Determinants of Web-Based CSR Disclosure: Middle East Region Evidence

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the factors influencing the extent of the web-based CSR disclosure in the Middle East countries. This study uses multiple regression models to examine the effect of some companies’ characteristics (company size, profitability, financial leverage, industry profile and company age) on the extent of online societal disclosure. The study was conducted on 200 listed companies in seven Middle East countries (the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar and Turkey). The website content was analyzed during the period January-February 2020. The results reveal that the most important factors influencing the level of web-based CSR disclosure are company size, profitability, company’s leverage and the type of industry. The results of the study have important implications for different stakeholders.  It will help regulators to formulate policies about the online CSR disclosure as they offer insights into the characteristics of those companies which do and do not engage in these practices. Thereby, the regulators might expect that the Middle East companies that present CSR information, on the websites, to be larger, have higher performance and leverage levels and belonging to manufactory sector. This paper attempts to fill some of the gap in the knowledge of the online CSR disclosure practices in the Middle East region. It investigates the factors determining the web-based CSR disclosure practices and it was not limited to describe the online CSR disclosure practices like most previous studies that are conducted in this region which allows us to have a clearer idea on these practices in this region.

Keywords: Determinants, Web-based CSR disclosure, Middle East

DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/13-24-02

Publication date: December 31^st 2022