EVOLUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDUCT AMONGST BRAZILIAN STEEL COMPANIES USING ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS

Abstract

This work analyzes the evolution of environmental conduct amongst Brazilian steel companies which have published their accountancy reports concerning the financial years from 2000 to 2004. In global markets, the steel company’s market structure suffers great environmental pressure exerted by different stakeholders. On the same hand, the social and environmental disclosure is important to the decision making process. The research was prepared with evidence collected from the firms’ accountancy reports published by Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission using the disclosure-scoring measure methodology developed by Al-Tuwaijri et al (2003). The results demonstrate that most companies prefer to report quantitative information when they improve their environmental conduct. The research concludes that steel companies have increased their environmental responsibilities as times goes by.