« Medical to Recreational Cannabis Expansion: Insights into CSR Disclosure”, a webinar led by Mariem Khalfaoui
This study analyzes how Canadian cannabis firms entering controversial industries communicate their CSR initiative and whether CSR messages help gain and maintain legitimacy to secure societal approval or serve as mechanisms for corporate self-legitimation. By adopting a content analysis of the CEO’s letter and annual reports on six Canadian cannabis firms that expanded a part of their activity from pharmaceutical use to recreational adult use in the year of legalization in Canada and juxtaposing them against the analysis of the actual behavior reported on Canadian media coverage news. The results of this study show that Canadian cannabis firms gain legitimacy by focusing on Regulator, Pragmatic, Moral, and Cognitive/Culture legitimacy.
Mariem Khalfaoui is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Cagliari (Italy), where she is involved in the GRINS Project – Growing Resilient, Inclusive, and Sustainable.
She earned her PhD in Economics and Business in 2025 from the University of Cagliari, with a dissertation titled Corporate Social Responsibility Contracting Disclosure: International Evidence – CSR Disclosure and Legitimacy in Controversial Industries (Canadian Cannabis Firms). Her work received the Best Project Award at the 25th Financial Reporting and Business Communication Conference 2022.
Mariem’s research lies at the intersection of accounting, finance, and environmental sustainability, focusing on controversial industries, CSR disclosure, and impression management. She has contributed to book chapters published by leading academic publishers, including Springer Nature and Edward Elgar Publishing.
