Environmental disclosure in financial statements: An analysis of Spanish toll motorway concessionaires

This paper looks at the extent to which Spanish concessionaires of toll motorways have adopted accounting reporting standards that provide environmental information. These companies were among the first to disclose environmental information. Using content analysis methods, we focus on the environmental disclosures included in the financial statements of Spanish toll motorway concessionaires from 1999 to 2007. The results show a minimum level of quality in the environmental information provided and a low level of disclosure of the elements required by the standards. We find that Spanish toll motorway concessionaires adopted environmental reporting regulations merely as an administrative reform.

► Spanish concessionaries provide a low quality level of environmental reporting.
► Concessionaires adopted environmental reporting merely as an administrative reform.
► Accounting standards should focus on specific characteristics of environmental reporting.