Determinants of Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure on Websites: the Case of Bahrain

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the level of social and environmental information disclosure practices in websites of companies listed on Bahrain Bourse, also to determine the influence of firm size, profitability, financial leverage, firm age and audit firm size on the level of social and environmental information disclosures under legitimacy theory. To achieve the aims of this study, content analysis and statistical analysis were used. Content analysis by word count is used to determine the level of social and environmental disclosures on websites of Bahraini companies. To determine the factors that explain the level of social and environmental information disclosures, descriptive statistics and multiple regressions analysis were used. The findings indicate that 57.57% of the sampled listed companies provided social and environmental information in their 2012 annual reports and their websites. Commercial banks and insurance companies made the most disclosure of social and environmental information, while the least disclosure was made by companies in the hotels and tourism sector and industrial sector. Multiple regression analysis revealed that financial leverage and audit firm size had a significant relationship with the level of social and environmental information disclosure.

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