Search results

This study aims to examine the relationship between board diversity and quality of corporate social responsibility (QCSR) disclosure.

The study estimates seven dimensions of board diversity including age, gender, nation, ethnicity, educational level, educational background and tenure by applying Blau’s index. The relationship between board diversity and QCSR disclosure from the perspective of the resource-based view theory is estimated by using panel random effects regression across 57 firms producing exclusive sustainability reports listed in the Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2017. The robustness of the results has also been checked through alternative measurements of the variables under study.

The regression results reveal that gender and national diversities are the firms’ valuable resources, having the potential to promote QCSR disclosure. However, age diversity was found to be negatively associated to QCSR disclosure. Furthermore, educational level, educational background, ethnicity and tenure were insignificant on QCSR disclosure. The sensitivity analysis supports the findings of the baseline model.

Pakistani firms need to improve the level of board diversity through encouragement of the inclusion of diverse forces of gender and nationality to enhance disclosure on CSR practices.

This is the first study on board diversity and QCSR in the case of Pakistan.

This paper attempts to review the corporate voluntary disclosure (CVD) from the theoretical perspective as well as propose a conceptual framework.

The researchers use structural literature review technique. The sample literature consisting of 55 articles was extracted from the Scopus database over the period of 2017–2021.

The literature observes that the legitimacy, agency and stakeholder theories are most applied in CVD related studies than the other theories. It is also revealed that researchers need to concentrate more studies on those theories of CVD that have been applied in a limited study such as neo-institutional, signaling, resource dependence, political economy and impression management theories.

The findings can help the understanding of parties such as practitioners', regulators and potential investors of the theories in CVD from a combined and comprehensive view.

The results of the study offer new insights into the potential impact of organizational level and country level theories in CVD from different perspectives of developed and developing countries.

This study delivers an inclusive literature review of the current study approach on the theories of CVD and highlights some stimulating guidelines for future study.