Corporate Social and Environment‐related Governance Disclosure Practices in the Textile and Garment Industry: Evidence from a Developing Country

We investigate the social and environment‐related governance disclosure practices of a sample of textile and garment companies operating within Bangladesh. Using content analysis we find that the disclosure of governance information lags behind general corporate social responsibility disclosures, and the textile and garment companies of Bangladesh disclose information about their governance practices in order to secure/maintain legitimacy and/or to meet community expectations. However, the governance disclosures still fall short of what would appear to be expected by the international community, and despite ongoing international concerns about workplace conditions and associated safety, the results suggest limited accountability and transparency in relation to social and environment‐related governance practices within a developing country context.     

Corporate Disclosure in Relation to Combating Corporate Bribery: A Case Study of Two Chinese Telecommunications Companies

This paper investigates the association between global community concerns about bribery activities and anti‐bribery disclosure practices by two Chinese telecommunication companies operating internationally, namely China Mobile and ZTE. Based on content analysis of annual reports and global news media articles over a period of 16 years from 1995–2010, the findings suggest that the changes in the level of disclosures by the two major Chinese telecommunications companies were closely associated with the level of international concerns over bribery practices within the Chinese telecommunications industry. This finding indicates that the companies adopt anti‐bribery disclosure practices in order to minimise the gap of trust (social capital) between companies themselves and global stakeholders. In this paper we argue that, for domestic companies in China, culturally constructed social capital, such as guanxi, creates a level of trust between managers and their stakeholders, which obviates the need for managers to disclose anti‐bribery performance information. However, for companies operating internationally, as social capital is inadequate to bridge the gap of trust between managers and global stakeholders, managers use disclosures of anti‐bribery performance information as a way to minimise such a gap.     

Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosures: Evidence from India

Over the last few decades, a number of studies, mostly in the western countries, have investigated the nature and frequency of corporate social responsibility disclosures, their patterns and trends, and their general relationships with corporate size and profitability. This study seeks to extend the knowledge regarding the relationship between a number of financial and non-financial corporate characteristics and the level of social responsibility disclosures based on an extensive sample of top Indian companies. Corporate size and industry category are found to correlate with the corporate social disclosures of the companies and the corporate reputation as recognised through awards and social ratings has also been observed to be a significant factor that influences the social disclosures made by the Indian companies.     

企业社会责任报告传递信息效度研究

通过分析国内上市公司2012年发布的社会责任报告与公司社会绩效的相关性来揭示社会责任报告反映信息的有效性,从而考察上市公司社会责任报告的质量水平。实证结果表明：上市公司社会责任报告与社会绩效之间存在显著关系,但社会绩效变量对社会责任报告水平解释能力较弱,表明上市公司社会责任报告存在一定的虚构内容。政府部门应加强监管,使企业社会责任行为落到实处。为认识我国上市公司履行社会责任提供了新的视角和经验证据,对于促进上市公司提高社会责任信息披露水平、积极履行社会责任具有现实意义。     

公司社会责任履行对财务业绩的影响--基于发布企业社会责任报告下的研究

文章以2011～2012年披露企业社会责任报告的486家上市公司为样本,运用OLS回归方法,实证检验上市公司在发布企业社会责任报告的情况下,公司社会责任对财务业绩的影响。研究结果表明：上市公司多次发布企业社会责任报告能够促进公司财务业绩;公司履行社会责任能够直接促进公司财务业绩的提高;上市公司履行社会责任可以通过发布企业社会责任报告提高公司财务业绩。     

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.     

保险公司社会责任信度评价体系研究

保险公司社会责任评价指标体系既是保险企业应该遵守的行为准则,又是保险企业改善社会责任表现的行动指南。本文从经济责任、法律责任、伦理责任和慈善责任等方面探讨了保险公司履行社会责任的内涵和要求,提出了构建保险公司社会责任信度评价指标体系的思路和原则,最后设计出一套比较完整的保险公司社会责任信度评价指标体系。     

企业社会责任、融资约束与企业金融化

企业承担社会责任能够通过与利益相关者进行资源交换获得战略资源,但是战略资源对企业绩效的影响取决于企业的投资方向。在实体企业金融化愈演愈烈的经济环境下,本文利用2010—2017年中国A股非金融上市公司数据重点探讨了企业社会责任对企业金融化的影响及其作用机制。研究结果表明:(1)企业社会责任提高了企业的金融资产配置水平,存在“金融化效应”;(2)融资约束在企业社会责任对企业金融化的影响中具有部分中介作用,企业社会责任通过缓解融资约束加剧了企业金融化;(3)企业社会责任的“金融化效应”仅在外部监管力度较弱的非国有企业、内部治理水平较低的低股权集中度企业中存在,行政外部监督和企业内部监督能够在“融资约束—企业金融化”过程中对管理层的机会主义行为发挥治理作用;(4)识别机制检验证实了中国企业金融化主要出于利润最大化的“投资替代”动机。以上结论为政策制定者规范企业社会责任报告披露方式、引导金融回归实体经济具有借鉴意义。     

Corporate mandatory disclosure practices in Bangladesh

This study reports the results of an empirical investigation of the extent of mandatory disclosure by 94 listed companies in Bangladesh. It also reports the results of the association between company-specific characteristics and mandatory disclosure of the sample companies. The results indicate that companies in general have not responded adequately to the mandatory disclosure requirements of the regulatory bodies. It has been found that companies, on average, disclose 44% of the items of information, which leads to the conclusion that prevailing regulations are ineffective monitors of disclosure compliance by companies. Company age appears to be an insignificant factor for mandatory disclosure. And there is little support for industry size as a predictor of mandatory disclosure except where size is measured by sales. Then it is marginally significant. Profitability was also found to have no effect on disclosure. And status, i.e., whether a company is modern or traditional also has no effect on mandatory disclosure.     

The nature, use and impression management of graphs in social and environmental accounting

Social and environmental reports are growing in popularity. They are voluntary, unregulated documents. This study investigates graph usage in social and environmental reports. The findings show that graphs are widely used. Key managerial preferences are shown to be air pollution, waste output, energy usage and employees. High profile industrial sectors, particularly the extractive industry, used graphs the most. There was clear evidence of impression management in graph usage. In terms of trends selected and in the distortion of those trends, there was an overwhelming portrayal of good rather than bad news. Companies in high impact industries tended to present relatively more good news than bad news in graphs and distort graphs relatively more favourably than those in low impact companies. This was particularly true for one high impact industry, the extractive industry. Companies are not, therefore, using graphs properly to enhance the communicative effectiveness of their corporate social and environmental disclosures.     

保险企业社会责任探析

随着全球企业社会责任理论研究的持续深入以及社会责任实践活动的不断普及,具有典型社会管理职能的商业保险企业,其社会责任的充分发挥显得日趋迫切。本文对国内外学者关于保险企业社会责任的研究成果进行了初步综述,理清了保险企业社会责任的层次,并在此基础上,归纳出了不同生命周期的保险企业社会责任特征及发展侧重点,有助于推动我国商业保险积极承担企业社会责任,加速保险业的发展。     

The effect of corporate social responsibility on the branding of financial services

In today's global world, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasing public demand for greater transparency from multinational companies. CSR is a new and growing financial risk factor. If it is mismanaged, a firm's corporate reputation can be badly damaged and a direct negative impact on its business and bottom-line may result. Instead of simply campaigning directly against industrial groups and lobbying governments and international organisations to issue new legislation, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are increasingly putting pressure on the financial services groups and insurance companies. This new global tactic may affect a bank's relationship with its clients and shareholders.There are market benefits and competitive advantages for those companies whose business policies integrate CSR. The growth in socially responsible investments and in CSR awareness among City people persuades some bankers that the most successful firms of the future will be those who proactively balance short-term financial goals with long-term sustainable franchise building. To respond to this challenge, corporations will have to convince citizens they can trust both their brands and the people behind them. In this context, one must recognise that finance brands have been clumsily managed. Nowadays, several big consumer brands are used as societal role models, but they are also the targets of anti-globalisation and anti-logo activists. In order to avoid such an outcome — not to mention corporate mortification — the key social marketing strategy must be to communicate proactively the business activity's raison d'être to opinion leaders and the general public. In general, industry does not yet care enough and many companies are reacting only when put under pressure by public opinion. It is time, however, to market the social raison d'être of a business and indeed to contest its current exclusion from ‘civil society’. Consumer and service sectors lead the field. In view of the downturn of the global economy, more than ever before, CSR branding is of paramount importance to the financial sector if bankers do not want to become the easy scapegoats. It is necessary to make it clear that financial services companies are global citizens too.     

社会责任履行对企业价值的影响

经济全球化使得世界各国联系更为紧密,全球环境污染、气候变化、企业信用危机等的挑战,共同推动企业社会责任运动的蓬勃发展。企业作为最重要的社会生产组织,积极履行社会责任是遵循人口、资源与环境可持续发展理念的重要表现,也是企业追求价值增值的实际需要。在对国内外文献评述的基础上,基于利益相关者理论,阐述了企业履行社会责任对企业价值的影响路径,并利用A股上市公司2009-2011年292组数据,检验企业社会责任履行与企业价值的相关关系。研究结论表明企业社会责任与企业价值之间存在显著正相关关系,这为企业自觉履行社会责任提供了一定的理论指导。     

企业社会责任报告鉴证意见是否具有信息含量——来自我国上市公司的经验证据

近年来,我国上市公司披露企业社会责任报告的现象越来越多,企业保证社会责任报告质量的方式有两种:一是独立第三方出具的企业社会责任报告鉴证意见;二是企业董事会对企业社会责任报告质量出具的自我承诺。这两种保证形式是否具有信息含量是大家所关心的问题。本文以沪深两市2009—2010年披露企业社会责任报告的940家上市公司为研究对象,依据信号传递理论,运用事件研究法研究发现:企业社会责任报告鉴证意见具有正向的市场反应,而董事会承诺不具有市场反应。根据我国的制度背景、理论分析和实证结果,从如何完善我国的企业社会责任报告鉴证标准、鉴证主体、鉴证客体、政府部门对董事会承诺的监管重点等方面提出了政策建议。     

Determinants of corporate social disclosure: Empirical evidence from Bangladesh

We explore the potential firm and industry characteristics that determine the corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure practises by Bangladeshi listed firms. We use a CSR disclosure checklist to measure the extent of CSR disclosure in the annual reports and a multiple regression analysis to examine the determinants of CSR disclosure. Our study finds that CSR disclosure has positive and significant relationships with export-oriented sector, firm size and types of industries. We also find a negative relationship between CSR disclosure and family ownership. The overall findings of our study provide empirical evidence which suggests that a number of firm and industry characteristics are important determinants of the extent of CSR disclosures in a developing country like Bangladesh. Our findings can help the policy makers to adopt necessary regulatory reform to improve the CSR practises and enhance organisational legitimacy.     

Strategy and society: the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility

Governments, activists, and the media have become adept at holding companies to account for the social consequences of their actions. In response, corporate social responsibility has emerged as an inescapable priority for business leaders in every country. Frequently, though, CSR efforts are counterproductive, for two reasons. First, they pit business against society, when in reality the two are interdependent. Second, they pressure companies to think of corporate social responsibility in generic ways instead of in the way most appropriate to their individual strategies. The fact is, the prevailing approaches to CSR are so disconnected from strategy as to obscure many great opportunities for companies to benefit society. What a terrible waste. If corporations were to analyze their opportunities for social responsibility using the same frameworks that guide their core business choices, they would discover, as Whole Foods Market, Toyota, and Volvo have done, that CSR can be much more than a cost, a constraint, or a charitable deed--it can be a potent source of innovation and competitive advantage. In this article, Michael Porter and Mark Kramer propose a fundamentally new way to look at the relationship between business and society that does not treat corporate growth and social welfare as a zero-sum game. They introduce a framework that individual companies can use to identify the social consequences of their actions; to discover opportunities to benefit society and themselves by strengthening the competitive context in which they operate; to determine which CSR initiatives they should address; and to find the most effective ways of doing so. Perceiving social responsibility as an opportunity rather than as damage control or a PR campaign requires dramatically different thinking--a mind-set, the authors warn, that will become increasingly important to competitive success.     

The market reaction to social responsibility disclosures: The case of the Sullivan principles signings

Few studies to date have tested for investor use of social responsibility information disclosures. This paper examines the stock trading volume and price return reaction to the 1977 disclosures that certain United States companies doing business in South Africa had agreed to the Sullivan Principles. Results indicate that non-signing firms experienced significantly higher unexpected trading volume than signing firms around the announcement date. As such, the findings represent further evidence of investor use of social responsibility information.     

Oil supply expectations and corporate social responsibility

This paper examines how changes in oil supply expectations affect the social responsibility scores of Chinese listed companies and attempts to identify the source of this expectations in terms of uncertainty and orderliness of OPEC production. We document strong evidence that supply news shocks have a statistically and economically significant impact on corporate social responsibility. Supply expectations strongly impact social responsibility performance in the energy sector, with negative news leading to higher oil prices and increased economic uncertainty. Based on real options theory and precautionary storage effects, firms increase oil inventories when OPEC announcements are disclosed. This leads to increased tension in firms' cash flows, which provides evidence of the expected supply channel operation.     

Future roles of business in society: the expanding boundaries of corporate responsibility and a compelling case for partnership

The roles and responsibilities of business in society, in particular global business, are being defined more broadly by an expanding range of stakeholders. This paper aims to review these changes and their implications in order to understand better the likely future expectations of business in society and the way in which leading companies are setting new standards of responsible business practice. It begins by tracing trends within corporate social responsibility debates, and then draws on empirical research and observed stakeholder demands of business, to argue that the boundaries of corporate responsibility are advancing both internally and externally.Internally, these boundaries are changing in terms of the increased responsibility of corporations towards their direct and indirect internal stakeholders. This is shown through innovations in business practice to achieve enhanced social justice in the workplace, improved governance, and more accurate disclosure of non-financial risk. This paper provides a context for this discussion by examining emerging international law, guidelines and voluntary initiatives, regulatory frameworks, and risk review procedures that increasingly seek to redefine corporate responsibility by establishing new norms of best practice and behaviour. These boundaries are also expanding externally, as society increasingly expects global business to work with others to provide solutions to humanitarian crises and endemic problems facing the world. This paper explores how some companies are doing this by applying core competencies in ways that integrate social development and business goals. It suggests, in turn, that the challenges of these expanding boundaries of responsibilities are best addressed through strategic partnerships.This paper concludes that there are new multi-stakeholder convened global governance frameworks evolving that are encouraging businesses of the future to re-invent themselves as a ‘force for positive good’ in society. This involves going beyond the paradigm of simply ‘doing no harm’, and way beyond previous expectations of business as being only about shareholder value. This prediction is supported by examples drawn from the practice of global companies that are already innovating to fulfil this wider role.