Article Sidebar

Download
Download Article

Main Article Content

Abstract

This study examines the role of social impact accounting in measuring labor welfare and fair compensation within Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-based reporting frameworks. The primary objective of the research is to analyze how labor welfare indicators and compensation equity are conceptualized, measured, and integrated into sustainability reporting, with particular emphasis on their alignment with SDG 8 on decent work and inclusive economic growth. Employing a qualitative research design grounded in an extensive literature-based analysis, the study synthesizes peer-reviewed academic research, international institutional reports, and global sustainability reporting standards to identify dominant measurement practices, conceptual patterns, and methodological gaps in existing approaches. The findings reveal that labor welfare and fair compensation have increasingly been recognized as material social indicators in sustainability reporting; however, their measurement remains fragmented and inconsistent across organizations and regions. While current reporting frameworks provide general guidance on labor-related disclosures, they lack standardized metrics capable of capturing complex dimensions such as psychosocial well-being, living wage adequacy, wage equity, and the conditions of non-standard employment. The analysis further demonstrates that firms with more comprehensive labor welfare disclosures tend to exhibit stronger organizational legitimacy, enhanced stakeholder trust, and improved alignment with SDG objectives, yet many disclosures remain symbolic rather than substantive. The study concludes that integrating structured and empirically grounded labor welfare and compensation indicators is essential for strengthening the credibility and comparability of SDG-based reporting. The findings contribute to sustainability accounting literature by emphasizing the need for standardized social impact metrics and provide practical implications for organizations, policymakers, and investors seeking to advance decent work, wage fairness, and inclusive growth within global sustainability agendas.

Keywords

Social Impact Accounting Labor Welfare Fair Compensation SDG-Based Reporting Sustainability Accounting

Article Details

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

How to Cite
Nochh, M. Y. (2025). Accounting for Social Impact: Measuring Labor Welfare and Fair Compensation in SDG-Based Reporting. Golden Ratio of Mapping Idea and Literature Format, 5(2), 256–266. https://doi.org/10.52970/grmilf.v5i2.1950
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX

References

  1. Adams, C. A. (2017). The Sustainable Development Goals, integrated thinking and the integrated report. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 8(1), 13–16. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-09-2016-0068
  2. Amor-Esteban, V., Galindo-Villardón, M. P., & García-Sánchez, I. M. (2018). Useful information for stakeholder engagement: A multivariate proposal of corporate social responsibility indicators. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(5), 609–622. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1489
  3. Anker, R. (2011). Estimating a living wage: A methodological review. International Labour Review, 150(1–2), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1564-913X.2011.00106.x
  4. Atkinson, A. B. (2015). Inequality: What can be done? Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674287013
  5. Bansal, P., Kistruck, G., & Roth, K. (2021). Sustainability and the firm: Theory and evidence. Academy of Management Annals, 15(2), 1–49. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2019.0111
  6. Baumgartner, R. J., & Rauter, R. (2017). Strategic perspectives of corporate sustainability management to develop a sustainable organization. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, 81–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.04.146
  7. Bebbington, J., & Unerman, J. (2018). Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-05-2017-2929
  8. Bloom, M., & Michel, J. G. (2002). The relationships among organizational context, pay dispersion, and managerial turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 45(1), 33–42. https://doi.org/10.5465/3069283
  9. Boiral, O. (2013). Sustainability reports as simulacra? A counter-account of A and A+ GRI reports. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 26(7), 1036–1071. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-04-2012-00998
  10. Bryson, A., Forth, J., & Stokes, L. (2017). Does employees’ subjective well-being affect workplace performance? Human Relations, 70(8), 1017–1037. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726717693073
  11. Card, D., Mas, A., Moretti, E., & Saez, E. (2012). Inequality at work: The effect of peer salaries on job satisfaction. American Economic Review, 102(6), 2981–3003. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.102.6.2981
  12. Cho, C. H., Laine, M., Roberts, R. W., & Rodrigue, M. (2015). Organized hypocrisy, organizational façades, and sustainability reporting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 40, 78–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2014.12.003
  13. Clark, G. L., Feiner, A., & Viehs, M. (2015). From the stockholder to the stakeholder. Journal of Sustainable Finance and Investment, 5(1–2), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/20430795.2015.1014661
  14. Cormier, D., & Magnan, M. (2015). The economic relevance of environmental disclosure and its impact on corporate legitimacy. Business Strategy and the Environment, 24(6), 431–450. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1829
  15. Costa, R., & Menichini, T. (2013). A multidimensional approach for CSR assessment. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 24, 687–697. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.04.110
  16. Crane, A., Matten, D., Glozer, S., & Spence, L. (2019). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780198810076.001.0001
  17. De Stefano, V., Aloisi, A., & Silberman, M. (2021). Platform work and the social protection gap. International Labour Review, 160(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12170
  18. Degryse, C. (2020). Digitalisation of the economy and its impact on labour markets. ETUI Research Paper. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3554808
  19. Eccles, R. G., & Klimenko, S. (2019). The investor revolution. Harvard Business Review, 97(3), 106–116. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3073828
  20. Freeman, R. E., Phillips, R., & Sisodia, R. (2020). Tensions in stakeholder theory. Business and Society, 59(2), 213–231. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650318773750
  21. Haski-Leventhal, D., Pournader, M., McKinnon, A., & Roca, E. (2021). Measuring corporate social impact. Journal of Business Ethics, 170(2), 337–360. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-04654-y
  22. He, X., Wang, Z., & Akbar, A. (2021). Pay gap disclosure and firm performance. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 29(5), 486–504. https://doi.org/10.1111/corg.12370
  23. International Labour Organization. (2020). Global wage report 2020–21. https://doi.org/10.54394/WGWN1517
  24. Khan, M., Serafeim, G., & Yoon, A. (2016). Corporate sustainability: First evidence on materiality. Management Science, 62(11), 3235–3257. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2209
  25. KPMG. (2021). The KPMG survey of sustainability reporting. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3939050
  26. Mio, C., Fasan, M., Marcon, C., & Panfilo, S. (2020). The predictive ability of legitimacy and stakeholder theories. Journal of Cleaner Production, 252, 119743. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119743
  27. Mishel, L., & Davis, A. (2019). CEO compensation has grown far faster than typical worker compensation. Economic Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3456935
  28. OECD. (2019). Under pressure: The squeezed middle class. https://doi.org/10.1787/689afed1-en
  29. Pfeffer, J. (2018). Dying for a paycheck. Harper Business. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2018.0193
  30. Piketty, T. (2014). Capital in the twenty-first century. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674369542
  31. Puroila, J., Mäkelä, H., & Laine, M. (2022). Legitimacy struggles in sustainability reporting. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 35(1), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2020-4827
  32. Rasche, A., Morsing, M., & Moon, J. (2017). Corporate social responsibility: Strategy, communication, governance. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316335527
  33. Rosati, F., & Faria, L. G. D. (2019). Business contribution to the Sustainable Development Agenda. Journal of Cleaner Production, 234, 540–556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.06.172
  34. Serafeim, G. (2020). Social-impact efforts that create real value. Harvard Business Review, 98(5), 38–48. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3533202
  35. Sila, I., & Cek, K. (2017). The impact of environmental, social and governance dimensions. Journal of Business Ethics, 145(2), 371–395. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2852-5
  36. Stiglitz, J. E., Fitoussi, J. P., & Durand, M. (2018). Beyond GDP: Measuring what counts for economic and social performance. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264307292-en
  37. Sullivan, R., & Mackenzie, C. (2020). Responsible investment. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429272316
  38. Wood, A. J., Graham, M., Lehdonvirta, V., & Hjorth, I. (2019). Good gig, bad gig. Work, Employment and Society, 33(1), 56–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017018785616