Political, social and economic determinants of corporate social disclosure by multi-national firms in environmentally sensitive industries

Steven Toms, J. Hasseldine and H. Massoud

No 28, The York Management School Working Papers from The York Management School, University of York

Abstract: Using examples from environmentally sensitive industries, the paper examines the determinants of corporate social disclosure (CSD). The paper moves beyond the traditional literature in two respects. First it is international in scope, examining the accounting disclosure responses of multi-national companies to the pressures implied by the nature and scope of their operations. Second, variables measuring political risk and social development are developed so that these pressures can be measured, thereby introducing new dimensions to the literature. In common with previous studies, financial risk, size and other control variables are included. The relationships are tested econometrically utilising regression techniques not previously applied in the CSD literature but nonetheless more generally appropriate when using count dependent variables. Results suggest that managers feel an unequal sense of responsibility to different constituencies and their disclosure priorities are determined by stock market accountability, lobbying power of their domestic audience and the political risk of their activities rather than the impact of their activities in countries of operation.

Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2007-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wrc:ymswp1:28

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