Analysis of information disclosure about social investments by companies that declare themselves socially responsible

Abstract

The research theme is social disclosure, that is, voluntary information disclosure involving community, environment, employees and clients. For this study, the community focus was chosen, that is, companies’ investments in social projects will be studied. According to voluntary disclosure theory, companies are anxious to publish good news, but resistant to the disclosure of bad news. The aim in this research is to analyze social investment information disclosure by companies that declare themselves sustainable. Therefore, an empirical study was undertaken in 31 companies listed in the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) portfolio, applying content analysis to the parts on community involvement in the reports published. The results showed: none of the companies fully left out information about the objective of its projects; few companies disseminated the destination of investments in all projects; the sacrifice the companies made frequently was not clear; very little information is available about the use of tax benefits. More frequent disclosure of information with a more immediate positive impact was perceived.