Does ownership type matter for corporate social responsibility disclosure: Evidence from China

Hu, Yuanyuan; Zhu, Yanhui; Hu, Yuxiao

Abstract

The evidence of the effect of ownership structure on corporate social responsibility (CSR) is relatively sparse especially in the emerging economies. This paper seeks to address this situation to comprehensively examine the link between different types of shareholders and CSR disclosure in the context of China. Our findings reveal that different owners have differential impact on the CSR. The firms controlled by the state are more likely to disclose CSR information and their CSR reports’ quality is better compared with non-SOEs. Interestingly, firms with more shares held by mutual funds, foreign investors or other corporations are significantly better at CSR disclosure. The study also discloses that firm size, profitability, and leverage affect CSR in China. Overall the study contributes to the literature on CSR practices in emerging countries and point to some policy suggestions.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: Global Conference on Business and Finance
• Acceptance Date: Jan 4, 2016
• Publication Date: Jan 7, 2016
• Deposit Date: Mar 31, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 1, 2016
• Journal: Global Conference on Business and Finance Proceedings
• Print ISSN: 1941-9589
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 183-197
• Keywords: CSR, China, ownership structure, SOEs, stakeholder theory
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1435044
• Publisher URL: http://www.theibfr.com/proceedings.htm
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND FINANCE PROCEEDINGS
• Contract Date: Apr 1, 2016