VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: A STUDY ON THE ANNUAL REPORTS OF PALESTINIAN CORPORATIONS (Published)
This is an exploratory study designed to investigate the extent and nature of social and environmental reporting in the annual reports of the 48 corporate that were listed on the Palestine Exchange(PEX) in 2012. Specifically, we examine the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) disclosure and the variables which may determine. In order to do this, we have developed and utilized a disclosure index to measure the extent of disclosure made by companies in corporate annual reports also by using the guidelines (Global Reporting Initiative (GRI-G3)) . This study reports significant differences in levels of social and environmental disclosure, as measured by the mean values of the social and environmental disclosure index in Palestine. This study indicates that the level of CSR disclosure is fairly low in Palestine corporations. The findings show that there is correlation between CSR disclosure level and the size of the firm. also there are differences in the level of disclosure of CSR of the firms due to the kind of economic sector. However, that the level of disclosure CSR evidence a statistically did not significant association with the profitability of the firms are listed on the PEX.
Keywords: Annual Report, Corporate Social Responsibility, Global Reporting Initiative, Palestine Exchange.