The impact of voluntary non-financial disclosure on profitability of listed companies

Abstract: Abstract Given the increasing concern for the global environmental issues and the related need for preservation of the ecosystem, voluntary non-financial disclosure has become more and more important to almost all economies today. However, empirical literature shows findings that are mixed, inconsistent and often contradictory; ranging from positive, to negative, to statistically insignificant relationships. Hence, this study aimed to assess the impact of voluntary non-financial disclosure on selected listed companies. In terms of scope, the study involves 50 Swedish companies with mandatory non-financial disclosure requirements and 76 international companies with voluntary non-financial disclosure. A period of 7 years was considered in the study that secondary data of manufacturing firms from 2014 to 2020 is used. Results showed that energy management and corporate social responsibility have a negative but insignificant impact on profitibility. Whilst diversity on board showed a positive impact on profitability, this impact was insignificant. Size of the firm was the only variable which showed a positive significant impact on profitability. It was concluded that disclosure of information on energy management, corporate social responsibility and diversity on board have no significant impact on financial performance of manufacturing companies regardless of whether they engage in voluntary or mandatory non-financial disclosure. More so, it was concluded that voluntary non-financial disclosure has no short-term impact on profitability of manufacturing firms.