The impact of corporate governance characteristics on banks’ corporate social responsibility disclosure

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Łukasz Matuszak ◽  
Ewa Różańska ◽  
Małgorzata Macuda

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent and trend of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in commercial banks in Poland and examine the link between corporate governance characteristics, namely size of the bank, ownership, boards size, board diversity and CSR disclosures in the banks. Design/methodology/approach The annual reports and CSR reports of the banks were examined between 2008 and 2015 using content analysis and panel data analysis. Findings The results indicate that banks improved their CSR reporting practices during examined period. There are statistically significant differences in the level of CSR disclosures between banks with a different ownership structure. Both foreign majority shareholder group as well as state majority shareholder group have a positive influence on CSR as compared with Polish majority shareholder (PMS) group (excluding State). Moreover, being listed on stock exchange has a positive influence on CSR as compared with not being listed. Further, the results also revealed that there is a significant positive effect of almost all variables related to the management board, namely, size, female board leadership and foreign board members on CSR disclosure, whereas all supervisory board variables and all considered ownership variables have no statistically significant impact on CSR disclosure. Originality/value This research contributes to the existing literature because the banking sector is often excluded from CSR studies due to its specific legal regulations and seemingly little environmental impact. Moreover, there are only few studies analysing the effect of boards characteristics on the banks CSR disclosure, especially in emerging countries. This study is also the first of this kind focusing on the two-tier system. Furthermore, the study provides the instrument to measure CSR in the banking industry. Finally, the research stresses the crucial implications for banking sector, shareholders and regulatory bodies.

Author(s):  
Christine Adel ◽  
Mostaq M. Hussain ◽  
Ehab K.A. Mohamed ◽  
Mohamed A.K. Basuony

Purpose This paper aims to report on the quality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in S&P Europe 350 companies. The paper also examines the impact of corporate governance structure and other firm-specific characteristics on the quality of CSR disclosure in European companies. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a disclosure index adopted from Jizi et al. (2014). Moreover, the paper contributes to the CSR disclosure literature by developing a new index that includes all the aspects introduced by the Global Reporting Initiative version 4.The data of CSR reporting are manually collected from the firms’ reports. The population and sample of this study are related to 350 companies operating in 16 European countries. Tobit regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results reveal that directors’ ownership, the presence of a CSR committee and firm size positively affect the quality of CSR reporting. Further testing of the independent variables on each CSR sub-category is made. The CSR sub-categories used are, namely, community involvement, employees, environment, social product and service quality, supply chain sustainability and business ethics. The presence of a sustainability committee inside the company is the only factor that shows a strong positive effect on the disclosure of every CSR sub-category and the CSR inclusive index. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this research are that it focuses exclusively on the effect of the internal corporate mechanisms on the quality of CSR reporting; disregarding the economic, institutional, political and cultural factors that can play a role in influencing sustainability reporting of the companies. Practical implications Better CSR disclosure leads to the firm having a better image in the society; this, in turn, has implications on firm performance, attracting funds, as well as recruiting and retaining high profile employees. Stakeholders are placing cumulative significance to corporate transparency particularly in the area of CSR. Managers should exert more efforts into not only improving the disclosure of the various facts of CSR but also into using the various media available for disclosure. Companies should take the initiative of establishing a CSR committee to ensure effective formation and implementation of CSR policies and disclosure of CSR activities. Social implications The CRS research itself bears the merit of social implications. Moreover, the findings of this research pave the way for future researches to examine the effect of the adoption of global CSR initiatives and frameworks on the quality of CSR reporting. Originality/value This paper contributes to the CSR disclosure literature by developing a new index that includes all the aspects of CSR and exploring the relation between the rarely explored “presence of sustainability committee” and CSR disclosure, as well as testing a vast number of CSR sub-categories that is not extensively covered in previous studies. Moreover, the paper covers a large sample of companies across 16 European countries, in terms of their stand-alone sustainability reports, dedicated chapters of CSR in annual reports, integrated reports, website CSR information and any attachments/links provided on the websites for further CSR documents, brochures or data sheets.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Afzalur Rashid

Purpose This study aims to investigate if “corporate governance practices” have any influence on firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting by listed firms in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a content analysis to examine specific corporate social responsibility (CSR)-related attributes from 101 publicly listed non-financial firms in Bangladesh. Using various attributes of social and environmental reporting, a disclosure index is also constructed. Findings The finding of this study is that corporate governance practices do not have any influence on firm CSR reporting. The findings, in particular, show that CSR disclosure by firms is not responsive to new corporate governance regulations. Research limitations/implications This study is subject to some limitations, such as the subjectivity or judgement associated in the coding process. Practical implications The implication of this study is that firm CSR practices are legitimization exercises and firms will not make increased disclosure due to regulator’s quest for institutionalisation of corporate governance practices. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on the practices of CSR reporting in the context of developing countries following regulator’s quest for institutionalisation of corporate governance practices.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad A.A. Zaid ◽  
Man Wang ◽  
Sara T.F. Abuhijleh

Purpose The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the deeply rooted relationships between corporate governance (CG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure as two complementary mechanisms used by companies to reinforce the link with stakeholders and whether the extent of CSR disclosures made by Palestinian non-financial-listed companies during the period from 2013 to 2016 is associated with CG practices. Design/methodology/approach Content analysis technique was used to extract and measure CSR information from annual reports of 33 companies listed on the Palestine Stock Exchange (PEX). Therefore, CSR disclosure index was constructed using 32 items divided into four categories as a measure of the extent of CSR disclosure in the firm’s annual reports. OLS regression was performed to test the association between CG and the extent of CSR disclosure in this longitudinal study. Findings Panel data reveal that the level of CSR reporting has slightly increased over the study period. Further, the results also show that the level of CSR disclosure is positively and significantly affected by board size and independence, while gender diversity has a positive but statistically insignificant influence. Additionally, CEO duality is negatively and significantly correlated with CSR disclosures. Research limitations/implications The study designs are limited to the Palestinian non-financial-listed firms. Furthermore, the generalisation of the findings might be restricted solely to the listed companies working in similar socioeconomic status. Practical implications The findings of this study can draw policy-makers’ attention in developing countries, particularly in the Arab world, to meet the increasing need for updating the regulatory and institutional framework in the vein of CG reform and the related regulatory policies to promote the efficiency of CSR practices. Social implications More efforts should be made to strengthen the awareness of the Palestinian listed companies of the advantages of CSR reporting on social reality. Thus, from a management perspective, companies have to take equally into account the financial and social outcomes of CSR activities. Originality/value Empirical evidence on the nexus between CG and CSR disclosure from countries affected by socio-political instability is extremely limited. This study bridges this research gap and contributes theoretically and practically to the CSR literature by providing empirical evidence from a developing country with a unique business environment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanh Thi Song Pham ◽  
Hien Thi Tran

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effects of board model and board independence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure of multinational corporations (MNCs). Design/methodology/approach The authors developed an empirical model in which CSR disclosure is the dependent variable and board model (two-tier vs one-tier), board independence (a proportion of independent directors on a board) and the interaction variable of board model and board independence together with several variables conventionally used as control variables are independent variables. The authors collated the panel dataset of 244 Fortune World’s Most Admired (FWMA) corporations from 2005 to 2011 of which 117 MNCs use the one-tier board model, and 127 MNCs use the two-tier board model from 20 countries. They used the random-effect regression method to estimate the empirical models with the data they collated and also ran regressions on the alternative models for robustness check. Findings The authors found a significantly positive effect of a board model on CSR disclosure by MNCs. Two-tier MNCs tend to reveal more CSR information than one-tier MNCs. The results also confirm the significant moderating impact of board model on the effect of board independence on CSR disclosure. The effect of board independence on CSR disclosure in the two-tier board MNCs tends to be higher than that in the one-tier board MNCs. The results do not support the effect of board independence on CSR disclosure in general for all types of firms (one-tier and two-tier board). The impact of board independence on CSR disclosure is only significant in two-tier board MNCs and insignificant in one-tier board MNCs. Practical implications The authors advise the MNCs who wish to improve CSR reporting and transparency to consider the usage of two-tier board model and use a higher number of outside directors on board. They note that once a firm uses one-tier model, number of IDs on a board does not matter to the level of CSR disclosure. They advise regulators to enforce an application of two-tier board model to improve CSR reporting and transparency in MNCs. The authors also recommend regulators to continue mandating publicly traded companies to include more external members on their boards, especially for the two-tier board MNCs. Originality/value This paper is the first that investigates the role of board model on CSR disclosure of MNCs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-161
Author(s):  
Setu Setyawan

This study aims to test the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and good corporate governance (GCG) on tax avoidance. The population in this study was a CGPI-winning company registered with IICG in 2018. The samples selected for use in the study were 15 companies that met the sample criteria. The study was analyzed using partial last square analysis (PLS). The results showed that CSR has a negative influence on tax avoidance. The higher the csr disclosure rate made by the company, the lower the value of CETR which means the level of tax avoidance is high. Meanwhile, good corporate governance has a significant positive influence on tax avoidance. This shows that good corporate governance then corporate tax avoidance will decrease, and the company will be able to run its business in accordance with applicable business regulations including fiscal regulations. This research is potentially relevant to academia, and management. This research provides empirical insight into two major concepts: agency and stakeholder theory issues in tax avoidance schemes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 1191-1214
Author(s):  
Łukasz Matuszak ◽  
Ewa Różańska

Purpose Based on a set of complementary theories, namely, the legitimacy, stakeholder and signaling theories, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the visibility of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures on bank websites. In particular, we explored the accessibility, placement, reporting format, extent and content of online CSR information. This paper also examined the effect of size, being listed, ownership structure and the internationalization of banks on online CSR reporting. Design/methodology/approach A sample consisting of 20 banks was used where the data were manually collected from the websites of various banks during the fourth quarter of 2017. Three reporting formats were explored: information posted directly on the website, information contained in a separate CSR report and information within a management commentary or annual report or integrated report. Content analysis was used to measure the level of online CSR disclosures in four sub-dimensions: environment, human resources, products and customers and community involvement. The sample was grouped according to the criteria of size, being listed, ownership structure and internationality. Non-parametric statistics were used to analyze some factors that influence CSR disclosure, namely, size, public ownership, internationalization and foreign ownership. Findings The results indicate that accessibility to CSR information is relatively good. The placement of CSR information on websites varies among banks. Moreover, community involvement was the most disclosed dimension on the banks’ websites. There was a lack of disclosure on items regarding the environment. Furthermore, the findings of this paper showed that significant determinants for explaining online CSR disclosure level were size and being listed. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by examining the online CSR disclosure practices of banks from an emerging market with a different socio-economic context and regulations compared to the developed market.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 569-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grigoris Giannarakis

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and financial characteristics and the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in the USA. These corporate governance and financial characteristics are the board meetings, average age of board members, presence of women on the board, the board’s size, chief executive officer duality, financial leverage, profitability, company’s size, board composition and board’s commitment to CSR. Design/methodology/approach – The sample consists of 100 companies from the Fortune 500 list for 2011. The environmental, social and governance disclosure score calculated by Bloomberg is used as a proxy for the extent of CSR disclosure. A multiple linear regression was incorporated to investigate the association of corporate characteristics with CSR disclosure. Findings – Results indicate that the company’s size, the board commitment to CSR and profitability were found to be positively associated with the extent of CSR disclosure, while financial leverage is related negatively with the extent of CSR disclosure. Research limitations/implications – The research is based only on the presence or absence of CSR items in CSR disclosure, and it ignores the quality dimension which can lead to misinterpretation. The results should not be generalized as the sample was based on US companies for 2011. Originality/value – The study assists stakeholders to identify US companies through the extent of CSR disclosures which contributes to the understanding of determinants of CSR disclosure to improve the implementation of disclosure guidelines.


2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-354
Author(s):  
Kamaliah Kamaliah

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of corporate governance and corporate profitability on firm value with corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure as the intervening variable. Design/methodology/approach The population of this study was all companies listed in the LQ 45 Index group in the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2013-2014. The inferential statistics used in this study applied the partial least square (PLS) based structural equation model (SEM) method with the assistance of SmartPLS 2.0. The PLS method was selected based on the consideration that there was a construct formed with reflective indicators in this study. Findings From the results of this study, it can be concluded that corporate governance does not have any effect on CSR disclosure, profitability of company has an effect on CSR disclosure, CSR disclosure has an effect on firm value. In addition, CSR disclosure does not mediate the effect of on firm value. These results showed that corporate governance can have an effect on firm value directly, and there is no role of CSR disclosure in mediating the effect of corporate governance on firm value, and profitability of company has an effect on firm value through CSR disclosure. Originality/value The originality of this research is on the reason that many studies that have been conducted still indicated the inconsistency in the results and diversity of the indicators, so that a similar research was conducted by involving the indicators used for measuring the corporate governance variable, which were the proportion of independent commissioners and audit committee. Meanwhile, for the profitability variable, return on assets and return on equity were used as the indicators.


2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Hafij Ullah ◽  
Mohammad Afjalur Rahman

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of the nature and extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in the annual report by banking companies in Bangladesh, identify the impact of regulatory change on CSR reporting and examine whether there is any relationship between the extent of CSR reporting and bank characteristics. CSR movement and CSR reporting practices by financial sector have gathered great momentum in recent years. Banking sector is in the leading position in discharging CSR reporting. Design/methodology/approach – The sample composed of all the 30 banking companies enlisted in Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), and the study used content analysis approach for systematic categorization and analysis of the contents reported in the annual report. A total of 97 CSR items classified into seven classes were selected through a relevant literature review, as the expected items and average, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, percentage and correlation, etc. were used as the tools of analysis. SPSS software version 19.0 was used to analyze the data. An ordinary least square (OLS) regression model is fitted to the data for assessing the effect of independent variables on total CSR reporting score. Findings – The study found that the extent of CSR reporting in banking companies in Bangladesh varies from 27.84 to 65.98 per cent, and on an average, they report 47.39 per cent of the expected CSR items in annual report. It is also observed that banking companies in Bangladesh emphasized on linguistic or written form than charts, graphs or pictures in reporting CSR activities to their stakeholders, and the study found no significant influence of the selected bank characteristics on the extent of CSR reporting. Moreover, the study observed significant impact of regulatory change on nature and extent of CSR reporting. Research limitations/implications – The study considered all the listed commercial banking companies in Bangladesh, and the annual report of 2011 was taken as the main source of data. Social implications – Among others, the implications of the study include the following. Banking companies are expected to get a real scenario of CSR reporting of the banking sector in Bangladesh and banking companies with poor CSR contribution expected to be motivated for contributing more in CSR activities. Government and other regulatory bodies can also get detailed information regarding CSR reporting practices for formulating guidelines in this regard. Originality/value – This empirical study on the determinants of extent of CSR reporting using a larger number of expected CSR items contributes toward a better understanding of the CSR reporting practices of the banking companies in Bangladesh. The study used a new independent variable “CSR Expenditure” in justifying its influence on CSR reporting and identified the impact of regulatory change on CSR reporting. The study expects contributing in the enactment of more regulatory requirements for bringing the CSR reporting into a certain framework and encouraging in more CSR reporting in Bangladesh.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 394-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amal Hamrouni ◽  
Rim Boussaada ◽  
Nadia Ben Farhat Toumi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting influences leverage ratios. In particular, this paper aims to determine whether firms with higher CSR disclosure scores have better access to debt financing. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a panel data analysis of non-financial French firms listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange and members of the SBF 120 index from 2010 to 2015. The environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure scores that are collected from the Bloomberg database are used as a proxy for the extent of ESG information disclosures by French companies. Findings The empirical results demonstrate that leverage ratios are positively related to CSR disclosure scores. In addition, the results show that the levels of long-term and short-term debt increase with the disclosure of ESG information, thus suggesting that CSR disclosures play a significant role in reducing information asymmetry and improving transparency around companies’ ESG activities. This finding meets the lenders’ expectations in terms of extrafinancial information and attracts debt financing sources. Research limitations/implications The research is based only on the quantity of the ESG information disclosed by French companies and does not account for the quality of the CSR disclosures. The empirical model omits some control variables (e.g. the nature of the industry, the external business conditions and the age of the firm). The results should not be generalized, since the sample was based on large French companies for 2010–2015. Practical implications France is a highly regulated context that places considerable pressure on French firms in terms of CSR policies. The French Parliament has adopted several laws requiring transparency in the environmental, social, and corporate governance policies of French firms. In this context, firms often regard CSR policies as constraints rather than opportunities. This study highlights the benefits that result from transparent CSR practices. More precisely, it provides evidence that the high disclosure of ESG information is a pull factor for credit providers. Originality/value This study extends the scope of previous studies by examining the value and relevance of CSR disclosures in financing decisions. More precisely, it focuses on the relatively little explored relationship between the extent of CSR disclosures and access to debt financing. This paper demonstrates how each category of CSR disclosure information (e.g. social, environmental and governance) affects access to debt financing. Moreover, this study focuses on the rather interesting empirical setting of France, which is characterized by its highly developed legal reforms in terms of CSR. Achieving a better understanding of the effects of ESG information is useful for corporate managers desiring to meet lenders’ expectations and attract debt financing sources.


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