You Can’t Disclose What You Can’t Measure: Information Systems Orientation and ESG Reporting under Mandatory Disclosure

Although mandatory disclosure frameworks standardize reporting requirements, firms continue to differ in their ability to generate disclosures that are comprehensive and evidentiary. We argue that these differences partly reflect variation in organizational information-production capacity.

Drawing on disclosure economics and the digital-options perspective, we distinguish between Functional ISO, which supports localized measurement, and Enterprise ISO, which supports cross-functional integration. Using panel data from firms listed on India’s National Stock Exchange during the transition to mandatory BRSR reporting, we examine how these dimensions influence ESG disclosure outcomes. The findings indicate that Functional ISO is associated with disclosure depth, whereas Enterprise ISO is associated with disclosure breadth.