Is water management really transparent? A comparative analysis of ESG reporting of Andalusian publicly-owned enterprises

Abstract

Our research analyses ESG reporting for municipal owned water companies in Andalusia (Spain) and to what extent it differs from other GOEs depending on the degree of public or private ownership and the nature of the activity carried out by each company. After designing an own an instrument tool composed of 176 items, the authors performed a content analysis of a broad range of organizational reporting channels used by 335 enterprises. We have found that, in general terms, Andalusian public water utilities have had better levels of ESG disclosure than GOEs from other industries. Drawing on institutional logics approach, hybridity can explain the differences in ESG disclosure patterns among these enterprises based on the proportion of public ownership and the type of activity.