The determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure: evidence from Vietnam’s listed companies in chemical industry
Main Article Content
Abstract
This paper aims to observe corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and to identify the determinants of CSR disclosure (CSRD) of Vietnam’s listed companies in chemical industry from 2014 to 2017. A rating system was built by incorporating the comprehensive Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) reporting framework to measure firm’s CSR disclosure. The financial data was collected from FiinPro and manually collected from annual reports. The findings show that CSRD in Vietnam’s chemical companies is still inadequate, and most of the firm disclosure is far below the international standards. In addition, it is found that firm size, profitability and female board members have a positive correlation with CSR disclosure. On the other hand, CEO gender has a significant relationship with CSR disclosure. The results strengthen the previous studies and give more detailed implications to managers in this industry.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Keywords
Corporate governance, Corporate social responsibility, Firm performance, Chemicals
References
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Jensen M. and Meckling W.H., (1976), “The theory of firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure”, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 3, pp. 305–360.
Kitchin, T. (2002), “Corporate social responsibility: a brand explanation”, Brand Management, Vol. 10 No. 4-5, pp. 312-326.
Khan, M.H.U.Z. (2010), “The effect of corporate governance elements on corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting: empirical evidence from private commercial banks of Bangladesh”, International Journal of Law and Management, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 82-109.
Li, S., Fetscherin, M., Alon, I., Lattemann, C. and Yeh, K. (2010), “Corporate social responsibility in emerging markets the importance of the governance environment”, Management International Review, Vol. 50 No. 5, pp. 635-654.
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Owen, D., Gray, R. and Bebbington, J. (1997), “Green accounting cosmetic irrelevance or radical agenda for change?”, Asia Pacific Journal of Accounting, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 175-98.
Purushothaman, M., Tower, G., Hancock, R. and Taplin, R. (2000), “Determinants of corporate social reporting practices of listed Singapore companies”, Pacific Accounting Review, Vol. 12 No. 2, p. 101-133.
Rechner, P.L. and Dalton, D.R. (1991), “CEO duality and organizational performance: a longitudinal analysis”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 155-160.
Reverte, C. (2009), “Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure ratings by Spanish listed firms”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 88, pp. 351–366.
Siregar, S.V. and Bachtiar, Y. (2010), “Corporate social reporting: empirical evidence from Indonesia stock exchange”, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 241-252.
Sutantoputra A.W. (2009),”Social disclosure rating system for assessing firms’ CSR reports”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 14 No.1, pp. 34 – 48.
Trotman, K.T. and Bradley, G.W. (1981), “Association between social responsibility disclosure and characteristics of companies”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 6 No. 4, 355–362.
Webb, L.H., Cohen, J.R., Nath, L. and Wood, D. (2009), “The supply of corporate social responsibility disclosures among U.S. firms”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 84 No.4, pp. 497–527.
Welford, R., Chan, C. and Man, M. (2007), “Priorities for corporate social responsibility: a survey of businesses and their stakeholders”, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 52-62.
World Heath Organization (2016), The public health impact of chemicals: knowns and unknowns, WHO/FWWC/PHE/EPE/16.01, pp. 1-16.
Zhang, J.Q., Zhu, H. and Ding, H.B. (2013), “Board composition and corporate social responsibility: an empirical investigation in the post sarbanes-oxley era”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 114 No. 3, pp. 381-392.
Alsaeed, K. (2006), “The association between firm-specific characteristics and disclosure: the case of Saudi Arabia”, Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 21 No. 5, pp. 476-496.
Brammer, S. and Pavelin, S. (2008), “Factors influencing the quality of corporate environmental disclosure”, Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 120-136.
Bear, S., Rahman, N. and Post, C. (2010), “The impact of board diversity and gender composition on corporate social responsibility and firm reputation”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 97 No. 2 pp. 207-221.
Belal, A.R. and Owen, D. (2007), “The views of corporate managers on the current state ot and future prospects for, social reporting in Bangladesh: an engagement based study”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 472-494.
Belal, A. (2000), “Environmental reporting in developing countries: empirical evidence from Bangladesh”, Eco-Manag. Audit, (UK), pp. 114–121.
Branco, M.C. and Rodrigues, L.L. (2008), “Factors influencing social responsibility disclosure by Portuguese companies”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 83 No. 4, pp. 865-701.
Campbell, D.T. (2004), “A longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of environmental disclosure in UK companies: a research note”, The British Accounting Review, Vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 107-117.
Carroll, A. (1979), “A three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance”, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 497-505, available at: http://www. jstor.org/stable/257850, (accessed December 10, 2020).
Carroll, A.B. (1991), “The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders”, Business Horizons, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 39–48.
Clarkson, P.M., Li, Y., Richardson, G.D. and Vasvari, F.P. (2006), “Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: an empirical analysis”, in The AFAANZ (Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand) conference, Wellington.
Cowen, S.S., Ferreri, L.B., and Parker, L.D. (1987), “The impact of corporate characteristics on social responsibility disclosure: a typology and frequency-based analysis”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 12 No.2, pp.111–122.
Chen, W.C., Lin, J.B. and Yi, B. (2008), “CEO duality and firm performance – an endogenous issue”, Corporate Ownership and Control, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 58-65.
Chen, Y.C., Hung, M., and Wang, Y. (2018), “The effect of mandatory CSR disclosure on firm profitability and social externalities: evidence from China”, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Vol. 65 No.1, pp.169–190.
Daily, C.M. and Dalton, D.R. (2003), “Women in the boardroom: a business imperative”, Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 24 No. 5, pp. 8-9.
Deegan, C. and Blomquist, C. (2006), “Stakeholders influence on corporate reporting: an exploration of the interaction between WWWF-Australia and Australian minerals industry”, Accounting Organization and Society, Vol. 31 No. 4-5, pp. 343-72.
Friedman, A.L. and Miles, S. (2001), “Socially responsible investment and corporate social and environmental reporting in the UK: an exploratory study”, The British Accounting Review, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 523-548.
Gray, R., Owen, D. and Adams, C. (1996), Accounting and accountability: changes and challenges in corporate social and environmental reporting, Prentice Hall, Hemel Hempstead, London.
Giannarakis G. (2014), “The determinants influencing the extent of CSR disclosure”, International Journal of Law and Management, Vol. 56 No. 5, pp. 393 – 416.
Gul, F.A. and Leung, S. (2004), “Board leadership, outside directors’ expertise and voluntary corporate disclosures”, Journal of Accounting & Public Policy, Vol. 23 No. 5, pp. 351379.
Guthrie, J. and Mathews, M. (1985), “Corporate social reporting in Australia”, Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, Vol. 7, pp. 251 - 71.
Haniffa, R.M. and Cooke, T.E. (2005), “The impact of culture and corporate governance on corporate social reporting”, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 24 No. 5, pp. 391-430.
Harjoto, M., Laksmana, I. and Lee, R. (2015), “Board diversity and corporate social responsibility”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 132 No. 4, pp. 641-660.
Hassan, O., and Marston, C.L. (2010), “Disclosure measurement in the empirical accounting literature - a review article”, Working Paper No.10-18, Economics and Finance working paper series, SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1640598, Brunel University, London.
Hopkins M. (2003), The Planetary Bargain: corporate social responsibility matters, Michael Hopkins, Earthscan. UK.
Huafang, X. and Jianguo, Y. (2007), “Ownership structure, board composition and corporate voluntary disclosure: evidence from listed companies in China”, Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 22 No. 6, pp. 604-619.
Ho, J.L.C. and Taylor, M.E. (2007), “An empirical analysis of triple bottom-line reporting and its determinants: evidence from the United States and Japan”, Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 123-150.
Jensen M. and Meckling W.H., (1976), “The theory of firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure”, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 3, pp. 305–360.
Kitchin, T. (2002), “Corporate social responsibility: a brand explanation”, Brand Management, Vol. 10 No. 4-5, pp. 312-326.
Khan, M.H.U.Z. (2010), “The effect of corporate governance elements on corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting: empirical evidence from private commercial banks of Bangladesh”, International Journal of Law and Management, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 82-109.
Li, S., Fetscherin, M., Alon, I., Lattemann, C. and Yeh, K. (2010), “Corporate social responsibility in emerging markets the importance of the governance environment”, Management International Review, Vol. 50 No. 5, pp. 635-654.
Liu, X. and Anbumozhi, V. (2009), “Determinant factors of corporate environmental information disclosure: an empirical study of Chinese listed companies”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp. 593-600.
Majeed, S., Aziz, T. and Saleem, S. (2015), “The effect of coporate governance elements on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure: an empirical evidence from listed companies at KSE Pakistan”, International Journal of Financial Studies, Vol. 3 No.4, pp. 1-27.
Marston, C.L. and Shrives, P.J. (1996), “A review of the development and use of explanatory models in financial disclosure studies”, The 19th Annual Congress of the European Accounting Association, EAA Congress, May, Bergen, Norway.
Owen, D., Gray, R. and Bebbington, J. (1997), “Green accounting cosmetic irrelevance or radical agenda for change?”, Asia Pacific Journal of Accounting, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 175-98.
Purushothaman, M., Tower, G., Hancock, R. and Taplin, R. (2000), “Determinants of corporate social reporting practices of listed Singapore companies”, Pacific Accounting Review, Vol. 12 No. 2, p. 101-133.
Rechner, P.L. and Dalton, D.R. (1991), “CEO duality and organizational performance: a longitudinal analysis”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 155-160.
Reverte, C. (2009), “Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure ratings by Spanish listed firms”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 88, pp. 351–366.
Siregar, S.V. and Bachtiar, Y. (2010), “Corporate social reporting: empirical evidence from Indonesia stock exchange”, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 241-252.
Sutantoputra A.W. (2009),”Social disclosure rating system for assessing firms’ CSR reports”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 14 No.1, pp. 34 – 48.
Trotman, K.T. and Bradley, G.W. (1981), “Association between social responsibility disclosure and characteristics of companies”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 6 No. 4, 355–362.
Webb, L.H., Cohen, J.R., Nath, L. and Wood, D. (2009), “The supply of corporate social responsibility disclosures among U.S. firms”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 84 No.4, pp. 497–527.
Welford, R., Chan, C. and Man, M. (2007), “Priorities for corporate social responsibility: a survey of businesses and their stakeholders”, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 52-62.
World Heath Organization (2016), The public health impact of chemicals: knowns and unknowns, WHO/FWWC/PHE/EPE/16.01, pp. 1-16.
Zhang, J.Q., Zhu, H. and Ding, H.B. (2013), “Board composition and corporate social responsibility: an empirical investigation in the post sarbanes-oxley era”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 114 No. 3, pp. 381-392.