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Lookup NU author(s): Professor David Campbell, Dr Barrie Craven
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In examining the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spillage on corporate social reporting (CSR) in the annual reports of oil companies, Patten (1992) suggested examining companies in other industries and their response to social (e.g. environmental) threats. This paper examines environmental and social reporting in five companies representing three FTSE sectors, selected according to an intuitive understanding of society’s perceptions of their depth of 'sin' or supposed unethical behaviour. Social disclosure data was captured from annual corporate reports between 1975 and 1997. Results suggest that legitimacy theory may be an explanation of disclosure in some cases but not in others. The distorting effects of perception (of legitimacy-threatening factors) and the increase in choices of disclosure media partly explain the mixed results and these factors, we suggest, challenge the usefulness of future ‘annual-report only’ studies.
Author(s): Campbell DJ; Craven BM; Shrives P
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
Year: 2003
Volume: 16
Issue: 4
Pages: 558-581
ISSN (print): 1368-0668
ISSN (electronic): 1758-4205
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09513570310492308
DOI: 10.1108/09513570310492308
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