The Role of Government Regulations in Enhancing Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Firm Value

This study investigates, first, whether the extent of corporate social and environmental responsibility disclosure (CSERD) differs between 2010 and 2014; second, whether government regulation affects the extent of CSERD; and, third, whether the CSERD is valued by investors. Content analysis method was used to extract 466 companies' annual reports to measure the extent of social and environmental responsibility disclosure based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) checklist. Independent sample t-test and multivariate regression analysis were also conducted to test the differences of the extent of CSERD as well as determinants and consequence of CSERD. Our results show that the extent of CSERD in 2014 is 21.60 percent higher than in 2010 (13.39 percent). Government regulation has a significant effect on the extent of CSERD. This study also finds that market values positively CSER information disclosed by company. Given that government regulation has a positive impact, however, the findings of this study suggests that the extent of CSERD is still low. To enhance CSERD, government should continuously encourage companies to abide by the regulations as mandated. This study provides a more comprehensive insights of CSRED practices from an emerging country and the effect of government regulation in enhancing CSERD.