Revisiting the practices of corporate social and environmental disclosure in Bangladesh

Few studies are available on Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure (CSED) in a developing country like Bangladesh. The latest study on the state of CSED was conducted about 10 years ago. During this period, in addition to global diversities, many changes have occurred in the socio‐political scenario in Bangladesh. The Government of Bangladesh (GOB) has recently undertaken pragmatic steps in order to make institutional and organizational changes. Attempts are being made to ensure good governance in all parts of public administration, declaring war against corruption. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the controlling body for the stock exchanges, has taken necessary action to establish corporate governance of the listed companies in Bangladesh. Stakeholders of the companies are gradually becoming aware of corporate operations. These socio‐political and organizational changes might influence the social responsibilities of the corporate bodies that might ultimately be reflected in the disclosure practices of the listed companies. This study attempts to revisit the state of CSED through content analysis. Annual reports of 100 companies, listed both on the Dhaka Stock Exchange and the Chittagong Stock Exchange, are selected based on a stratified random sampling technique. The study reveals that the level of disclosure has improved over the last 10 years. Based on the proposed research instrument for content analysis, all sample companies (n = 100) in Bangladesh are found to disclose at least one item of disclosure on human resource issues; while community issues (47%), consumer issues (23%) and environmental issues (19%). From a global perspective, however, the level and the extent of disclosure are found to be meagre. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.