The Impact of Board of Directors' Independence on Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure in Palestinian Companies

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a comprehensive approach of the company that determines the amount of the organisation's contribution to society and the use of its available resources in a responsible manner. Previous statistics have shown that the contributions of Palestinian companies towards social issues are still limited, and corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) is at a low level. This paper aims to examine the level of CSRD of Palestinian companies and to examine the relationship of board of directors’ (BOD) independence on CSRD. The study employs OLS linear regression analysis to analysis of data using a sample of 31 companies listed on the Palestine Stock Exchange (PSE) during the period from 2012 to 2021. The theoretical framework of agency theory will be adopted to comprehend the relationship between the variables under investigation. The findings reveal that the level of CSR disclosure in Palestinian companies included in the sample of study is 29.5%.The results of the study also, indicated that the positive and significant relationship between BOD independence and CSRD.