Effect of Company Characteristics on Human Resource Disclosure Index: Empirical Evidences from Indian Corporates

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the present research article is to know the extent of Human Resource (HR) disclosure practices and effects of various independent variables on HR disclosure practices in selected Indian listed companies. Design/methodology/approach: Initially, Human Resource Disclosure Index (HRDI) of 91 items is constructed for 63 companies listed on the NSE-100 index. After that, the effect of various independent variables is analyzed on HRDI. Finally, independent variables are regressed with HRDI to find the important independent variables which influences the HRDI. The relationship between industry type and HR disclosure has been studied using one-way ANOVA and the comparison between public and private sector has been studied using the Mann–Whitney U test. Findings: The findings of the study show that net fixed assets, net sales, market capitalization, earnings per share (EPS), the debt–equity ratio and total number of pages of an annual report have a significant effect on HRDI. The remaining variables show insignificant association with HRDI. HRDI has been reported differently by different industries, while public and private companies do not differ in case of HR disclosure practices. Originality/value: This study provides the valuable information and contributes in existing literature. The HR disclosure index created in this study may be utilized by the companies as a benchmark to enhance their HR disclosure in future.