CURRENT SITUATION AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING IN ESTONIA

This paper focuses on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting, which is gaining popularity around the world and in recent years has become mandatory in several countries for companies across various industries. This paper summarizes the results of research carried out to analyze the current CSR reporting situation in Estonia and provides an outlook on its future development in the country. The study also discusses important benefits and significant obstacles of CSR reporting based on a survey of selected Estonian companies and its key drivers on the national level. The paper argues that the concept of CSR accounting and reporting has found its place in Estonia. It is recognized and has been implemented by a number of Estonian companies, although the reporting practice does not have a very long history in the country. The research findings clearly indicate that the main principles of CSR concept are familiar to the surveyed Estonian companies, and have been integrated into their everyday business activities. CSR activities are usually reported either on companies' websites or as disclosures in financial reports. Standalone CSR reports are not very common, as many companies cannot clearly identify their benefits. Time constraints and the lack of qualified specialists are the main reasons for not issuing standalone CSR reports, in addition to the difficulty in measuring the impact of CSR activities. The paper also argues that despite the fact that Estonian companies have taken some successful steps towards integrating CSR reporting, this type of reporting should get more support and positive publicity from the state, mass media, various public and private institutions and organizations and the general public.