CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DISCLOSURE IN MALAYSIA: AN ANALYSIS OF ANNUAL REPORTS OF KLSE LISTED COMPANIES

Abstract

Our paper focuses on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures made by 98 listed companies, across industries. Content analysis methodology was used. The purpose of our study is to examine the incidence of CSR disclosures in annual reports. Studies on CSR disclosures in developing countries are limited and in the case of Malaysia, the most recent published studies on CSR were in the eighties. The present study fills this gap in the literature. The sample selected comprises a representative cross-section of the industrial sectors in the Main Board of the KLSE. Previous studies have used ad-hoc samples, which limits the generalizability of the findings. Findings from the study suggest that the disclosures have a public-relations bias, with a very general, ‘good news’ type of disclosures being the norm. Consistent with prior studies in other developing countries, quantitative or monetary disclosures, as well as ‘bad news’ disclosures are minimal.

JEL classification: M0, M14

Key words: Corporate social responsibility disclosures, Content analysis, Annual reports