Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in Banking Industry: An Analysis of Disclosure Levels in Botswana

Abstract

This study intended to determine the disclosure levels of the CSR activities by banks in Botswana, to identify the types of information disclosed, and to determine the factors that influence the level of disclosure. The study used secondary data from the annual reports of the surveyed banks. The content analysis technique was employed and sentences that carried information relating to CSR were counted to arrive at the total of CSR reporting. Four themes of CSR, namely human resources, community involvement, environmental and ethical matters formed the bases for measuring level of CSR disclosure. The study found that a significant number of banks in Botswana are involved in CSR activities and report such engagements in annual reports. The findings of the study also suggest that the majority of banks engage extensively in and report their participation in community involvement and human resources activities. The results revealed that about two-thirds of variations in the CSR reporting levels could be explained by the combination of size, age and listing status. However, only size was found to have a positive significant relationship with CSR reporting levels. The implications of the study are that policy framework that addresses all CSR activities should be developed, and at micro level banks should come up with strategies for sustainable engagement in CSR and its disclosure.

Corporate Social Responsibility of the Leading Bank Institutions in Poland

“…The studied Polish leading CSR bank institutions varied as far as the socially responsible activities are concerned and they introduced different numbers of social responsibility measures in different categories. These results are coherent with existing literature findings which reveal that variations in CSR reporting levels could be explained by the combination of size, age, financial performance and listing status of banks (Botshabelo, Mbekomize, Phatshwane, 2017;Chakroun, Matoussi, Mbirki, 2017;Akin, Yilmaz, 2016;Wu, Shen, 2013). Ranked first among the analysed banks with the highest total number of practices introduced in years 2007-2016 was the ING BS bank (Table 4).…”

Stakeholder Power towards Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility Disclosure: Evidence from Malaysia

“…Organisations depend on multiple interdependent relationships with their stakeholders, who are composed of customers, employees, suppliers, communities and investors. Engaging with their stakeholders through CSER disclosure allows them to ensure that their materiality assessment is robust and inclusive (Botshabelo et al 2017;Yusoff et al 2013). Stakeholder engagement may build social capital and risk reduction.…”

“…Primary stakeholders have a direct economic influence on and/or interest in companies. By contrast, secondary stakeholders have less direct influence on and/or interest in companies, but they have significant expectations (Botshabelo et al 2017).…”

Corporate social reporting in the banking industry of Bangladesh: a test of legitimacy theory

“…These recent financial institutions' collapse and the concurrent catalytic role of banks in changing the corporate behavior in terms of sustainability management and disclosure led to a change in the research perception (Day and Woodward, 2009;Sharif and Rashid, 2014;Ullah and Rahman, 2015). Although KPMG (2017) explains that the Asia Pacific region is the leading region for the CS reporting globally and the growth has become predominant in the emerging economies, the research focusing on the reporting practices of the banking industry is scanty (Khan et al, 2009;Botshabelo et al, 2017). This demands new and continual research on CS reporting by the banking system in emerging economies.…”