From Values to Value: The Commensuration of Sustainability Reporting and the Crowding out of Morality

Drawing on extensive case study evidence, this study unpacks sustainability reporting’s evolution from a moral values-based practice towards a financialized value-based one. We argue that this transition can be seen as a commensuration project and we examine the dynamics of this process. We find that increased levels of commensuration have moved sustainability reporting away from a focus on moral responsibility (i.e. ‘doing the right thing’) to a focus on strategic value creation for the firm. We theorize this crowding out of morality as a process of amoralization supported by the rigid cognitive framing of social and environmental issues (objectification) and the monetized coordination of relevant social interactions (marketization). We outline implications of our analysis for the scholarly debate on sustainability reporting and commensuration.