IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/aaajpp/v29y2016i3p452-482.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Community disclosures in a developing country: insights from a neo-pluralist perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Teerooven Soobaroyen
  • Jyoti Devi Mahadeo

Abstract

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to analyse changes in community disclosures by listed companies in Mauritius. Design/methodology/approach - – The authors carried out a quantitative and qualitative assessment of annual report disclosures over the period 2004-2010. In particular, the authors consider the influence of a corporate governance code and a government intervention to first persuade and subsequently mandate corporate social responsibility investment (known as a “CSR Levy”). Findings - – From a predominantly limited and neutral form of communication, narratives of community involvement morph into assertive and rhetorical statements, emphasising commitment, permanency and an intimate connection to the community and a re-organisation of activities and priorities which seek to portray structure and order in the way companies deliver community interventions. Informed by Grayet al.’s (1995) neo-pluralist framework and documentary evidence pertaining to the country’s social, political and economic context, the authors relate the change in disclosures to the use of corporate impression management techniques with a view to maintain legitimacy and to counter the predominant public narrative on the insufficient extent of community involvement by local companies. Research limitations/implications - – The authors find that community disclosures are not only legitimating mechanisms driven by international pressures but are also the result of local tensions and expectations. Originality/value - – This study provides evidence on forms of “social” – as opposed to environmental – disclosures. Furthermore, it examines a unique setting where a government enacted a legally binding regime for greater corporate social involvement.

Suggested Citation

  • Teerooven Soobaroyen & Jyoti Devi Mahadeo, 2016. "Community disclosures in a developing country: insights from a neo-pluralist perspective," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(3), pages 452-482, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:29:y:2016:i:3:p:452-482
    DOI: 10.1108/AAAJ-08-2014-1810
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2014-1810/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2014-1810/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2014-1810?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mohamed Karim Sorour & Mark Boadu & Teerooven Soobaroyen, 2021. "The role of Corporate Social Responsibility in Organisational Identity Communication, Co-Creation and Orientation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 89-108, September.
    2. Sara Moggi & Sabrina Bonomi & Francesca Ricciardi, 2018. "Against Food Waste: CSR for the Social and Environmental Impact through a Network-Based Organizational Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-19, September.
    3. Sara Moggi & Gina Rossi & Chiara Leardini, 2019. "How to be accountable to local stakeholders: A lesson from savings banks," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(2), pages 35-67.
    4. Li, Teng & Belal, Ataur, 2018. "Authoritarian state, global expansion and corporate social responsibility reporting: The narrative of a Chinese state-owned enterprise," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 199-217.
    5. Thoradeniya, Prabanga & Lee, Janet & Tan, Rebecca & Ferreira, Aldónio, 2022. "From intention to action on sustainability reporting: The role of individual, organisational and institutional factors during war and post-war periods," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1).
    6. Silvia Ruiz-Blanco & Silvia Romero & Belen Fernandez-Feijoo, 2022. "Green, blue or black, but washing–What company characteristics determine greenwashing?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 4024-4045, March.
    7. Silvia Romero & Silvia Ruiz & Belen Fernandez‐Feijoo, 2019. "Sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement in Spain: Different instruments, different quality," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 221-232, January.
    8. Silvia Ruiz & Silvia Romero & Belen Fernandez‐Feijoo, 2021. "Stakeholder engagement is evolving: Do investors play a main role?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1105-1120, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:29:y:2016:i:3:p:452-482. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.