< Back to previous page

Publication

The Influence of Family Involvement on CSR Disclosure

Book Contribution - Book Chapter Conference Contribution

Whilst extensive research focuses on the extent to which companies implement CSR, which CSR actions they consider important and what the benefits are for companies if they implement CSR, there is relatively little research into the extent of reporting on CSR. In order to contribute to a greater understanding of the variation in companies' CSR disclosure, we take the heterogeneity within the group of private family firms into account and focus on differences amongst diverse types of family firms. The differences we focus on, are related with the proportion of family members in the board and the management. We argue that the functioning of these decision making authorities of a family firm will be influenced by family involvement, thereby lowering the independence of its board members and its managers. Extant research shows that the more independent directors are serving on the board of directors, the more information will be released voluntarily, whilst also independent managers are more inclined to disclose more information voluntarily. As independence is generally low in family firms, we hypothesize that they are less likely to disclose voluntary information, and therefore CSR data. More specifically, we hypothesize that the greater the proportion of family members in the board of directors (H1) and the management team (H2) of a family firm, the less that firm will disclose CSR information. Using a representative sample of 140 Belgian private family firms, there is an indication that those family firms, which are striving to keep the power within the family and to emphasize their familial character, will disclose less CSR information than those family firms which are more open for outsiders and other independents.
Book: Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Management, Leadership & Governance
Pages: 168 - 176
ISBN:978-1-910309-75-9
Publication year:2014
BOF-keylabel:yes
IOF-keylabel:yes
Accessibility:Closed