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Black economic empowerment, legitimacy and the value added statement: evidence from post‐apartheid South Africa

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  • Steven F. Cahan
  • Chris J. Van Staden

Abstract

We examine why companies in South Africa voluntarily provide a value added statement (VAS). The VAS can be used by management to communicate with employees and thereby establish a record of legitimacy. Since we want to establish if the VAS is used to establish symbolic or substantive legitimacy, we examine whether production of a VAS is associated with actual performance in labour‐related areas. To measure labour‐related performance, we use an independent Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) rating. We find that BEE performance is significantly and positively related to the voluntary publication of a VAS. Our results suggest that BEE performance and disclosure of a VAS are two elements of a strategy used by South African companies to establish their substantive legitimacy with labour.

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  • Steven F. Cahan & Chris J. Van Staden, 2009. "Black economic empowerment, legitimacy and the value added statement: evidence from post‐apartheid South Africa," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 49(1), pages 37-58, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:49:y:2009:i:1:p:37-58
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-629X.2008.00280.x
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    1. Soobaroyen, Teerooven & Ntim, Collins G., 2013. "Social and environmental accounting as symbolic and substantive means of legitimation: The case of HIV/AIDS reporting in South Africa," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 92-109.
    2. Frank Sampong & Na Song & Kingsley Osei Boahene & Kwame Ansong Wadie, 2018. "Disclosure of CSR Performance and Firm Value: New Evidence from South Africa on the Basis of the GRI Guidelines for Sustainability Disclosure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-28, November.
    3. Francois Viruly, 2009. "The Transformation of the South African Built Environment – An Institutional Approach LARES 2009, São Paulo, Brazil," LARES lares2009_295-rv, Latin American Real Estate Society (LARES).
    4. Coetzee, Charmaine M. & van Staden, Chris J., 2011. "Disclosure responses to mining accidents: South African evidence," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 232-246.
    5. Mohamed Chelli & Sylvain Durocher & Anne Fortin, 2018. "Normativity in Environmental Reporting: A Comparison of Three Regimes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 285-311, May.
    6. Axel Haller & Chris J. van Staden & Cristina Landis, 2018. "Value Added as part of Sustainability Reporting: Reporting on Distributional Fairness or Obfuscation?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 763-781, October.
    7. Collins Ntim & Teerooven Soobaroyen, 2013. "Black Economic Empowerment Disclosures by South African Listed Corporations: The Influence of Ownership and Board Characteristics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 121-138, August.

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