Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure: An application of stakeholder theory

Abstract

A lack of sufficient theoretical support for models designed to explain corporate social responsibility activity led Ullmann ( Academy of Management Review, 1985, pp. 540–577) to develop a framework for predicting corporate social activity based on a stakeholder theory of strategic management. This study empirically tests the ability of stakeholder theory to explain one specific corporate social responsibility activity — social responsibility disclosure. Results support this application, finding that measures of stakeholder power, strategic posture, and economic performance are significantly related to levels of corporate social disclosure.