The Industrial Differences of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reporting: An Empirical Study of Listed Firms in Ghana

This article comparatively examines corporate social responsibilities reporting in the context of listed companies in the emerging economy - Ghana. The stakeholders’ anticipations for infrastructural development demand pressures and reporting have forced the companies to persistently improve their functioning practices whereas engage in Corporate Social Responsibility practices. This article searches the journey taken by the listed firms, as they implement their social responsibilities policies. The researchers use the companies’ secondary data drawn from their corporate reports to answer three research questions. The three common findings after testing our hypothesis indicates that there is a significant CSR reporting among the listed firms on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) which seeks to support the “triple bottom line” approach. The outcomes provide additional confirmation that CSR reporting in Ghana are not stable, all-purpose and more of altruistic in nature. The aftermaths, therefore, provide some initial indication of the possibility that CSR reporting in Ghana represent attempts by companies to advance their corporate expelling image and to be seen as responsible corporate citizens in their actions of operations in the host communities.The government therefore have to put in place stern principles to control listed firms to implement their CSR policies to their host communities to win the legitimacy within the environment they find themselves.