Social Responsibility Information Disclosure Research Articles

Web-based corporate social responsibility information disclosure by Malawian commercial banks

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the level of online CSR disclosure by banks in Malawi and make a comparative analysis with the level of CSR disclosure in the annual reports. Furthermore, the study examined the influence of the listing status on CSR disclosure. CSR score was used in measuring the level of CSR disclosure and regression analysis in examining the influence of listing status. The results indicated low level of CSR disclosure by the sampled banks in Malawi. Relatively lower level was found for online reporting (0.14) compared to (0.4) for CSR reporting in annual reports, besides, significant difference was found between the two. The study also found that CSR disclosures were generally shallow, largely pictorial and unsystematic in both cases. Finally, study revealed that listing status have insignificant influence on the level of CSR disclosure. The results indicate that more need to be done to enhance CSR reporting among the banks in Malawi. The study recommends incorporation of the minimum CSR guidelines in the current corporate governance guidelines for the Malawian banks and monitoring compliance by the regulatory authorities to ensure comprehensiveness of the disclosures.

Study on Social Responsibility Information Disclosure of Listed Food Corporation in China

This paper studies on social responsibility information disclosure of listed food corporation in china. Taking 100 listed Food Corporation as a sample in 2011 in China; the descriptive statistical analysis has been done about Social Responsibility information disclosure from the aspects of three economic interests, environmental awareness and social relations. The study found: The vast majority of social responsibility information disclosure of the listed food corporations is at a lower level. More responsibility information about key stakeholders was disclosed than the other information. Therefore, the listed food corporations will be obligated to disclose social responsibility information from the legal level. At the same time the steps that establishing perfect internal system and effective corporate governance structure must be speed up to regulate the social responsibility information disclosure of listed food corporations.

Ownership Structure, Institutional Environment, and the Economic Consequences of Corporate Social Responsibility Information Disclosure: Evidence from Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts

Abstract In recent years, as corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been drawing increasing public attention, the regulatory authorities in China have implemented a series of regulations and rules on the disclosure of CSR which have required listed companies to disclose CSR reports since 2008. This paper examines whether the disclosure of CSR-related information can provide useful information to investors. Specifically, we examine the impact of CSR disclosure on the accuracy and dispersion of analysts’ earnings forecasts. The results show that higher quality CSR disclosure by firms leads to smaller analysts’ earnings forecast errors and dispersion. The conclusions still hold after eliminating the endogenous concerns. In a further analysis, we find that the impact of CSR disclosure on the accuracy and dispersion of analysts’ earnings forecasts is stronger for firms which are ultimately controlled by private enterprises, located in regions with a good institutional environment, and in industries with high CSR concern. Collectively, our findings suggest that the disclosure of CSR-related information provides useful information to investors and decreases the degree of information asymmetry. Meanwhile, the relationship between CSR disclosure and forecast accuracy is also affected by the structure of corporate ownership, institutional environment, and industry characteristics.

Evaluation on Accounting Information Disclosure of Social Responsibility of Listed Companies

Evaluation on Accounting Information Disclosure of Social Responsibility of Listed Companies

Corporate social disclosure by public enterprises: Evidence from a less developing African country

The study investigates Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) information disclosure practices of a sample of public enterprises operating in a less developing African country (i.e. Swaziland) over the years 2008 and 2010. Corporate annual reports and other relevant documents were used to extract CSR disclosure information. The study used content analysis of CSR information appearing in the corporate reports. Content analysis was measured in accordance with number of words. The paper examines five major categories of CSR disclosure such as environmental performance and policies, human resources, community activities, fair business practices, and human rights. Findings show that the trend of increasing amounts of corporate social information disclosure amongst the enterprises from 2008 to 2010 has not increased significantly. Results show that human resources disclosure issues were greatest followed by community involvement and then by environmental related issues. There was no attempt to disclose human rights issues by the enterprises. This study contributes to the literature on CSR reporting practices by public enterprises in the context of less developing African countries.

The effect of ultimate owner and regulation policy on corporate social responsibility information disclosure: Evidence from China

In the process of economic development, how to achieve the goal of harmonious development between society and companies is an important issue for the government. In China, the government ultimately owns more than half of the listed companies. Thus, the government plays a critical role in firms’ disclosure of social responsibility information. Although, the Chinese government enacted such disclosure policies in 2006, there are some slight differences in the details between the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It provides us with a unique context to test the effectiveness of explicit regulation policy. Thus, this paper investigated the impact of ultimate owner and regulation policy on the social responsibility reporting of publicly listed companies. Using the sample of 446 listed companies that disclosed the social responsibility and ultimate owner information in Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange, this paper found that firms under the two stock exchanges do report differently on social responsibility. Besides, compared with voluntary disclosure firms, those under mandatory disclosure requirements do provide more social responsibility information. In addition, it was found that state ownership and voting rights have a positive effect on the disclosure of social responsibility information. Key words: Regulation policy, ultimate owner, social responsibility, information disclosure.

Gobierno Corporativo y Rendición de Cuentas: ¿Existe Algún Efecto Sobre la Performance Empresarial?

We analyze the effect that the structure of boards of directors and disclosure of corporate social responsibility information have on business performance after controlling for dynamic endogeneity in the model. We analyse 171 Spanish enterprises during the period 2004 to 2008. The results of the estimation using the GMM method (Generalized Method of Moments) show that there is no effect on performance from the structure of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility after controlling for prior performance. The article highlights the importance of considering the dynamic endogeneity in the relation between corporate governance/corporate social responsibility and performance.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) information disclosure by annual reports of public companies listed at Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX)

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide empirical proof concerning the social focus of responsibility information disclosure – dominant in annual reports of basic and chemical industries groups – and how the company's group type affects the amount and focus of social disclosure in a company's annual report.Design/methodology/approachThis paper explains and describes data characteristics employed in the research. Annual reports are analyzed by content analysis method.FindingsThe results show that the main foci of social disclosure from companies registered at the Indonesia Stock Exchange are labor theme (51.60 percent), followed by customer theme (19.40 percent), society theme (14.70 percent) and environmental theme (14.30 percent), respectively. Hypothesis test proved that there is no significant difference in the presentation of social disclosure amount in all themes between companies in the basic and chemical industries group or in the variety industries group.Research limitations/implicationsThe composing of a social disclosure list tends to be subjective and it is possible to omit certain items that are supposed to be disclosed by the company.Practical implicationsThe paper shows that it is necessary to pay increased attention to the social environment, considering that companies and society are equally important.Originality/valueThis paper describes the importance of amount, manner, and the reason behind a company's social responsibility disclosure.

Communication of corporate social responsibility by Portuguese banks

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether Portuguese banks use their web sites as a medium to disclose social responsibility information and identify what types of this kind of information they disclose, and compare such disclosure with similar disclosure in annual reports.Design/methodology/approachExamines social responsibility information disclosure on the internet by Portuguese banks in 2004 and compares the internet and 2003 annual reports as disclosure media using content analysis.FindingsBanks with a higher visibility among consumers seem to exhibit greater concern to improve the corporate image through social responsibility information disclosure. Results thus suggest that legitimacy theory may be an explanation of social responsibility disclosure by Portuguese banks.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample is small, although it is constituted by all the relevant Portuguese banks.Originality/valueContributes to the scarce literature on social responsibility disclosure by financial institutions. A proxy for public visibility of banks which has not been previously used is proposed in this study.

An Exploratory Study of Social Responsibility Disclosure on the Internet by Portuguese Listed Companies

This study examines social responsibility information disclosure on the Internet by Portuguese listed companies in 2003 and also analyses annual reports as a disclosure medium for those companies which disclose such information on their web pages. The results are interpreted through the lens of legitimacy theory, according to which companies disclose social responsibility information to present a socially responsible image so that they can legitimise their behaviours to their stakeholder groups. Companies in sectors that have a larger potential impact on the environment or in industries with a high visibility among consumers seem to exhibit greater concern to improve the corporate image through social responsibility information disclosure. Results thus suggest that legitimacy theory may be an explanation of social responsibility disclosure by Portuguese listed companies.

Social responsibility disclosure and corporate characteristics: the case of Jordanian industrial companies

The main objectives of this paper are to evaluate social responsibility disclosure practices in the annual reports of Jordanian industrial companies and to determine the effect of certain company characteristics in explaining variation in social responsibility information found in companies' annual reports. To accomplish these objectives, a disclosure index including 37 items was applied to the annual reports of 65 industrial companies. It was found that, on an average, the company disclosed approximately 13% of the items included in the index, with only three companies receiving disclosure scores of more than 30%. These results suggest that there is a significant scope for additional disclosure in the annual reports of Jordanian industrial companies listed on the ASE. The results of the regression analysis identified size, profitability and risk to be significantly and positively associated with the disclosure of social responsibility information.

Users’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility and accountability: evidence from an emerging economy

This study sets out to investigate the perception of different users of corporate information about the notion of the accountability process and the possibility of widening the scope of the current corporate annual report in Qatar to include social responsibility information. To achieve this objective, four user groups were invited to take part in the study. The outcome of the analysis revealed that most of those who took part in the study would like to see corporate social responsibility information disclosed, either in a separate section, or as part of the board of directors’ statement within the annual report. To achieve accountability, the respondents believe that a law that encourages the disclosure of corporate social responsibility information should be introduced, and different parties within the society should have the right to such information.

Give or Take on the Internet: An Examinationof the Disclosure Practices of Insurance Firm Web Innovators

Theories of corporate social responsibility suggest that there ought to be a balance between what business takes from society and what it gives back in return. Recently, the practice literature within the insurance industry has been heavily pushing for the development of the Internet as a tool for commerce while virtually ignoring the role it could play in terms of information disclosure to stakeholders. This study examines whether insurance firms themselves reflect this emphasis, or whether companies that are industry leaders with respect to web innovation for product marketing are also leaders in using the web for information disclosure. A study of the web pages for 40 property and casualty firms drawn from Franzis (2000), shows that financial disclosure for the overall sample is at best moderate. The disclosure of social responsibility information on these web pages is quite low, on average. Further, and importantly from a social balance perspective, the web innovators in terms of product marketing are not industry leaders in terms of information disclosure.

Comparison of Social Responsibility Information Disclosure Media Used by Canadian Firms

This study examines the social responsibility information disclosed through mass media vehicles by Canadian companies operating in the banking and petroleum industries. The analysis compares disclosures, made through mass media vehicles such as magazine, radio and television advertisements and company brochures, with those made through the company′s annual reports. Results indicated that the mass media vehicles were used extensively, but that they provided less information in the quantitative and monetary form than did the annual reports. In addition, information provided through the mass media vehicles dealt with only a few information categories. Comparison across the firms by industry indicated that there was a large interfirm difference in the usage of these media for making social disclosure. It is, therefore, felt that annual reports alone perhaps do not adequately represent the information disclosure activities of a firm or an industry.

Associations between social responsibility disclosure and characteristics of companies

Surveys have shown a trend of increased corporate disclosure of social responsibility information. This paper suggests some reasons why companies provide social responsibility information and examines the effects of four variables (size, systematic risk, social constraints and management decision horizon) on the social responsibility disclosure practices of Australian companies.