Comparative analysis of social disclosure of French and Brazilian companies according to the Stakeholder Theory

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine the main characteristics of corporate social reporting by the top 15 Brazilian and the top 15 French companies listed in the 2000 Forbes global ranking (http://www.forbes.com/global2000/) using the UN publication Guidance on Corporate Responsibility Indicators in Annual Reports’ as benchmark, and to identify how the Stakeholders Theory supports the results. Explorative and qualitative, the study was based on a review of the literature and documents issued by the companies in the sample. Findings were compared against 16 indicators of corporate social responsibility (subcategories of analysis), divided into 6 groups (categories of analysis), the disclosure of which is recommended by the UN. The level of disclosure of social indicators observed in the study is evidence of a considerable concern for corporate social responsibility among the sampled companies. The fact that some indicators are given more attention than others seems to be associated with the level of influence of the stakeholders most interested in their disclosure. The main conditioning factors of adherence to social information reporting practices can be explained by the Stakeholder Theory and by the existence of regulations requiring companies to report certain types of information.

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsability, CSR Indicators, social information disclosure, Stakeholders Theory.