How certified benefit corporations contribute to corporate social responsibility disclosure: Empirical evidence from Italy

Abstract This paper explores the extent to which Italian Benefit Corporations which have achieved B‐Corp Certification disclose Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices through their corporate websites, thus developing a disclosure index. The research also aims to analyse the correlation between the size of companies, non‐financial performance, financial results and CSR actions. Stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory were used to provide a theoretical explanation of the potential relationship among the investigated variables. Our findings reveal a positive association between firm size and CSR disclosure, while the impact of financial performance is positive but not statistically significant. Moreover, non‐financial performance significantly influences CSR disclosure levels. These results can guide companies in enhancing CSR disclosure to bolster stakeholder legitimacy and competitive advantage in sustainability‐aware markets. Notably, this study represents a novel examination of online CSR disclosure among Certified Benefit Corporations, filling a gap in the existing literature.