Relationship between Company Characteristics and HR Disclosure Level: Evidences from Indian Public Sector Companies

Abstract

The main purpose of the study is to examine the effect of company characteristics on Human Resource (HR) disclosure practices of listed public sector companies in India. The present study has taken into consideration 71 Indian public sector companies listed on NSE-500 Index. To measure the level of voluntary disclosure of listed public sector companies in India, the Human Resource Disclosure Index (HRDI) is created. It consists of 90 items. The data of HR disclosure score are collected through content analysis of annual reports of selected sample companies. The study was conducted over a period from 2012–2013 to 2017–2018. The data are analysed through descriptive statistics, correlation, Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression model and Kruskal–Wallis test. The results of the study demonstrate that market capitalization, ownership concentration, type of auditor, pages of an annual report and return on total assets significantly influence the HRDI of Indian public sector corporations. On the other hand, debt–equity ratio, net fixed assets, net sales, company age, EPS, return on equity, current ratio, profit after tax and listing status are insignificantly associated with HRDI of listed public sector companies in India. Further, it has been observed that the HR disclosure practices varied with various industrial sectors. The present study contributes to the existing studies. HRDI used in the study would be used by businesses as a yardstick to strengthen their HR disclosure in future. JEL Codes: M14, M41, M48, O15