VOLUNTARY SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF BRAZILIAN AGRIBUSINESS CORPORATIONS

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the social and environmental disclosure (SED) of large corporations operating in Brazilian agribusiness. Brazil is recognized as a relevant country for agribusiness, and companies in the sector are increasingly being watched by society because of the possible negative externalities of their activities. Research sample consists of 25 large companies operating in one of the five sectors of Brazilian agribusiness under analysis. A multiple correspondence analysis was applied to observe if there is any difference in the SED among the many agribusiness sectors. Afterwards, in order to observe the behavioral variation within each sector, the Lorenz curve and the Gini index were adopted. Concern of Brazilian agribusiness companies in disclosing their corporate social responsibility became evident, particularly with regard to environmental and human resources issues. In addition, results have shown a heterogeneous behavior towards the SED both among and within the sectors. Study results are useful for managers of agribusiness corporations, because they give them the opportunity to know the SED of other companies, which facilitates their decision-making process regarding their corporate social responsibility planning. For public managers, study results contribute to the understanding of which agribusiness sectors need to be encouraged to develop their corporate social responsibility.