A comparative analysis of corporate reporting on ethical issues by UK and German chemical and pharmaceutical companies

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of reporting on ethical issues in the corporate annual reports of the largest UK and German chemical and pharmaceutical companies between 1985 and 1995. The study is both comparative and longitudinal in nature, examining in detail how ethical reporting practices developed differently in two Western nations. Despite the similarity in industry affiliations of the companies in the two samples, the study found substantial differences in the nature and patterns of reporting both across time and between the two countries studied. In particular, German companies reported more information and that reporting ‘matured’ to its current level at an earlier date. The paper explores some of the factors which might be thought to have caused this diversity in reporting between the two countries including: industry initiatives; extent of regulations demanding ethical responsibility; and other social and political pressures.