Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/21005
Title: Determinants of social and economic reportings: Evidence from Australia, the UK and South African multinational enterprises
Contributor(s): Farooque, Omar  (author)orcid ; Ahulu, Helena (author)
Publication Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1108/ijaim-01-2016-0003
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/21005
Abstract: Purpose - This paper aims to provide new insights on the determinants of social and economic sustainability reportings of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in three Anglo-Saxon countries, mainly Australia, the UK and South Africa, from the perspective of corporate governance, stakeholder and corporate legitimacy. Design/methodology/approach - This paper examines stand-alone sustainability reports of 67 large MNEs from three countries available in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) website for the period of 2008-2009. It undertakes two distinct methodological approaches: first, principal component analysis (PCA) of GRI guidelines (G3) on social and economic indicators to identify the most appropriate dependent variables, and second, hierarchical multiple regression for the hypotheses testing and finding determinants of respective dependent variables on social and economic reportings. Findings - The results from the PCA of GRI guidelines (G3) provide an alternative way of categorizing the social and economic indicators when compared to the categories given by the GRI. Again, the results from hierarchical multiple regression indicate the industry sector as the dominant determinant of social and economic reportings. In particular, the positive, significant association of board independence, assurance and employee performance variables with economic reporting confirms the significant roles of corporate governance, stakeholders and corporate legitimacy in determining economic reporting. The findings also suggest the complementary nature of relevant theories in corporate voluntary disclosures relating to economic performance. However, social reporting shows no such relations, which rather relies more on firm-specific/financial variables of MNEs including firm size and age. Research limitations/implications - The sample of this study is limited to two-year periods and large MNEs available in the GRI website with stand-alone sustainability reports only. Practical implications - The PCA focuses on most relevant and specific categories of social and economic reportings as opposed to GRI generic categories. The PCA findings also suggest the GRI to contemplate reducing the social and economic indicators for future guidelines. The hierarchical multiple regression results highlight specific areas of emphasis that MNEs should focus on when reporting social and economic information. Originality/value - This study adds value to the existing literature on GRI-based social and economic reportings as well as the complementary nature of corporate governance, stakeholders and corporate legitimacy perspectives.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: International Journal of Accounting & Information Management, 25(2), p. 177-200
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
Place of Publication: United Kingdom
ISSN: 1758-9037
1834-7649
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 160505 Economic Development Policy
150106 Sustainability Accounting and Reporting
160512 Social Policy
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 440703 Economic development policy
350107 Sustainability accounting and reporting
440712 Social policy
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 910103 Economic Growth
960609 Sustainability Indicators
900202 Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 150203 Economic growth
190209 Sustainability indicators
110302 Professional, scientific and technical services
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

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