The Effects of Firm Characteristics on Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: Evidence from Palestine

Abstract

This study aims to empirically examine the influence of firm characteristics on the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting on annual reports on Palestinian listed companies. Using a sample of non-financial listed companies for the period 2013–2016. Content analysis technique has been used to measure CSR information form annual reports of 33 companies listed on the Palestine Securities Exchange )PSE (using 32 items divided into four categories as a measure of the extent of CSR disclosure in firm’s annual reports. A panel data and a multiple regression analysis are applied to test the association between firm characteristics and the extent of CSR disclosure. The results show that firm characteristics, namely, firm size, profitability, firm age, have a positive and statistically significant relationship with CSR disclosure.

Keywords: CSR, corporate social responsibility disclosure, firm characteristics, non-financial firms.