Sustainability disclosures are frequently included within integrated reports, in order to provide disclosures relating to the capitals identified in the International <IR> Framework (the Framework). South Africa has been at the forefront of integrated reporting, following the guidance of King III and subsequently the Framework. This study draws on data previously presented by the authors, and identifies the relationships and correlation between the application of principles from the Framework, such as materiality and conciseness, as well as the total number of sustainability disclosures and the industry classification, age and size of the companies, through the lens of legitimacy theory. The study uses data collected through interpretive content analysis of the integrated reports of South African companies in 2011 and 2015, as well as company metrics, which are analysed using Spearman’s rank correlation and a k-means cluster analysis. The results reveal that companies tend to consistently apply the principles from the Framework, and the size of the company was not consistently correlated. However, the age of the company was correlated to the materiality of disclosures provided. The findings are consistent with legitimacy theory and add to the legitimacy theory literature by identifying the sustainability reporting behaviour displayed by companies of various sizes, ages and industry classifications.

可持续性披露经常包含在综合报告中，以提供与国际综合报告框架（框架）中确定的资本相关的披露。在国王三世和随后的框架的指导下，南非一直处于综合报告的前沿。本研究利用了作者之前提供的数据，并确定了框架原则的应用之间的关系和相关性，例如重要性和简洁性，以及可持续性披露的总数与行业分类、年龄和规模这些公司，通过合法性理论的镜头。该研究使用通过对 2011 年和 2015 年南非公司综合报告的解释性内容分析收集的数据，以及公司指标，这些指标使用 Spearman 的排名相关性和 k 均值聚类分析进行分析。结果表明，公司倾向于始终如一地应用框架中的原则，并且公司的规模并非始终相关。然而，公司的年龄与所提供披露的重要性相关。研究结果与合法性理论一致，并通过识别各种规模、年龄和行业分类的公司表现出的可持续发展报告行为，增加了合法性理论文献。公司的年龄与所提供披露的重要性相关。研究结果与合法性理论一致，并通过识别各种规模、年龄和行业分类的公司表现出的可持续发展报告行为，增加了合法性理论文献。公司的年龄与所提供披露的重要性相关。研究结果与合法性理论一致，并通过识别各种规模、年龄和行业分类的公司表现出的可持续发展报告行为，增加了合法性理论文献。