Institutional pressures and ESG disclosure similarity: an analysis of European shareholder letters

Purpose The purpose of this study is to reorient scholarly attention from regulatory ESG disclosure to voluntary disclosure practices through shareholder letters, which are directly written by corporate leaders without predetermined reporting templates. Specifically, this study investigates how institutional pressures (i.e. coercive, normative and mimetic pressures) lead European firms to report similar ESG topics in shareholder letters. This work seeks to inform managers and policymakers on how to strategically navigate the institutional pressures in voluntary ESG topic disclosure. Design/methodology/approach We build our approach on neo-institutional theory, underlining the role of institutional pressures in shaping voluntary ESG disclosure. We use a cross-sectional research design based on 156 shareholder letters from firms listed on the STOXX Europe 600 Index in the 2022 financial year. Our methodology comprises the use of Discourse Network Analysis (DNA), to map similarities in the disclosure of ESG-related information between firms, and the use of Multiple Regression Quadratic Assignment Procedure (MR-QAP), to test for the extent to which firms are similar along the three institutional pressures: coercive indicated by membership in the European Union, normative measured by cultural cluster from the GLOBE Project classification, and mimetic represented by sector affiliation. Findings Our findings reveal that only normative isomorphism, operationalised through cultural cluster membership, is significantly associated with the level of similarity in ESG disclosure. Contrary to theoretical expectations, neither coercive pressure from EU regulatory frameworks nor mimetic pressure from sector affiliation demonstrates statistically significant associations with voluntary ESG disclosure patterns. These findings suggest that when firms have greater narrative freedom in disclosure, cultural values are more strongly associated with ESG communication strategies than regulatory requirements or industry-based imitation. Originality/value This research contributes to the existing literature by focussing on an unexamined voluntary disclosure practice on ESG, such as shareholder letters. By employing a relational approach, our work provides new insights into how coercive, normative, and mimetic pressures can facilitate reporting similar ESG activities between European firms.