Non-financial reporting of enterprises in the USSR: Relevance to the modern economy

Abstract

Subject. Currently, the Russian economy sees the institution of non-financial reporting emerging. What it means is ambiguous. On the one hand, the country adopts the concept of public non-financial reporting and the Federal Law On Public Non-Financial Reporting is being drafted. On the other hand, experts complain about the quality and comparability of such reports. Public non-financial reporting constitutes a set of data and indicators on purposes, approaches and results of corporate performance concerning all material issues of social responsibility and sustainable development. Objectives. We determine whether the USSR methodology for setting social indicators is applicable to modern Russia. We also describe the impact of the inertia of the Soviet period in the current circumstances, compare social indicators the Soviet enterprises released after WWII with the international non-financial reporting standards, in order to understand whether they are still relevant. Methods. We investigated the way the Soviet enterprises formed and disclosed their social indicators. The article also presents the comparative analysis of the said indicators with those of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), key indicators of the Russian Union of Industrialist and Entrepreneurs and the list of key indicators proposed by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development as part of the Public Non-Financial Reporting Concept for the Russian Federation. Results. The article provides the rationale for the Soviet methodology for setting social indicators to be used in Russia today. Conclusions. The list of relevant key indicators of non-financial reporting (as drafted by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development in 2019) is mainly comparable to those disclosed by the Soviet enterprises. The international non-financial reporting standards mostly provide for qualitative and descriptive metrics. Quantitative indicators are more comparable, verifiable and generalizable, which is important for such a stakeholder as the State.