The Development of a Human Rights Disclosure Index

Abstract

Corporations have a considerable impact on human rights. However, the moral force of corporations to treat human beings in ways that respect their rights are implicated in their corporate financial reporting, communication practices, and accounting and accountability. This moral force on human rights particularly that of labour rights, has led this study to focus on the development of the human rights disclosure (HRD) index. This study constructs a list of HRD measurement items from prior literature and related regulations to develop a weighted human rights disclosure index using the Delphi technique. The findings from this study finalise the weighted HRD index from the Delphi technique as perceived from the stakeholders’ point of view. This study helps guide listed companies on which human rights disclosure indicators are considered important by the stakeholders. It also attempts to fill the gap in the literature by developing a stakeholders-based HRD index and how it could be applied to future research in different contexts.