DETERMINANTS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL DISCLOSURE: A LITERATURE REVIEW
This paper aims to extend the reviews of corporate social disclosure (CSD). This study focuses on the variables affecting CSD and the associated theoretical bases. This study followed a desk-based research method (traditional narrative review) to explore available knowledge on CSD. The paper finds that firm characteristics, ownership structure, and board characteristics influence CSD. The coverage of relationships between CSD and the firm's different features was the most dominant in the reviewed literature, followed by board qualities and ownership structure. Unlike the rest of the firm features, the effect of firm size on CSD received the greatest attention from prior studies. Moreover, board size and government ownership were the core focus of previous studies which analyzed the impact of board qualities and ownership structure on CSD. Theoretically, the prior studies explained firms' CSD behavior mostly from the lens of legitimacy theory. The second most adopted theoretical interpretation was agency theory, followed by stakeholders' and institutional theories. This paper enables us to clarify the factors that gained the growing attention of empirical studies as determinants of CSD. Furthermore, it further shows what motivates firms to report CSD by analyzing adopted theories by literature.
Agency Theory, Corporate Social Disclosure, Institutional Theory, Legitimacy Theory, Stakeholders' Theory.