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Standalone Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in China: An Exploratory Analysis of its Relation to Legitimation

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  • Dennis M. Patten
  • Yi Ren
  • Na Zhao

Abstract

While the practice of standalone corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in China grew substantially over the mid-2000s, assessment of the disclosure included in the reports is quite limited. In an attempt to fill that void, we explore in this study whether differences in information provision through the standalone reports appear to be related to legitimacy factors. Based on a sample of 60 large companies with standalone reports issued for 2011-2012, we find that differences in the extent of social and environmental disclosure are positively related to firm size and membership in socially exposed industries, but negatively associated with status as a state-owned enterprise. In addition, we document that these relations appear to relate more strongly to disclosure of data and impact information as opposed to information on programmes and initiatives. Overall, our results suggest that CSR reporting in China, as in more developed Western economies, appears to be more about legitimation than meaningful disclosure of social and environmental performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Dennis M. Patten & Yi Ren & Na Zhao, 2015. "Standalone Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in China: An Exploratory Analysis of its Relation to Legitimation," Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 17-31, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:seaccj:v:35:y:2015:i:1:p:17-31
    DOI: 10.1080/0969160X.2015.1007467
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrea Venturelli & Fabio Caputo & Simona Cosma & Rossella Leopizzi & Simone Pizzi, 2017. "Directive 2014/95/EU: Are Italian Companies Already Compliant?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-19, August.
    2. Francesca Manes-Rossi & Adriana Tiron-Tudor & Giuseppe Nicolò & Gianluca Zanellato, 2018. "Ensuring More Sustainable Reporting in Europe Using Non-Financial Disclosure—De Facto and De Jure Evidence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, April.
    3. Minghui Yang & Petra Maresova & Ahsan Akbar & Paulo Bento & Weixi Liu, 2021. "Convergence or Disparity? A Cross-Country Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting for Banking Industry in Nordic Countries and China," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    4. Li, Teng & Belal, Ataur, 2018. "Authoritarian state, global expansion and corporate social responsibility reporting: The narrative of a Chinese state-owned enterprise," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 199-217.
    5. Nataša Verk & Urša Golob & Klement Podnar, 2021. "A Dynamic Review of the Emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility Communication," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 491-515, January.
    6. Cao, Feng & Peng, Songlan (Stella) & Ye, Kangtao, 2019. "Multiple large shareholders and corporate social responsibility reporting," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 287-309.

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