materiality. Moreover, gender-related issues in sustainability reporting are often limited to governance composition, rather than being embedded across all IC dimensions (Isidro & Sobral, 2015; García-Meca & Martinez-Ferrero, 2025). This study addresses this research gap by examining how Italian listed SMEs disclose IC in their sustainability reports, with a focus on (i) the role of digitalization in shaping IC structures, (ii) the integration of gender equality as a material concern across human, structural and relational capital and (iii) the evolution of disclosure practices over time, particularly before and after the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) (Zambon et al., 2020; Li et al., 2024). The study adopts legitimacy theory as its theoretical framework (Dowling & Pfeffer, 1975; Deegan, 2002), interpreting IC disclosure—especially when gender-sensitive and digitally enabled—as a mechanism for organizations to gain, maintain, or repair legitimacy in response to societal expectations. Within this logic, IC becomes not only a resource for innovation but also a symbol of accountability and alignment with broader social norms.