Corporate social reporting and legitimacy in banking: a longitudinal study in the developing country

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of corporate social (CS) reporting in the developing country’s banking industry from the legitimacy theory perspective – Bangladesh as a case. Design/methodology/approach - This study uses the longitudinal aspects and analyzes the content of annual reports using the ISO26000 standard with some country- and industry-specific adjustments as the method of data coding. All Dhaka Stock Exchange-listed banks (30 of 47, 2013) and 282 annual reports with 46 reporting items have been used for data analysis during a 10-year period (2004-2013). A CS reporting index has been constructed for this purpose of analysis. Findings - The key findings are that the main impetus driving the development of CS reporting was the stakeholder initiatives; the CS reporting index was less than 20 in 2004, and it increased linearly and reached around 60 in 2013 because of the legitimization of the new banking process through social perceptions. This study explains that the contemplation of the legitimacy theory argument can similarly be applied to the developing countries as well as to the banking industry’s context. Research limitations/implications - The main implication of this study is the extension of the broader thrust of the legitimacy theory argument in the developing country’s banking industry, such as that of Bangladesh. Originality/value - This study contributes to the documentation of the CS reporting practices of the developing country’s banking industry where there is a lack of published longitudinal studies from the legitimacy theory perspective.