Given the increased social and environmental problems in China, this book looks into the social and environmental (environmental) disclosure practices of socially responsible Chinese listed firms by constructing a stakeholder-driven, three-dimensional, disclosure index. The book contains a three-part study: the first part explores the current status of social and environment disclosure practices. The second part empirically examines the relationship between corporate social and environmental disclosure and various influencing factors (i.e. stakeholders’ power and corporate characteristics). The third part empirically examines the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting (i.e. publishing a CSR report and the quality of the CSR report) and socially responsible reputation. The book finds that the CSR report provided more stakeholder-relevant social and environmental disclosure than the annual report. It also finds that corporate characteristics such as firm size, profitability and industry classification are all statistically significant factors influencing social and environmental disclosure of the Chinese firms studied. Shareholders significantly influenced firms’ social and environmental disclosure, and creditors significantly influenced firms’ disclosure related to their environmental performance. The final part of the study reports that publishing a CSR report and CSR reporting quality had a positive influence on firms’ socially responsible reputation and that the CEO/chairman duality negatively influenced firms’ socially responsible reputation. The book also highlights that financial performance and firm size were the two corporate characteristics that had a positive influence on corporate socially responsible reputation. This book will be of interest to those who are keen to learn more about corporate social responsibilities in the context of Chinese firms.

Corporate Social Disclosure focuses on China and Japan as two countries for critical observations of the latest CSD issues. This volume consists of 12 chapters written by scholars from these two countries, addressing the latest observation of CSD in general as we as in different industries based on their latest research findings.

This study investigates the social and environmental disclosure practices of socially responsible Chinese listed firms as displayed in their annual reports and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports from the perspective of stakeholders. A stakeholder-driven, three-dimensional social and environmental disclosure index that integrates the quantity and two aspects of the quality of disclosure perceived by stakeholders is constructed to assess the social and environmental disclosures in firm annual reports and CSR reports. The study results indicate that stakeholders perceive different disclosure types and disclosure items as important to differing degrees. CSR reports provide more stakeholder-relevant social and environmental disclosure than annual reports.

In recent years, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting in China has been experiencing a rapid development and the number of social reports issued by Chinese enterprises shows a sharp increasing trend. This book investigates the evolution of such reporting practice in the country and the reasons behind it. In addition, it also examines the reporting quantity and quality of Chinese enterprises by applying the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) as an evaluation tool. In response to policy documents so as to obtain the government’s recognition and to strive for more resources, state-owned enterprises, private enterprises and foreign-invested companies have made substantial efforts in social reporting in terms of quantity and coverage. However, it appears that there is still room for enhancing the quality of disclosure. The book also highlights the central government’s economic, political and social roles in promoting, encouraging and controlling the development of CSR reporting.

This paper investigates the influences of stakeholders' power and corporate characteristics on social and environmental disclosure practices of socially responsible Chinese listed firms identified by a social responsibility ranking list. A stakeholder-driven, three-dimensional social and environmental disclosure index including disclosure quantity, disclosure type quality and disclosure item quality, is constructed to assess sample firms' social and environmental disclosures in their two public reports: annual reports and corporate social responsibility reports. Findings indicate that corporate social and environmental disclosures have significant and positive associations with firm size, profitability, and industry classification. The roles of various powerful stakeholders in influencing corporate social and environmental disclosures are found to be generally weak in China, except that shareholders have influenced corporate social and environmental disclosures and creditors have influenced corporate disclosures related to firms' environmental performance.

Given the increased social and environmental problems in China, this book looks into the social and environmental (environmental) disclosure practices of socially responsible Chinese listed firms by constructing a stakeholder-driven, three-dimensional, disclosure index. The book contains a three-part study: the first part explores the current status of social and environment disclosure practices. The second part empirically examines the relationship between corporate social and environmental disclosure and various influencing factors (i.e. stakeholders’ power and corporate characteristics). The third part empirically examines the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting (i.e. publishing a CSR report and the quality of the CSR report) and socially responsible reputation. The book finds that the CSR report provided more stakeholder-relevant social and environmental disclosure than the annual report. It also finds that corporate characteristics such as firm size, profitability and industry classification are all statistically significant factors influencing social and environmental disclosure of the Chinese firms studied. Shareholders significantly influenced firms’ social and environmental disclosure, and creditors significantly influenced firms’ disclosure related to their environmental performance. The final part of the study reports that publishing a CSR report and CSR reporting quality had a positive influence on firms’ socially responsible reputation and that the CEO/chairman duality negatively influenced firms’ socially responsible reputation. The book also highlights that financial performance and firm size were the two corporate characteristics that had a positive influence on corporate socially responsible reputation. This book will be of interest to those who are keen to learn more about corporate social responsibilities in the context of Chinese firms.

This article provides an analytical overview of major works on the topic of environmental governance in China, with a particular emphasis on studies examining policies during the reform era (post-1978).