Level of adhesion of integrated reporting and academic performance indicators of Brazilian Federal Higher Education Institutions

Purpose: The objective of this work was to analyze the relationship between the level of adherence of integrated reporting and academic indicators of the Federal Institutions of Higher Education (IFES). According to literature data, the Environmental Agenda in Public Administration (A3P) was the main strategy for implementing Social Responsibility in the public sector at the national level, while the integrated report was recently implemented in the Brazilian public administration. Design/methodology/approach: Bibliographic and documentary research and content analysis of integrated reports from Federal Universities and Federal Institutes of Higher Education were used. The information contained in the Integrated Report allowed the generation of an adherence indicator. In the pre-analysis phase, the management reports of federal institutions that adhered and those that did not adhere to the A3P were selected. The analyzes were performed using the Software for Statistics and Data Science® – STATA, version 13.0. Findings: The results revealed that empirical evidence indicates that the budget transferred to the institution does not positively influence adherence to the integrated report. There is no statistical difference in the analyzed metrics of IFESs with A3P compared to those that have not yet adhered to A3P. Thus, there are no statistically significant differences between the academic performance of institutions that have an active adhesion term with the A3P. Originality/value: This study is justified because it presents a reflection on Social Responsibility in the Public Sector and the transparency of this sustainable management. The institutions, when disclosing their socio-environmental actions in the sustainability reports, demonstrate their concern with this Environmental Agenda (A3P). Although some articles have addressed Integrated Reporting in the public sector, this study aims to carry out a detailed survey of Integrated Reporting as a mandatory accountability instrument in Brazilian federal public institutions. In Brazil, the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) determines the rendering of accounts through Integrated Reporting; this differs from the practices evidenced in other countries.