Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure of banking sector in Pakistan

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to examine the key determinants of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure of all listed banks that operate their function in an emerging market, Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach This study applied the principles of systems-oriented theories such as legitimacy, stakeholder and agency theory. The hypothesis is linking the bank’s social disclosure and its determinants are developed. The relevant data was gathered from the bank’s annual reports and Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2008 to 2018. Further, governance attributes and performance measures are used as the predictor variable and the CSR score as the predicted variable. This study applied panel data analysis on the sampled banks to examine the proposed hypothesis for empirical estimation. Findings This study’s inclusive results confirm that the hypothesized determinants of board size, foreign directors on board and female directors on board positively impact the CSR disclosure potential. Board size significantly explains the CSR disclosure in all bank samples. The determined performance measures, profitability and liquidity show a significant positive relationship with CSR disclosure except for few exceptions. Research limitations/implications This study’s results lack generalizability due to its unique setting; future researchers can extend the research scope in national–international settings and a regional context. Practical implications This study enriches the literature on CSR disclosure determinants and is relevant to practice in an emerging context. It can be helpful from a policy perspective; institutions (bodies) that regulate banks should recognize the governance and performance aspects essential to enhancing CSR disclosure and enhancing the bank’s performance hence value. Originality/value This research offers empirical evidence that sheds light on the key governance attributes and performance measures that partially affect CSR disclosure and its extent. In doing so, this study’s findings contribute to the literature significantly, along with regulators, shareholders, deposit holders, individual–institutional investors.

Looking into Corporate Boardrooms Through the Lens of Gender Diversity: A Bibliometric Review and META Analysis

“…The influence of gender diversity on the stock liquidity has been found positive if there are quite a few women directors are in the board [47]. Gender diversity have also shown positive association with environmental responsibility [14] and sustainable performance [32].…”

“…The third cluster contains109 authors and blue colored, this cluster is focusing on the decision aspects of the board and the impact of gender diversity in doing so. A group of scholars has carried out research studies to understand and evaluate the role of women on corporate boardroom such as credit risk [47], corporate risk taking capability [48], audit fees [49], financing decision [14] etc.…”

“…This cluster shows the work that has been done in the domain of diversity and equality research for the better board combination and corporate performance. Important aspects of gender diversity research such as board size [53], women decision making [54], intellectual intelligence, board effectiveness, sustainable development [14] etc.…”

“…It can be understood from the fact that the women representation the corporate boardroom is about only 25% in the major publicly traded companies in the European Union [12]. This gap can be attributed to the various factors such as, gender stereotype assumed by the large section of society, male domination of our society since ancient times, reluctant of women to take up the top job in the corporate, leadership style, and, to strike and balance between personal and professional life [3,[14][15][16].…”

Determinants of sustainability reporting: A systematic literature review

“…In particular, sustainability reporting has been widely recognized as a relevant area of corporate sustainability and an expanding field of inquiry (Hahn & Kühnen, 2013). To explain the heterogeneity of corporate reporting practices on sustainability issues, a prominent stream of research investigates the determinants of sustainability reporting (Ali et al, 2021;Arena et al, 2020;Nuskiya et al, 2021;Orazalin & Mahmood, 2020), exploring what affect the choice to publish a sustainability report, or that influence the level of disclosure or its quality.…”