A stakeholder theory approach to environmental disclosures by small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

The aim of this article is to analyse the reasons that drive Spanish Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to disclose environmental information. The contribution of the present research to the literature on corporate social reporting is threefold: (i) it widens the scope of Stakeholder Theory; (i) it analyses the environmental reporting disclosures of SMEs; and, for the first time in this field, (iii) it applies Structural Equation Modelling. The results show that stakeholder salience, manager strategic posture and resource availability, though insufficient in themselves, are necessary to explain the environmental performance of SMEs. Moreover, an analysis of the disclosures they make in their annual accounts brings to light the impossibility of gaining insight into the real environmental behaviour of these firms, which raises reasonable doubts over the effectiveness of the relevant environmental reporting regulation in Spain.