Corporate social responsibility and risk disclosure: similarities and differences between Brazilian and Ibero-European firms
Abstract
In this study we evaluated corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and risk disclosure (RD) in a sample of Brazilian and Ibero-European firms in light of Institutional Theory. The sample included 130 public firms traded in Brazil (n=77), Spain (n=42) and Portugal (n=11). Information on CSR was retrieved from CSRHub®. RD levels were estimated by document analysis of the risk section of annual reports covering the years 2015, 2016 and 2017. The collected data were submitted to descriptive statistics, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and testing for differences between means. Overall, mean CSR performance was lower and mean RD levels were higher in Brazilian firms than in Ibero-European firms. The latter (especially Spanish firms) made less financial risk disclosure. The results of the testing for differences between means support our hypotheses, showing that CSR performance and RD are determined by the institutional environment of each country. The study makes a novel contribution of relevance to both academic and corporate audiences by broadening and enriching the discussion on both CSR and RD from an institutional perspective.
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