Corporate Governance Effects On The Extent Of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure In The Gcc Banking Sector

Abstract

This study seeks to investigate the association between corporate governance mechanisms, and the extent of corporate social responsibility disclosure. The sample includes the banking sector of the GCC countries (Qatar, KSA, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and UAE), during a three-year period (2013-2015). A disclosure index method is used to capture the corporate social responsibility disclosures (items) in the annual reports. In accordance with the prior studies, the current study has identified eight hypotheses to test this association through eight different variables, which are: The Audit Committee, the Board’s Size, the Board’s Independence, Ownership Concentration, Bank type (Islamic and non-Islamic), Bank size, profitability, and leverage. The population includes 63 listed banks, but the study excluded 22 banks to arrive at a sample that includes 41 listed banks, with a total 123 observations in the three years. The data have been extracted from the annual reports that are available on the websites of the banks. The results indicate a significant association between corporate social responsibility disclosure and two of the variables, which are government ownership and leverage. This study may have an important contribution to make to the previous literature, as few studies have focused on the banking sector especially in the GCC countries. Like any other study, this study has faced several limitations, such as the sample size, and all of the data was extracted from one source, which is made up of the annual reports, yet this study has important implications for both Corporate Governance regulators and stakeholders, and this is explained in more detail in the concluding chapter.