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Country Development Stage and the Level of Corporate Social Disclosure

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Contemporary Influences on International Business in Latin America

Part of the book series: AIB Latin America ((AIBLAT))

Abstract

This chapter aims to investigate the association between the country’s development stage and the level of corporate social disclosure of firms operating in these countries. The theoretical background includes a discussion on corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate social disclosure (CSD) and the influence of country on CSR and CSD. We tested our research hypotheses using the five stages of development presented in the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reports of 144 countries. The findings confirm the hypotheses that there is a relationship between countries’ stages of development and the disclosure level of these countries. Our results show that countries in the first stages of development present a lower level of CSD, countries in middle stages are associated with average levels of CSD, and countries in the advanced stage present higher levels of CSD. We explain this association based on institutional issues and stakeholder pressures. Our chapter contributes to the understanding of the factors that may influence differences in disclosure among countries. Since most studies about CSD focus on characteristics at the firm level such as size, industry, and managers’ motivations, our study contributes by presenting evidence on the macro level.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business Administration Department, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Simone R. Barakat & Greici Sarturi

  2. University of Fortaleza, Fortaleza, Brazil

    Keysa Manuela Cunha de Mascena

Authors
  1. Simone R. Barakat
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  2. Greici Sarturi
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  3. Keysa Manuela Cunha de Mascena
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Correspondence to Simone R. Barakat .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of International Business, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    William Newburry

  2. Libens Research and Development, Santiago, Chile

    Leonardo Liberman

  3. Business Administration Department, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Moacir de Miranda Oliveira Jr.

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Barakat, S.R., Sarturi, G., de Mascena, K.M.C. (2019). Country Development Stage and the Level of Corporate Social Disclosure. In: Newburry, W., Liberman, L., Oliveira Jr., M. (eds) Contemporary Influences on International Business in Latin America. AIB Latin America. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98340-0_4

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