Implications of corporate accountability on civil society : The case of Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC)

Purpose This paper aims to focus on corporate accountability, analysing the case of Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC) from the perspective of civil society, acting as a significant stakeholder. Design/methodology/approach The authors ground the research on legitimacy theory, as the paper presents the company’s efforts to obtain the approval/legitimacy from one of its main vocal stakeholders: civil society. The paper presents the historical background of the Rosia Montana region, and then explains the stages of the RMGC project development, together with the company’s actions to be recognised by the local environment. They also investigate the corporate reports issued by Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, especially in and after 2010. Findings The results show that RMGC failed to gain the legitimacy of the Romanian society, and the authors discuss causes and implications. Originality/value This research brings a valuable contribution to the corporate reporting literature, being one of the first studies on the state of reporting in Romania in the mining sector, analysing the implications of the relationship between corporate accountability and civil society.