What Explains the Extent and Content of Social and Environmental Disclosures on Corporate Websites: A Study of Social and Environmental Reporting in Swedish Listed Corporations

Abstract

The demand for information and transparency from corporations has increased over the last few years. Today, there are other information dissemination channels besides annual financial statements. One important channel is the Internet. The aim of this study is to explain the extent and content of social disclosure information on corporations' websites. The empirical data in this study is based on annual financial statements and such websites. A multi-theoretical framework is used in order to explain the extent and content of social disclosures on corporate websites. The findings support the positive correlation of size and profitability with the content of social disclosure information on these websites. In general, State-owned corporations disclose more social information on their websites than privately owned corporations do. There are significant differences between different industries. This is true regarding not only the extent of social disclosures, but also their content. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment