Scoring CSR Reporting in Listed Companies – Evidence from Italian Best Practices Alberto Romolini, 1 Silvia Fissi 2 and Elena Gori 2 * 1 International Telematic University UNINETTUNO, Faculty of Economics, Rome, Italy 2 University of Florence, Department of Business Administration, Florence, Italy ABSTRACT In the last decade, political pressure from international organisms has contributed to the divulgation and the adoption of social accountability practices. Using an inductive method, this research examines the state of the art of best social reporting practices carried out by Italian listed companies, by scoring and assessing the different maturity levels in application of the principles required by the main reporting models mentioned and by exploring the indicators disclosed in corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. We analyze CSR reporting by Italian companies making up the FTSE ECPI Leaders Index of the Italian Stock Exchange. The findings show an overall good level of disclosure. The data confirm the results of previous studies as they highlight the escalation in sustainability reporting: both the quantity and quality of sustain- ability information are increasing. However, the results may raise doubts that companies consider CSR as a ‘fashion’. In fact, one of the criticisms levelled against CSR is that informa- tion is self-gathered and self-reported. More mandatory rules may improve transparency; however these may compromise the CSR concept, so it is necessary to further investigate the findings. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. Received 13 March 2012; revised 9 June 2012; accepted 19 June 2012 Keywords: CSR quality assessment; stakeholder engagement; assurance; compliance; FTSE ECPI Leaders Index; Italian listed companies An Introduction to Social Responsibility P OLITICAL PRESSURE FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANISMS SUCH AS THE ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION and Development (OECD) and the European Union, often exercised through publications or specially constituted bodies, has contributed to the divulgation and, consequently, the adoption of social accountability practices by public, private, and non-profit companies. Interest in this issue may be seen in the discussion about the paper of the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC, 2011). This document is trying to provide more useful information on sustainability reporting, in a clearer, more concise, user-friendly format. The United Nations Declaration on the Human Environment (1972) was one of the first documents through which the international community recognized the environmental problem and the need for sustainable development processes (Caldwell and Weiland, 1997). Reference was made, however, not to companies but to national governments, *Correspondence to: Elena Gori, University of Florence, Department of Business Administration, Florence, Italy. E-mail: elena.gori@unifi.it Although this work represents a joint study by the authors, paragraphs “An Introduction to Social Responsibility” and “Conclusions” can be attributed to Elena Gori; “Literature Review” and “Social Reporting in FELI Companies” to Alberto Romolini; “Research Design” and “An Analysis of CSR Indicators for Social Accountability” to Silvia Fissi. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management Corp. Soc. Responsib. Environ. Mgmt. 21, 65–81 (2014) Published online 25 October 2012 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/csr.1299