Małgorzata Macuda

The concept of CSR in accounting theory and practice in Poland: an empirical study

Purpose. Right now, the issue of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) lies within the scope of interest of various fields of social science and practice, including the science and practice of accounting. Numerous research works stress how accounting, particularly in terms of corporate reporting, is closely connected to the concept of CSR. The number of studies concerning especially CSR reporting has increased in recent years all over the world, but in Poland CSR reporting is a new field not yet covered by many current research papers. The main purpose of this work is to present the concept of CSR in the theory and practice of accounting. Design/methodology/approach. The research paper comprises a literature review and a content analysis. The literature review was conducted in the first part of the work, which was devoted to the presentation of the idea of corporate social responsibility in the context of accounting and corporate reporting, and also in the second part, which contains an overview of the most well-known and comprehensive global standards related to CSR reporting. The content analysis was used in the final part of the work to examine the disclosures of CSR in annual reports and separate reports (Management commentary, communications) on a population of Polish stock exchange companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) Main Market as of 31 October 2013, which are also listed in the WIG-Poland index and the RESPECT Index – the first Polish, and one of the few European indexes of socially responsible companies. Findings. It has been determined that among Polish public companies listed on the WSE, which are also listed in the WIG-Poland index, only 6% operate in a socially responsible manner according to the RESPECT criteria, and less than 4.6% of all companies listed in the WIG-Poland and 70% of RESPECT index companies prepare separate CSR reports. Out of all the companies that prepare separate CSR reports, 93% prepare ESG reports (Environment, Social, Governance), but to a different scope. Out of all the companies preparing separate CSR reports, 70% followed the GRI Guidelines. The percentage share of companies whose CSR reports were verified by an independent external auditor is not very high – 18%. Among the companies that prepared separate CSR reports and are listed in the RESPECT Index, only one prepared an integrated annual report for the year 2012.  Małgorzata Macuda, Ph.D., Poznań University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting, malgorzata.macuda@ue.poznan.pl ** Łukasz Matuszak, Ph.D., Poznań University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting, l.matuszak@ue.poznan.pl *** Ewa Różańska, Ph.D., Poznań University of Economics and Business, Department of Accounting, ewa.rozanska@ue.poznan.pl 116 Małgorzata Macuda, Łukasz Matuszak, Ewa Różańska Research limitations/implications. The authors are aware of the limited subjective scope which might lead to some restrictions when extrapolating the results onto all the companies operating in Poland. Moreover, it cannot be excluded that companies not listed on the WSE also prepare CSR reports. This is why any attempt to apply the conclusions from this study to the general population may lead to erroneous results.

Diagnosis-Related Group Prospective Payment System in Poland - Costs Versus Tariffs: the Case of Inguinal Hernia

Abstract In the last 20 years many OECD countries have adopted some form of diagnosis-related group (DRG) prospective payment system to reimburse hospitals. In Poland, hospitals are also paid fixed prices, imposed by Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia (NFZ) according to DRG, for patients treated. The aim of this paper is to calculate, analyze and compare the costs of patient conditions within the same DRG (F72 – inguinal hernia), collate these costs and the reimbursement from NFZ with the purpose of determining the net profit and then check if it matches bigger research samples. In order to realize the aim of the paper, a comparative and a content analysis of medicals documents and financial data were adopted, and Student’s t-test was performed. The Shapiro-Wilk test was applied to confirm the correctness of the research sample. The results revealed that the reimbursement for costs related to inguinal hernia treatment covers the costs of 90% of patient conditions from the research sample.

Value creation disclosure in CSR reports: evidence from Poland

Nowadays, many companies are involved in the idea of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and they perceive it as a source of value creation. But the question arises if companies measure and report the value created via CSR engagement or whether they present mainly descriptive information concerning their actions and activities within CSR. The aim of this paper is to present what the CSR reporting practices in Poland are concerning value creation measurement and disclosure. The theoretical concept of value creation via CSR activities is analyzed and confronted with a practical disclosure in all the CSR reports published by Polish companies in the years 2013-2015. To achieve the research aim, a literature review, content analysis of source documents (CSR reports), synthesis, and the deductive method were used. In the paper, the descriptive approach to accounting is applied.