The Substantiation Gap: Structural Readiness and Indirect CSRD Pressure in Swedish SMEs : Why Swedish SMEs Disclose, What They Cannot Yet Defend

Sammanfattning

Background: The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD; Directive 2022/2464/EU) has restructured European corporate disclosure obligations, creating binding requirements for large firms while formally exempting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, CSRD obligations at the large-firm level generate sustainability data demands that cascade through value chains, placing Swedish SMEs under indirect reporting pressure despite their formal exemption. The existing literature does not adequately address the structural and organizational barriers that prevent SMEs from responding credibly to these indirect demands. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the structural readiness barriers and capability development conditions that determine how Swedish SMEs respond to indirect CSRD pressure, with particular attention to the gap between published sustainability claims and the internal evidential infrastructure required to defend them. The thesis introduces the Substantiation Gap as a novel analytical construct that is analytically distinct from greenwashing and disclosure decoupling. Method: The study employs a qualitative multi-case design comprising fourteen semi-structured interviews with sustainability practitioners, managers, and expert observers across eleven Swedish organizations. Participants were selected through purposive sampling governed by a three-dimensional selection matrix covering organizational size, sector diversity, and role variety. Data were analyzed using a hybrid inductive-deductive thematic coding approach informed by the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, Innovation Resistance Theory (IRT), and Absorptive Capacity and Dynamic Capabilities (ACAP/DCV). Findings are further interpreted through a researcher-adapted Sustainability Reporting Readiness Maturity Model (SRRMM). Conclusion: The findings reveal that Swedish SMEs face compound structural barriers operating simultaneously across technological, organizational, and environmental dimensions. The Substantiation Gap operates through three analytically distinct dimensions: measurement validity, methodological transparency, and auditability. Closing this gap requires sequential capability investment across all three. The Sustainability Reporting Readiness Maturity Model (SRRMM), an original contribution of this thesis, identifies three maturity stages and positions the Stage 1-to-Stage 2 transition as the most critical structural investment point for most Swedish SMEs.