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This study explores the quality of sustainability reporting (QSR) and the impact of regulatory guidelines, social performance and a standardised reporting framework (using the Global Reporting Initiative [GRI] guidelines) on QSR in the context of banks in Bangladesh.

Using a sample of 315 banking firm-year observations over 13 years (2002–2014), a content analysis technique is used to develop the 11-item QSR index. Regression analysis is used to test the research hypotheses.

Initially, QSR evolved symbolically in Bangladesh's banks but, over our investigation period, with QSR indicators gradually improving, the trends became substantive. The influences on QSR were sustainable banking practice regulatory guidelines, social performance and use of the GRI guidelines. However, until banks improve reporting information, such as external verification and trends over time, QSR cannot be regarded as fully substantive.

This study advances QSR research and debate among academic researchers. With regulatory agencies and stakeholders increasingly using sustainability reporting information for decision making, the information's quality is vital.

This study is the first on QSR in the banking industry context, with previous research mostly investigating the quantity of sustainability reporting. The current study also synthesises QSR with sustainability regulation and social performance factors which have rarely been used in the sustainability literature. To gain a holistic understanding of QSR, existing QSR measures are advanced by combining external reporting efforts with banks' internalisation initiatives.

The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of corporate reputation (hereafter CR) and the degree of economic development on firms’ cost of capital remains unresolved. This study addresses these issues.

Using a global sample across 20 countries, the study investigates the discrete and joint effects of CR and jurisdictional economic development on the cost of equity (COE) and cost of debt (COD) capital. The analysis encompasses a dual data set, comprising 1,308 observations for COE and 1,223 observations for COD, allowing for a comprehensive exploration of these dynamics.

The findings indicate that CR leads to a reduction in the cost of capital for reputable firms. Nevertheless, the extent of this decrease varies per type of capital and firm’s reputation level and is contingent upon the economic development level within the firm’s jurisdiction. Particularly noteworthy is the moderating effect of economic development on CR, which shows that COE capital tends to be lower for reputable firms operating in economically developed jurisdictions. Albeit, this is not the case for COD capital for reputable firms in similarly developed jurisdictions.

This study illustrates that effective CR management, aimed at reducing the cost of capital, necessitates a combination of the firm’s unique competitive advantage and the economic development context of its jurisdiction to truly achieve its intended goal.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first global study to explore the impact of CR on both COE and COD capital. Furthermore, this study is primarily towards understanding the moderating role of economic development in the relationship between CR and cost of capital.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of human capital (HC) reporting in leading Bangladeshi firms using the HC reporting framework, thereby making a contribution to the body of knowledge in the area of HC reporting practice in a developing country context.

Using the technique of content analysis, three years of annual reports of 32 leading manufacturing and service sector companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), selected on the basis of the market capitalization, were examined to identify any HC reporting trends.

The findings reveal that the HC reporting practices of leading Bangladeshi firms are not as low as projected in relation to the total list of items reported. The most commonly disclosed HC items are information on employee training, number of employees, career development and opportunities that firms provide, and employee recruitment policies. Moreover, as a result of a degree of intervention on the part of some Bangladeshi regulators, the extent of reporting has increased during 2009/2010.

The principal limitations of the study are that it is based on a small non‐random sample of firms taken from a single country and drawing solely annual reporting information.

This is the first paper that documents HC‐related disclosures in the context of a transitional economy such as Bangladesh using multi year‐data. The study contributes to the HC literature by providing empirical evidence of the status of HC reporting in a developing country context.

This paper aims to examine the tendencies of sustainability reporting by major commercial banks in Bangladesh in comparison with global sustainability reporting indicators outlined in the GRI framework together with banks' predilection toward reporting 16 GRI financial service sector (FSS) specific performance indicators.

Based on the GRI G3 guidelines, the paper investigated banks' reporting in five broad areas of sustainability, such as environment, labour practices and decent works, product responsibility, human rights and society. The 2008/2009 annual reports of 12 major commercial banks listed on Dhaka stock exchange were analysed and coded using a content‐based technique.

The results show that information on society is addressed most extensively with regard to extent of reporting. This is followed by the disclosures prepared on decent works and labour practices and environmental issues. Furthermore, the disclosures of product responsibility information and the information for human rights are rather scarce in banks' reporting; on the subject of FSS‐specific disclosures, only seven items out of 16 are disclosed by all sample banks.

The findings of the study indicate that Bangladeshi commercial banks' social disclosures could develop in this style to become more holistic and over time (in association with the country's central bank involvement) to resemble a type of structured reporting to the point where they are properly labelled per se.

The study contributes to the social disclosure literature, in particular in a developing countries banking sector context, seeing as it disseminates evidence of the standing on social disclosures practices at the level of GRI with developing countries' banks data.

This paper aims to examine: the status and the use of financial and non‐financial measures, and the balanced scorecard (BSC) in Bangladeshi companies; the reasons for BSC adoption; and associated problems.

Data via a questionnaire were obtained from the chief accounting and finance officers of a cross section of 60 Bangladeshi companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. A combination of descriptive statistics, bi‐variate, and multi‐variate techniques of statistics were used to test three research questions.

The results indicate that financial measures are more widely used, but that 78.4 per cent of companies use some non‐financial indicators. Further, the exercise of a full BSC is limited to only 10 per cent of the sample. The results also show that companies adopt these frameworks to aid decision making, and the problems associated with the adoption of BSC include a cost‐benefit perspective and a lack of management support.

The findings suggest many companies are using a dashboard of financial and non‐financial performance measures that could possibly be a precursor to adopting more holistic performance measurement frameworks like the BSC.

There have been recent calls for more in‐depth analysis of the management accounting systems of emerging countries and these findings contribute further knowledge to an under researched area. In particular, the paper demonstrates how a performance measurement framework may evolve in an emerging country context.

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 report the findings of a study of intellectual capital (IC) reporting by private commercial banks in the developing economy of Bangladesh, together with the perceptions of a range of stakeholders' with respect to such disclosures.

The paper was informed by the results of a study carried out in relation to Bangladeshi banks. Initially, the annual reports of 20 selected banking institutions listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange were subjected to a content analysis exercise. A questionnaire survey was subsequently conducted to explore stakeholders' perceptions about the practice of IC disclosure within this sector.

The findings in the paper indicate that the managements of Bangladeshi commercial banks are not currently enthusiastic about the necessity for such voluntary disclosure activity. The key focus for IC reporting is on human capital elements. Stakeholders' are in favour of such reporting across a wider range of IC items than is currently disclosed.

The results of these exploratory studies can be used by researchers to explore further the different types of IC reporting initiatives pursued across a wider spectrum of industries and any differences in users perceptions by industry, as well as over time.

The paper contributes to the IC literature by presenting empirical evidence on IC disclosures and users' perceptions about such practices in the context of the Bangladeshi banking sector.

Aim – This empirical study explores the association between competition, business strategy, and the uses of a multiple performance measurement system in Bangladesh manufacturing firms.

Design/methodology – The study uses a questionnaire survey of 50 manufacturing companies. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis and other descriptive statistics.

Findings – The results suggest that greater emphasis on multiple measures for performance evaluation is associated with businesses that are facing high competition. The practices of multiple performance measures are also significantly related to the types of business strategy being followed. Specifically, firms pursuing a prospector strategy have relied more on multiple performance measures to rate business performance than the firms pursuing a defender strategy.

Practical implications – The article notes that the designers of performance measurement systems need to consider contingent factors that affect an organizations’ control system.

Originality/value – Substantiating the connection between contingent variables and the use of multiple performance measures in manufacturing firms facilitate a better acceptance of firms’ tendency toward new measurement tools. The study contributes to the performance measurement and contingency literature since it presents empirical evidence of the state of multiple performance measures with organizational contingent variables using a developing country's manufacturing sector data.

The purpose of this paper is to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting by banks in the developing economy of Bangladesh. This paper also aims to examine the users' perceptions relating to CSR disclosures issues.

The study collected two types of data. First the annual reports of 20 selected banking companies, which are listed in Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), were considered. A questionnaire was also used to investigate the level of users' understanding and their perception of CSR reporting.

The principal findings are twofold: first, the study shows that the selected banking companies did some (albeit little) CSR reporting on a voluntary basis. Second, that the user groups are in favor of CSR reporting, and would like to see more disclosure. The current disclosures by the selected banks, however, are not ample at all to measure the social responsiveness of the organizations.

The paper provides useful informaiton on users' perceptions relating to CSR disclosures issues.