An exploratory investigation into the corporate social disclosure of selected New Zealand companies
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Date
2002
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Abstract
Corporate social disclosure, that is, the communication of an organisation’s social and
environmental impact through the annual report or similar medium, is an increasingly important
issue, and arguably has benefits for companies and society. This study investigates the
corporate social disclosures of five companies over a five-year period, with the aim of
investigating trends in corporate social disclosure in large New Zealand companies who operate
in industries receiving public attention for their social and environmental impact. Corporate
social disclosure was measured through number of sentences disclosed, and classified into
theme (environment, energy, product, community, employee health and safety, employee other
and general) and evidence (monetary quantitative, non-monetary quantitative and declarative).
This study found no clear trend of increasing levels of corporate social disclosure; instead there
was an increase in 1997 and a decrease in 1998. Legitimacy theory, political economy theory
and economic conditions represented possible explanations for this trend, demonstrating the
difficulty in using a single perspective to explain corporate social disclosure. Corporate social
disclosure did not significantly increase from 1996 to 2000, and disclosure was primarily
‘quantitative’ and ‘employee other’, leading this research to posit that New Zealand companies
are not responding to the increased worldwide importance of corporate social disclosure.
In summary, this study provides valuable empirical evidence of corporate social disclosure in
New Zealand, and also provides an example of the complexity of corporate social disclosure
practice, and the difficulty in applying a single theoretical perspective to explain corporate social
disclosure.
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Keywords
Disclosure (Accounting)