Governance and Type of Industry as Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures in Latin America

Abstract

There is little empirical evidence regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in Latin America. This paper focuses on the disclosure of CSR information by listed companies in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico and analyses the country's impact, measured by the pressures arising from the differences in the quality of governance of the three countries, and the impact of the type of industry on CSR disclosures. The results, based on a comprehensive content analysis of annual and CSR reports, provide evidence of the influence of the quality of governance and industry type on the disclosures of CSR information, albeit not in all its components.

Resumen

Existe poca evidencia empírica en América Latina sobre la divulgación de información sobre responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC). Este estudio se centra en la divulgación de información sobre RSC por parte de empresas cotizadas de Chile, Colombia y México y analiza el impacto del país, medido por las presiones derivadas de las diferencias en la calidad institucional de los tres países, así como el impacto del tipo de industria en la revelación de información sobre RSC. Los resultados, basados en un exhaustivo análisis de contenido de los informes anuales y de RSC, evidencian la influencia de la calidad institucional y del tipo de industria en la revelación de información sobre RSC, aunque no en todos sus componentes.

Resumo

Há pouca evidência empírica sobre a divulgação da responsabilidade social corporativa (CSR na sigla em inglês) na América Latina. O presente trabalho enfoca a divulgação de informações sobre a responsabilidade social corporativa das empresas listadas nas bolsas de valores em Chile, Colômbia e México. Este artigo também analisa o impacto do país, o qual é avaliado pelas pressões decorrentes das diferenças na qualidade da governança nesses três países, assim como o impacto do tipo de atividade nas divulgações de CSR. Os resultados, fundamentados Numa análise abrangente do conteúdo de relatórios anuais e de CSR, evidenciam a influência da qualidade da governança e do tipo de atividade na divulgação das informações de CSR, o que, no entanto, não ocorre em todos os seus componentes.

Keywords:

• Content analysis
• corporate social responsibility
• governance
• Latin America
• reporting
• type of industry

Notes

Notes

1 Governance and institutional quality are both used interchangeably in this study, according to the definition of Kaufmann et al. (2011).

2 IPSA (Spanish acronym) represents the index of selective prices shares of the Chilean stock market

3 IGBC (Spanish acronym) represents the Colombian stock market’s general index

4 Of the 28 IGBC companies in Colombia, there are two (Preferentes Bancolombia and the Parent Corporate of Banco de Chile) that were not considered for this study because they are subsidiaries of IGBC companies and, as investors in the aforementioned companies, do not submit corporate reports.

5 IPC (Spanish acronym) represents the Mexico’s prices and quotations index stock market.

6 Previous studies, such as Aranguren (2016), Aranguren & Ochoa (2008), and Ochoa (1998), among others, have also transformed the values obtained in their disclosure index to a scale of 0-10 to facilitate their understanding and interpretation. A scale of 0-5 was used in this study because in the context of the countries under study, this scale is commonly used when it comes to assessing a phenomenon from surveys or numerical categories of ordinal type.

7 ISIC is the acronym for “International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities”. This classification is specific to the region and is supported by the ECLAC (Economic Comission for Latin America and the Caribbean). According to this classification, companies have been grouped in 8 sectors: Agriculture, forestry and fishing; Exploration, exploitation and extraction of wells, mines and quarries; Manufacturing industries; Financial intermediation; Transport, storage and communications; Construction; Electricity, gas and water supply; General services.