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Corporate perspectives on CSR disclosure: audience, materiality, motivations

Corporate perspectives on CSR disclosure: audience, materiality, motivations The lack of uniform non-voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure standards and the complexity around different stakeholder demands have resulted in considerable flexibility in corporate compliance with CSR reporting. Covering a wide range of CSR dimensions, this paper investigates corporate views on CSR disclosure. Evidence presented is based on an online survey with 278 corporate professionals, who are familiar with corporate reporting in the UK, such as CSR professionals, managers, CEOs, CFOs and non-executive directors. The findings reveal the primacy of shareholder and institutional investor needs in CSR disclosure decisions. Some practitioners believe multiple reports are needed to ensure appropriate dissemination of CSR information. Fair business practice and environment-related information are perceived as the most important items to disclose. Whilst financial information remains paramount, the relative importance of reporting non-financial information has increased significantly, with the key areas relating to governance, health and safety, environmental impact and pollution control, and human rights information. For many participants, mandatory regulation is considered as the only way for CSR reporting to be taken seriously on the corporate level. This paper contributes to the limited studies that investigate the views of practitioners by means of primary data. The study complements the literature on CSR disclosure by intensifying the clarity of the understanding of corporate perspectives on CSR and by identifying potential factors that influence CSR reporting decisions in the UK context. The findings strengthen the arguments of prior studies about what items of information should be included in CSR reports and how to disclose the company’s CSR information in a more substantive way. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Disclosure and Governance Springer Journals

Corporate perspectives on CSR disclosure: audience, materiality, motivations

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References (160)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2022. Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
ISSN
1741-3591
eISSN
1746-6539
DOI
10.1057/s41310-022-00157-1
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The lack of uniform non-voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure standards and the complexity around different stakeholder demands have resulted in considerable flexibility in corporate compliance with CSR reporting. Covering a wide range of CSR dimensions, this paper investigates corporate views on CSR disclosure. Evidence presented is based on an online survey with 278 corporate professionals, who are familiar with corporate reporting in the UK, such as CSR professionals, managers, CEOs, CFOs and non-executive directors. The findings reveal the primacy of shareholder and institutional investor needs in CSR disclosure decisions. Some practitioners believe multiple reports are needed to ensure appropriate dissemination of CSR information. Fair business practice and environment-related information are perceived as the most important items to disclose. Whilst financial information remains paramount, the relative importance of reporting non-financial information has increased significantly, with the key areas relating to governance, health and safety, environmental impact and pollution control, and human rights information. For many participants, mandatory regulation is considered as the only way for CSR reporting to be taken seriously on the corporate level. This paper contributes to the limited studies that investigate the views of practitioners by means of primary data. The study complements the literature on CSR disclosure by intensifying the clarity of the understanding of corporate perspectives on CSR and by identifying potential factors that influence CSR reporting decisions in the UK context. The findings strengthen the arguments of prior studies about what items of information should be included in CSR reports and how to disclose the company’s CSR information in a more substantive way.

Journal

International Journal of Disclosure and Governance – Springer Journals

Published: Dec 1, 2022

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility reporting; CSR disclosure; Materiality; Communication; Corporate views; Investors

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