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This study aims to evaluate the relationship of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting with the financial performance of firms using various market and accounting-based parameters in a developing economy, India.

The study uses content analysis to develop a CSR reporting index for the Indian firms listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The two-step system generalized methods of moments has been used for the estimation of the panel data.

The results from the study suggest that the CSR reporting-based activities of the firms may impact the financial performance of the firms, but at the same time, the need of the hour is to create awareness among the investors and market players so that they realize the relevance of CSR reporting, which can further improve other dimensions of financial performance as well.

The study relies on Tobin’s Q and return on assets while measuring financial performance, though there are various other parameters that can be used to gauge the performance. The outcomes of this study have practical implications for the practitioners as well as policymakers, incentivizing them to integrate CSR aspects into their decision-making frameworks.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first Indian study to develop a unique index for CSR reporting and linking it with financial performance. This study shall assist the researchers in broadening the scope of CSR studies in India and can be used to draw a systematic comparison with developed nations.

This study aims mainly to test the effect of audit committee independence and expertise attributes on corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, assurance and global reporting initiative (GRI) framework adoption and to investigate how CSR committee existence moderates this main relationship.

The study uses a large global sample that includes all (59,172) firm-year observations having CSR-related data in the Thomson Reuters Eikon database for a period between 2002 and 2019. The empirical analyses are based on random-effects logistic panel regression and Hayes methodology for the moderation analysis.

The study finds that audit committee independence and expertise are significantly associated with CSR reporting, CSR report assurance and GRI framework adoption. Moderation analysis largely supports the existence of a substitution role between audit and CSR committees and implies that audit committees are significant predictors of CSR reporting, assurance and GRI framework adoption mostly in the absence of the CSR committee.

The findings propose audit committee members be extra-vigilant in CSR reporting and assurance practices arising from undertaking substitution roles with the CSR committee. Hence, firms may configure their corporate structure in line with the results such as augmenting the audit committee with independent and expert members if they do not constitute a CSR committee. If firms establish a CSR committee, audit committee members may allocate less time to CSR reporting and assurance and more time to financial reporting quality.

This is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to investigate the direct and indirect effect of audit committees’ attributes not only on CSR disclosure but also on GRI implementation and CSR reporting external assurance, considering the CSR committee’s possible substitutability or complementarity moderating role. This research develops a deeper understanding of audit committees’ non-financial role.

The purpose of this study is to understand the current trends and development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in emerging and developing economies and analyze 106 Chinese central enterprises (CEs) that disclose CSR reports from 2004 to 2015.

This study analyzes all the CSR reports available to the public from CEs between 2004 and 2015 in China. This paper carefully examines the reporting patterns and standards in those CSR reports. CEs in China are focused on because state-owned companies account for a large proportion of the Chinese stock market because of their social and economic institutional characteristics.

The results in this paper confirm a growth trend in the numbers of CSR reports, as predicted. The results also suggest that the number of CSR reports from the CEs containing some assurance has dramatically increased. However, the findings indicate that the current content of the CSR reports may not fully meet the needs of users of information from different industries, regions and interests, as more than 20 CEs have formulated their own CSR framework. The lack of unified, sustainable reporting and assurance may reduce the comparability and effectiveness of CSR reporting.

This study provides evidence of the trends and development of CSR reporting in China.

The findings extend the understanding of CSR reporting by analyzing Chinese CE data. The results also provide decision-useful information for the government and other policymakers when considering CSR reporting and assurance standards.

Supported by the principles of the legitimacy theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship that exists between the information quality of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting provided by the most liquid companies operating in the Spanish Stock Market and their corporate reputation.

Three regression models are tested with panel data collected for a sample of the 35 most liquid companies operating in the Spanish Stock Market between 2004 and 2014.

The findings show that two axes of information quality (i.e. content and management systems) should be necessarily controlled by companies in order to improve their corporate reputation through their CSR reporting. The content axis refers to the compliance of CSR reports with the provision of qualitative, quantitative, and evaluative information concerning the impacts of the CSR of the company on society and the environment. The management systems axis refers to the compliance of CSR reports with the disclosure of details about the policies, plans, and actions that companies implement to assure an effective management of CSR initiatives.

Previous literature exploring the relationship between corporate reporting and reputation has frequently focused on either the impact of the quantity of financial and CSR information reported by companies and the role of information quality, but only in reference to a number of specific themes (environment, customers) and not to the full range of information covered by CSR reports. The authors of this paper extend on previous academic literature by empirically evaluating the relationship between two dimensions of the information quality of CSR reporting (content and management systems) and the corporate reputation of companies operating in the Spanish Stock Market.

Basándose en la teoría de la legitimidad, los autores de este trabajo exploran la relación que existe entre la calidad de la información contenida en las memorias de responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC) de las principales empresas cotizadas en la bolsa española y su reputación corporativa.

Se testean tres modelos de regresión con un panel de datos recopilados entre 2004 y 2014 para una muestra de las 35 empresas más sólidas de la bolsa española.

Los resultados muestran que los dos ejes principales de la calidad de la información (es decir, contenido y sistemas de gestión) deben ser necesariamente controlados por las empresas con el fin de mejorar su reputación corporativa a través de sus memorias de RSC. El eje de contenido se refiere al cumplimiento de las memorias de RSC con el suministro de información cualitativa, cuantitativa y de evaluación en relación con los impactos de la RSC de la empresa en la sociedad y el medio ambiente. El eje de los sistemas de gestión se refiere al cumplimiento de las memorias de RSC con la divulgación de información acerca de las políticas, planes y acciones que las empresas implementan para asegurar una gestión eficaz de las iniciativas de RSC.

La literatura previa que ha explorado la relación entre la información corporativa y la reputación se ha centrado con frecuencia en (1) el impacto de la cantidad de información financiera y de RSC que generan las empresas o (2) el papel de la calidad de la información, pero sólo en referencia a una serie de temas concretos (principalmente medio ambiente y clientes) y no a toda la gama de información cubierta por las memorias de RSC. Los autores de este trabajo amplían esta línea de investigación mediante la evaluación empírica de la relación entre dos dimensiones de la calidad de la información de las memorias de RSC (contenido y sistemas de gestión) y la reputación corporativa de las empresas que operan en la bolsa española.

This paper seeks to investigate to what extent (and why) CSR reporting in developing countries reflect instrumental and/or “political CSR” motivations and the types of organisational legitimacy sought in these circumstances.

We adopt a theoretical framework based on neo-institutional theory, “political CSR” framework and types of organisational legitimacy. This interpretive research is set in the Egyptian context post-2011 revolution. We first carry out a content analysis of web disclosures for 40 banks in 2013 and 2016 to ascertain the nature of CSR activities and any changes over time. Second, we draw on 21 interviews to tease out the implications of the change in societal expectations due to the revolution and to deepen our understanding of the organisational motivations underlying CSR reporting.

Following the 2011 revolution, the banks’ CSR reporting practices have gradually shifted from a largely instrumental “business-case” perspective towards a more substantive recognition of a wider set of societal challenges consistent with a political CSR perspective. Overall, the maintaining/gaining of legitimacy is gradually bound to the communication of accounts about the multi-faceted socially valued consequences or structures performed by banks. Our interview data shows that participants reflected on the legitimation challenges brought by the revolution and the limits of transactional strategies involving traditional constituents, with a preference for pursuing consequential and structural forms of moral legitimacy.

This study demonstrates a constructive shift by businesses towards engaging with the new social rules in response to sociopolitical changes and the need to achieve moral legitimacy. Hence, policymakers and stakeholders could consider engaging with different economic sectors to foster more transparent, accountable, and impactful CSR practices.

We highlight the implications of Scherer and Palazzo’s political CSR approach for accountability and CSR reporting. CSR reporting in some developing countries has typically been seen as peripheral or a symbolic exercise primarily concerned with placating stakeholders and/or promoting shareholders’ interests. We suggest that researchers need to be instead attuned to the possibility of a blend of instrumental and normative motivations.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting information of Bangladeshi listed commercial banks and explores the potential effects of corporate governance (CG) elements on CSR disclosures.

The annual reports of all private commercial banks (PCB) for the year 2007‐2008 are examined to analyse the banks' CSR reporting practice using content analysis. It also considers three elements of CG such as non‐executive directors, existence of foreign nationalities and women representation in the board. The multiple regressions were used to measure the impact of CG elements on banks' CSR reporting initiatives.

The results of the study demonstrate that though voluntary, overall CSR reporting by Bangladeshi PCB are rather moderate, however, the varieties of CSR items are really impressive. The results also displayed no significant relationship between the women representation in the board and CSR reporting. Conversely, non‐executive directors and existence of foreign nationalities have been found the significant impact on the CSR reporting.

The main limitations of the paper are that it considers PCB from only one country and uses annual reports disclosures from a single year. The results of the study can be used by researchers to analyse the benefits of including the non‐executive directors and foreign nationals on different types of CSR initiatives and standard setters to set the suitable CSR policy guidelines with a view to reinforce such initiatives.

This unique paper divulges the CSR related disclosure with possible impact of CG in the specific context of a transitional economy's banks such as Bangladesh. The paper contributes to the CSR literature as it presents empirical evidence of the influences of CG structure on the practices of CSR activities in developing countries' banking sector setting.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse CSR reporting in large Finnish listed companies, focusing on the following questions: what kinds of motives and objectives appear behind CSR reporting, what kinds of documents are used in CSR reporting, and what kind of information related especially to CSR policy, stakeholders, as well as economic, social and environmental responsibilities, is presented? Finally, the idea is to compare large Finnish listed companies' CSR information with corresponding international results.

The study is based on the analysis of qualitative data consisting of formal CSR reports, including annual reports and special CSR reports, of 2006. The empirical analyses are supplemented with interviews with four company representatives and with two auditors. The information of special CSR reports is analysed by using the content method.

Companies understand responsibility as a duty to act responsibly towards their stakeholders and CSR reporting as a response to stakeholders' expectations and demands. The study indicates that especially corporate characteristics such as industry group and internationalization stage as well as general contextual factors such as social and cultural context affect voluntary CSR reporting. It shows that the large Finnish listed companies define corporate social responsibility as being based on Elkington's triple bottom line (TBL) model. In CSR reporting companies follow more or less GRI guidelines. Formal CSR information is presented based on the TBL model but companies emphasize different issues in their reporting.

First, the research is based on interpretative understanding and these kinds of analyses are always more or less subjective. Second, the analysis is based on CSR information produced by large Finnish listed companies. Thus, the study does not give an extensive description of the CSR reporting in all Finnish listed companies or in non‐listed companies. Third, the research is a cross‐sectional study based on CSR information published in one particular year. And fourth, the research data include only certain formal CSR information, not all CSR disclosures. Thereby, the analysis gives a snapshot or a glimpse of Finnish CSR reporting practices. The analysis does not tell anything about history, development or future of CSR reporting practices or anything about other kinds of CSR communication of the large Finnish listed companies. Thus, the reality reconstructed in the study must not be generalized, but used to understand CSR reporting in the context.

The paper analyses CSR reporting in large Finnish listed companies, focusing on motives and objectives, documents used, and information related particularly to CSR policy, stakeholders, and economic, social and environmental responsibilities.

This paper aims to examine the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting quality and board characteristics on corporate social reputation of Chinese listed firms.

Firms chosen for this study are drawn from a social responsibility ranking list of Chinese listed firms. The social responsibility rating scores identified by this ranking list are used to measure the social reputation of firms studied. The model-testing method is used to examine hypothesised relationships between CSR reporting quality, board characteristics and corporate social reputation.

The results indicate that CSR reporting quality positively influences corporate social reputation but chief executive officer/chairman duality as a measure of board characteristics has a negative impact on corporate social reputation. Firm’s financial performance and firm size also positively influence corporate social reputation.

The relatively small sample of firms for a cross-sectional study, and the proxies constructed for various concepts to empirically test hypotheses can limit generalising findings to firms outside the social responsibility ranking list. Future studies can undertake longitudinal analysis and compare socially responsible firms with others to expand empirical findings about corporate social reputation.

This paper investigates the influences of CSR reporting quality and board characteristics on corporate social reputation in the context of a developing country, China.

Here, the paper aims to model major corporate characteristics associated with corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting (in particular, its quality). Corporations in China are increasingly expected by the public and government to be more socially responsible. As such, it will be intriguing to ask, what are the characteristics associated with higher quality CSR reporting?

CSR report quality scores are hand-gathered from HEXUN (web site) whilst financial and stock market information from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) database. A total of 613 CSR reports' quality scores were utilized (Rankins CSR ratings) in the process of developing the model. Reports are hand-gathered from corporations listed on both the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges (SSE).

The results suggest most interestingly, the quality of CSR report (mandatory) to be strongly, positively related with corporate financial characteristics: market capitalization (corporate size), shareholders' concentration of powers, corporate financial leverage (implying bondholders/debtors' influence). Surprisingly, CSR reporting is associated neither with corporate profitability nor by state-ownership. The presence of independent directors (at least in China) seems to have negative influences.

CSR reporting may easily be mandated by government through a regulatory process. However, this does not necessarily lead to reports of a high quality. Instead, orientation towards higher visibility in social responsibility for listed corporations is better explained by financial characteristics: market valuation, ownership and leverage.

This paper utilizes for the first time, in-depth and multi-faceted quality CSR scores (overall, segregated into macro-social, content and technology) for investigating CSR behavior of listed corporations in China. The findings suggest financial characteristics size (market valuation), ownership (shareholders' concentration of powers) and corporate leverage are better predictors of CSR behavior among listed corporations.

This paper aims to investigate corporate motivations for voluntarily reporting social and environmental information in New Zealand. The approach used in this study also gives the opportunity to gain insights into the internal systems and views of companies and allows the authors to make better judgements of the intentions of companies in undertaking corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting.

A survey is used and then extended to match corporate survey responses with content analysis results of actual company reporting. The results of the survey and the content analysis are examined both individually and collectively to gather more context for corporate motivations.

The authors find that community concerns and shareholder rights were the most important factors that influenced the companies’ decision to report. The driving force for a sustainability agenda within these companies is usually a member of senior management. The authors also find that reporting frameworks and highly formalised internal systems were not frequently used, external assurance of CSR reporting was lacking and there were low levels of stakeholder engagement. A commitment to reporting comprehensive CSR disclosures and accepting responsibility towards a range of stakeholders were, therefore, not in evidence.

For researchers, the value is in further revising analysis techniques and expanding existing research methods used in this area. The study brings together important CSR topics from across the literature, including reporting levels and characteristics, internal CSR systems, CSR assurance and stakeholder engagement, to investigate the motivation for CSR reporting.

The results suggest that New Zealand companies are not currently fully committed to social and environmental reporting and that CSR reporting is most likely used to create the impression of being concerned about sustainability to increase legitimacy with stakeholders and society. The results highlight the importance of having formalised systems to ensure that disclosures are accurate and comprehensive.

The results contribute to the literature by providing a current view of the motivations for reporting companies to report or not report. The approach used gives the opportunity to gain insights into the internal systems and views of companies and allows the authors to make better judgements of the intentions of companies in undertaking CSR reporting.