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Problem formulation: The awareness and importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is growing within both corporations and society at large. The corporate progress in sustainable development can be both profitable and essential for the potential to compete globally. The value of sustainability reporting may differ between industries and companies of different sizes. The demands for sustainability reports are expected to increase. By 2010, no previous survey on sustainability reporting practices had been conducted within Swedish corporations. 

Purpose: The aim of the current study was to examine sustainability reports within Swedish corporations during 2010 and to compare the findings with preceding surveys to determine differences over time and between corporations. Furthermore, the study seeks to explain the determinants of voluntary sustainability reporting utilising a multi-theoretical framework.

Method: This survey includes all 125 Swedish corporations listed at the Stockholm Stock Exchange Large Cap and Mid Cap lists. Data was collected from the corporations annual and sustainability reports. Excel was used to code and analyse the obtained data.

Results: The findings demonstrate that sustainability reporting is common practice among Swedish corporations. Taken together, the number of sustainability reports, the development and the presentation format indicates a high sustainability performance in general among the sampled companies. The findings found clear difference between industries and between companies of different sizes. Companies operating in high environmental risk industries as well as larger corporations scored higher on all variables of interest compared to companies operating in low environmental risk industries and smaller sized companies. Factors that have the potential to determine a company´s sustainability development practices were found to be its stakeholders and the type of institution it operates within. Moreover, the demand for legitimacy carries the potential to determine sustainability reporting practices. Companies operating in high environmental risk industries experiences a greater need for legitimacy and large companies has a greater number of stakeholders to consider. The findings indicate that sustainability reporting continues to increase and furthermore that standard practices is becoming increasingly widespread.