MPOB-UKM ENDOWMENT CHAIR

 

South East Asian Haze and Forest Fires: Stakeholder’s Power towards Corporate Social and Environmental Reporting

Research Grant, 2016

Abstract

Most of the forest fires are caused by intentional clearing of forest by large corporations. The land left behind will then used for plantations. Governmental rules serve to regulate the parties involves in the industry so as to ensure a balance between economic prosperity and the conservation of rainforest. The impact of public pressure on environmental reporting influences directly the political cost. Papa, Blidsel & Bogdan (2009) argued that corporate social and environmental reporting (CSER) is influenced by the pressure of stakeholders. Some of these stakeholders have the power to influence managerial decisions to disclose social and environmental information. It is widely believed that stakeholders have an ability to influence firms’ practices in relation to social and environmental performance and disclosure. Deegen & Rankin (1999) argued that the expectation gap between the users and preparers of environmental reports can be reduced and the quality of environmental disclosure can be improved. It is in the light that this study aims to examine the influence of stakeholders power on CSER.

This study extends the literature in the following ways:
(i). this study examines CSER practices from stakeholder’s perspective
(ii). this combines two theoretical underpinnings; legitimacy and stakeholder theory to construct and examine empirical variables.

This study will employ content analysis to collect the CSER data from the Annual Report and conduct interview to gather data on stakeholders’ power toward CSER. This study makes a contribution to the social and environmental accounting literature by examining determinants of corporate social and environmental reporting within the legitimacy and stakeholder framework. The empirical results will provide important insights into the influence of stakeholders’ power on corporate social and environmental reporting in South East Asia region.

Project Leader

Noradiva Hamzah (Faculty of Economics and Management, adibz@ukm.edu.my)