Corporate governance and CSR disclosure: evidence from European financial institutions

Abstract

The present work aimed to empirically examine the association between corporate governance mechanisms and the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in European financial institutions. The corporate governance variables, particularly board size, board independence, the proportion of female directors, chief executive officer (CEO) duality, ownership concentration and CEO ownership, were used. The sample of this empirical research consisted of 115 financial institutions belonging to 12 European countries from 2007 to 2017, and panel data regression was used for analysis. The results indicate that board size, board independence, the proportion of female directors and the CEO ownership have positive associations with the extent of CSR disclosure, while CEO duality and ownership concentration have no significant associations with the extent of CSR disclosure. This study is important due to following reasons: First, it focused on the financial sector which is often excluded from CSR studies due to its specific legal regulations and its little environmental impact. Second, this study provides empirical evidence that some governance mechanisms are important determinants of CSR disclosure in the financial sector. Third, it uses the environmental, social and governance score, which has not been widely used in CSR studies, especially in financial institutions. Finally, the research states the crucial implications for the financial sector and regulatory bodies.