Female capital, sustainable governance and social inclusion in Italian firms. First evidence from sustainability reporting under CSRD

Sustainable Italian firms are characterized by great sensitivity to gender equality among ESG strategies The topic of gender diversity is well developed in the management literature, however an investigation on the gender dimension among the ESG reporting topics to unlock sustainable governance and social inclusion is still lacking in the academic debates. Using the lens of the legitimacy theory, we explore the treatment of gender equality as a material matter in the non-financial reports of Italian firms, providing a comprehensive view of how corporate governance bodies have addressed the issue immediately after the implementation of the ESRS. The empirical setting consists of a panel of Italian companies observed over the period 2023–2024, to enable the analysis during the critical transition period to the CSRD. The analysis involved three steps. First, we identified the sample from the population of Italian companies publishing sustainability reports or integrated reports referring to the CONSOB database and to the Osservatorio Bilanci Sostenibilità. The second step involved systematically consulting the websites of the selected companies to verify the availability of sustainability reports for multiple years. The third step encompassed a manual content analysis (Guthrie et al., 2004; Corvino et al., 2019) aimed at detecting the disclosure of policies, action and targets specifically employed to overcome inequalities among own workforces. We expect to find a high-level of disclosure in the governance-related material matters since women’s involvement in the governance of organizations is essential for promoting gender equality (Paolone et al. 2024). We also expect to find a medium level of disclosure in social-related material matters as gender equality is traditionally connected with social development (Moulton, 2009; Steccolini, 2019). We finally expect to find that the transition from NFRD to CSRD will foster greater standardisation and comparability of data. We employ an original self-constructed dataset on the first-year application of CSRD and ESRSs to provide theoretical and practical insights on the relevance of gender equality disclosure in sustainability reports. By means of a novel and continuous dialogue with involved undertakings and institutions we intend to raise awareness among participants and contribute to cultural development of local players toward a more gender equal and sustainable economy. By analyzing these critical transition years, the study offers insights into the level of corporate sensitivity to gender equality and its integration into sustainability-related matters, both as a mandatory requirement and as a result of the materiality assessment, providing useful recommendations for managers and regulators.