Disclosure is an act of exposing, that is, making public the internal aspects of an organization, such as its business information (Murcia & dos Santos, 2009). Some organizations disclose information encouraged by the benefits it can provide (Botosan & Plumiee, 2002; Dye, 2001; Guay & Verrechia, 2017; Sengupta, 1998; Verrechia, 2001).

Evidence shows that larger companies that are more exposed to the international market, and have greater financing needs and greater growth opportunities, are more likely to provide accounting reports that are informative to external investors (Daske, Hail, Leuz, & Verdi, 2013).

It should be noted that disclosure could occur either voluntarily or compulsorily (Santana, Góis, De Luca, & De Vasconcelos, 2015). Mandatory disclosure refers to the disclosure of information required by law under the supervision of regulatory agencies (Lima, 2007), while voluntary disclosure includes information beyond what is required by regulations; managers can decide which additional information to disclose based on their discretion (Forte, Peres, Bessa, & Oliveira, 2015). In this sense, the focus of this work is voluntary dissemination, as it uses annual reports to verify the level of use of social performance indicators.

Information on social performance indicators presented in annual reports fits the scope of voluntary disclosure, as it is used in internal decision-making and helps stakeholders to take informed decisions (Sánchez, Domíngues, & Ávarez, 2011).

There is no standard on how to disclose nonfinancial indicators, and each company uses discretion to provide the information (Kotane & Kuzmina-Merlino, 2011). Publishing of voluntary information becomes a competitive differential for organizations (Sánchez et al., 2011).

By examining relationships between governance and extent of disclosure in Bangladesh’s annual business reports, Khan, Muttakin, and Siddiqui (2013) found that corporate governance attributes play a vital role in ensuring organizational legitimacy and social performance. In addition, Belal and Roberts (2010) noted that companies involved in social sustainability encourage governance exposure more than those that are less committed to social performance.

Evaluating performance refers to judging performance and assessing the fulfillment of predetermined expectations (Pereira, 2001). It includes qualitative attribution of value in relation to merit or importance and quantitative measurement assignment. According to Miranda and Silva (2002), performance evaluation monitors evaluate the achievement of goals; provide wellness systems and control plans; create, implement, and execute strategies; and identify failures and problems. For these authors, when evaluating a company’s performance, it is necessary to define the attributes that are important for measuring performance and focus on characteristics relevant to the objectives of evaluation. In this way, the performance evaluation system that best suits the company’s characteristics is chosen and the performance indicators to be included are defined.

Through evaluation of performance, a company can obtain information from the customer’s or production’s perspective, which would help it outline its objectives and provide visibility to its positioning in the market (Callado, Soares, Callado, & Holanda, 2011). It is noted in literature that companies have greater options in the use of financial performance indicators (Callado, Callado, & Almeida, 2008; Kotane & Kuzmin-Merlino, 2011; Pace, Basso, & Silva, 2003). However, nonfinancial indicators provide a vision for the future and can help to achieve more satisfactory financial indicators (Neely, Richards, Mills, Platts, & Bourne, 1997). Other authors go further and believe that proper management of social issues could improve the economic performance of a company (Lu, Lee, & Cheng, 2012; Sancha, Gimenez, Sierra, & Kazeminia, 2015).

Wood (1991) describes social performance as the configuration of social responsibility rules, social responsibility procedures, policies, plans, and observable results of the company, as they are related to the company’s social responsibility. According to Pires and Trez (2018), social responsibility plays an important role in shaping the reputation of a company, as fulfilment of social expectations is a key determinant of reputation.

Mining is a part of the history of Brazil’s territorial occupation; in the mid-1960s, mining was selected as one of the key sectors of the country’s economy to promote national economic growth (Enríquez, Fernandes, & Alamino, 2011). It is a crucial part of the current economy; it provides large number of jobs and higher remuneration than the Brazilian average. According to the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE), in 2018, mining was among the highest tax-paying industries in the nation.

According to the data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística [IBGE], 2018), the mineral extraction industry had a substantial share in Brazil’s gross domestic product (GDP) and represented 3% of the index mentioned, thus presenting higher economic development when compared with the GDP of the industrial sector and even compared with Brazil’s total GDP. According to the data released by the Agência Nacional de Mineração (National Mining Agency; ANM, 2018), the mining sector generated 742,806 jobs in 2018, in addition to increasing by 3.6 times employment opportunities in the mineral processing industry. According to the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the average salary of mining workers during the first half of 2018 was 2,166% higher than the Brazilian average of reais (R$) 1,580.03 (ANM, 2018). In addition, information published by IBRAM (2013) shows that in most cases, the human development index of cities with mining activities is higher than that of the states in which these cities are located, indicating that mining has positive effects on the quality of life of Brazilian population.

Negative impacts of mining include excessive economic dependence on mining, increased cost of living, and disordered growth, and in case of mine closure, the impoverishment of the population (Araújo et al., 2014). According to Enríquez et al. (2011), although mining provides employees with higher wages than the local average, it also leads to an increase in per capita income and, in general, some form of local inflation, which leads to increase in commodity, service, and real estate prices.

Through its 193-member states, including Brazil, the United Nations has pledged to adopt the 2015–2030 agenda, which is considered to be one of the most ambitious in the history of international diplomacy. Since then, the countries have committed themselves to the formation and implementation of public policies aimed at achieving SDGs (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária [Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation; EMBRAPA], 2020; Ministério Público do Paraná [Public Prosecutor’s Office of Paraná; MPPR], 2020).

The SDGs are a global action plan aimed at eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2030 by providing quality lifelong education to all, protecting the planet, and promoting a peaceful and inclusive society (MPPR, 2020; Nações Unidas Brasil [United Nations Brazil; NUB], 2020).

The agenda includes an international action plan for achieving the 17 SDGs, subdivided into 169 goals, which deal with several key subjects related to human development from five perspectives: people, planet, prosperity, partnership, and peace (EMBRAPA, 2020). The objectives are broad, interdependent, and interconnected, and address the main development challenges faced by people across the world, including the people of Brazil.

Data were collected from the annual reports published by the companies in digital media for the period of 2005–2020. During the collection of the documents disclosed by the companies, annual reports with different names were found: “Management Report,” “Annual Report,” “Sustainability Report,” and “Presentation of Results.”

We looked for shares that make up the theoretical portfolio of the ISE of BM & FBOVESPA (www.bmfbovespa.com.br) website, and the composition valid from January 2006 to December 2021 was used in this research. Companies that completed the questionnaires to be part of the ISE of BM & FBOVESPA in 2005 were included in the portfolio from January to December 2006, when the first listing was published. The data were processed for the selection of companies in the mining, and oil and gas extraction sectors participating in the ISE of BM & FBOVESPA.

The data collected were social indicators disclosed by the companies in their reports. These indicators were identified by their description and measurement units. These descriptions and measurement units indicated the nature of the objects that the social indicators referred to, the relationship of the indicators with business activities, and their adherence to the SDGs. Indicators that have the same properties but show different situations or opinions are part of the collected data. As a form of organization, the following indicators were parameterized based on the social SDGs recommended by the UN: 1. Eradication of poverty, 2. Zero hunger and sustainable agriculture, 3. Health and wellbeing, 4. Quality education, 5. Gender equality, and 10. Reduction in inequalities.

The research was carried out through content analysis of annual digital reports for the years 2005–2020. The reports were carefully scrutinized to find evidence of dissemination of social indicators. While reading and interpretating the reports, the focus was on terms related to the following social performance indicators: education, training, safety, health, food, income, work accidents, sustainability, reduction of inequalities, and function by gender. These terms had been derived from the social SDGs.

No specific software was used for data collection and processing. The data were tabulated in a simple Excel spreadsheet and categorized according to the (SDGs). Only the explicit social indicators in the report were extracted, with the respective units of measure, when available.

According to Campos (2004) and Moraes (2003), categories are great statements that encompass a variable number of themes, according to their degree of intimacy or proximity, which can express important meanings and elaborations through their analysis. In this context, the categories were defined by the SDGs of the agenda 2030 platform, and the social indicators associated with the SDGs identified and classified as being closer to each objective of the social dimension were applied to this study.