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Black economic empowerment disclosures by South African listed corporations: The influence of ownership and board characteristics

Black economic empowerment disclosures by South African listed corporations: The influence of ownership and board characteristics
Black economic empowerment disclosures by South African listed corporations: The influence of ownership and board characteristics
This study investigates the extent to which South African listed corporations voluntarily disclose information on black economic empowerment (BEE) in their annual and sustainability reports using a sample of 75 listed corporations from 2003 to 2009. BEE is a form of socio-economic affirmative action championed by the African National Congress (ANC)-led government to address historical imbalances in business participation and ownership in South Africa. We find that block ownership and institutional ownership are negatively associated with the extent of BEE disclosures, whereas government ownership, board diversity (age, education, ethnicity, nationality and occupation), board size and non-executive directors are positively related to the extent of BEE disclosures. By contrast, dual board leadership structure and gender diversity are not significantly associated with BEE disclosures. Our results are robust when controlling for firm-level characteristics, fixed-effects and alternative disclosure proxies. Our results are largely consistent with the predictions of agency, legitimacy, resource dependence and stakeholder theories.

KEY WORDS: annual and sustainability reports; black economic empowerment; corporate social responsibility disclosures; ownership and board characteristics; South Africa.
0167-4544
121-138
Ntim, Collins G.
1f344edc-8005-4e96-8972-d56c4dade46b
Soobaroyen, Teerooven
6686e2f8-564f-4f7f-b079-9dc8a2f53a48
Ntim, Collins G.
1f344edc-8005-4e96-8972-d56c4dade46b
Soobaroyen, Teerooven
6686e2f8-564f-4f7f-b079-9dc8a2f53a48

Ntim, Collins G. and Soobaroyen, Teerooven (2013) Black economic empowerment disclosures by South African listed corporations: The influence of ownership and board characteristics. Journal of Business Ethics, 116 (1), 121-138. (doi:10.1007/s10551-012-1446-8).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This study investigates the extent to which South African listed corporations voluntarily disclose information on black economic empowerment (BEE) in their annual and sustainability reports using a sample of 75 listed corporations from 2003 to 2009. BEE is a form of socio-economic affirmative action championed by the African National Congress (ANC)-led government to address historical imbalances in business participation and ownership in South Africa. We find that block ownership and institutional ownership are negatively associated with the extent of BEE disclosures, whereas government ownership, board diversity (age, education, ethnicity, nationality and occupation), board size and non-executive directors are positively related to the extent of BEE disclosures. By contrast, dual board leadership structure and gender diversity are not significantly associated with BEE disclosures. Our results are robust when controlling for firm-level characteristics, fixed-effects and alternative disclosure proxies. Our results are largely consistent with the predictions of agency, legitimacy, resource dependence and stakeholder theories.

KEY WORDS: annual and sustainability reports; black economic empowerment; corporate social responsibility disclosures; ownership and board characteristics; South Africa.

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Published date: 11 September 2013
Organisations: Centre of Excellence for International Banking, Finance & Accounting, Accounting

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 343001
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/343001
ISSN: 0167-4544
PURE UUID: 728f4078-c669-4871-96c4-11d545e72bae
ORCID for Collins G. Ntim: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1042-4056
ORCID for Teerooven Soobaroyen: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3340-1666

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 20 Sep 2012 09:32
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:35

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Contributors

Author: Collins G. Ntim ORCID iD
Author: Teerooven Soobaroyen ORCID iD

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