Abstract

BRENNER BARRETO MIRANDA, Ana Lucia; NODARI, Cristine Hermann; NEPOMUCENO NOBRE, Liana Holanda  and  RAMOS VEIGA-NETO, Alipio. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN R&D INVESTMENTS AND SUSTAINABILITY REPORTS: A GLOBAL ANALYSIS. Innovar [online]. 2019, vol.29, n.72, pp.131-146. ISSN 0121-5051.  https://doi.org/10.15446/innovar.v29n72.77938.

The objective of this research was to identify connections between research and development investments and the disclosure of sustainability reports in companies considered as the largest R&D investors in the world. Based on a descriptive research with a quantitative approach, and studying 350 companies in 25 countries, data was collected from three reports: the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, the Global Reporting Initiative, and the Environmental Performance Index. Data was interpreted statistically. Results indicate that companies that produce the most sustainability reports are located in countries equally considered as the most sustainable. However, the number of companies that invest the most in R&D does not correspond to those producing the most reports. In addition, no relationship was identified between the profitability of these companies and the number of sustainability reports they present. Therefore, we assumed that some organizations choose not to disclose certain data to avoid information that may generate negative impacts for their competitive advantage. Finally, limitations and opportunities for future research works are presented.

Keywords : Research and development; innovation; sustainability investments; profit.

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