Determinants of Voluntary Social Information Disclosure: Empirical Evidence in Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17524/repec.v9i4.1300Keywords:
Determinants, Voluntary Social Disclosure, Brazilian Companies.Abstract
Corporate social responsibility refers to social concerns related to the environment, human resources and engagement in the community. The voluntary disclosure of social information is heterogeneous and some companies choose to show a greater amount of information and in greater detail. With that in mind, this research aimed to identify the determinants of voluntary disclosure of social information of Brazilian companies in the period from 2010 to 2012. Based on the theories (stakeholders and voluntary disclosure) and previous studies, six hypotheses were raised about the possible determinants of voluntary social disclosure (size, ownership concentration, profitability, leverage, regulated sector and reputation). The universe of this research were the public companies listed on BM & FBOVESPA in the period from 2010 to 2012. The sample was composed of 100 companies listed on BM & FBovespa with more shares traded during the 12 months of 2012. As for the econometric models, a panel was used with random effects estimated by OLS, being the dependent variable social disclosure index and the independent variables, the probable determinants. The results suggested that the size of the company, profitability, reputation and the regulated sector were considered social determinants of voluntary disclosure. The stakeholders, the government and society can influence the voluntary social disclosure. The variable "profitability" shows that the less profitable companies released more voluntary social information, which may indicate an attempt by the company to divert the attention of the stakeholders from the financial performance.References
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