Has the Spanish non-financial information regulation become a socially accepted norm?: Special emphasis on the road passenger transport sector

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to evaluate the impact of Spanish Non-Financial Information (NFI) regulation on the processes driving sustainability reporting (SR) in becoming a social norm in Spain. The focus is placed specifically on the road passenger transport sector. We employ a qualitative approach by combining various data sources, primarily interviews and documents. Our research indicates that the number of reporting companies from the Spanish road passenger transport sector has increased over time, primarily due to the coercive pressure exerted by the Spanish NFI regulation. However, we have found that this regulation does not conform to the prevailing practices and standards. Moreover, the socio-political context surrounding the law's launch hindered its effectiveness as an instrument of change in the SR activity. Consequently, the Spanish NFI regulation has not become a socially accepted norm in Spain, particularly among road passenger transport companies. This paper makes several important contributions to the existing literature. First, it explores how socio-political, cultural, and historical factors impact SR activities. Second, it utilizes the concept of normativity, as developed by Bebbington et al. (2012), to provide deeper theoretical insights into the dynamic processes involved in the institutionalization of SR within a specific field.