Board independence and corporate social responsibility reporting: mediating role of stakeholder power

Afzalur Rashid

Management Research Review, 2021, vol. 44, issue 8, 1217-1240

Abstract: Purpose - This study aims to examine the association between board independence and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting and the moderating role of stakeholder power on the association between board independence and CSR reporting. Design/methodology/approach - Using a sample of 707 Bangladeshi firm-year observations, this study uses a content analysis technique to develop a 24-item of CSR reporting index. This study uses the ordinary least squares regression method to examine the relationship between board independence and CSR reporting. Findings - The study finds that board independence does not influence CSR activities and relevant reporting in general. However, the non-influence of board independence and CSR reporting is offset by stakeholder power. Insider ownership, firm age, firm size, growth opportunities and market capitalisation have a positive influence on such reporting. Practical implications - While this study suggests that stakeholders’ influence is an important factor in determining the firms’ incentives to disclose CSR information, this finding creates a new debate on the efficacy of independent directors and whether they are good monitors and are able to fulfil all the stakeholders’ expectations. Originality/value - This study makes an important contribution to the literature on CSR practices by documenting that firms having powerful stakeholders induce the board and management to make more CSR reporting practices in the context of emerging economies.

Keywords: Management; Content analysis; Board independence; Social responsibility; Stakeholder theory; Resource dependence theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:mrrpps:mrr-09-2020-0590

DOI: 10.1108/MRR-09-2020-0590

Access Statistics for this article

Management Research Review is currently edited by Dr Jay Janney and Prof Lerong He

More articles in Management Research Review from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().