Extent of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: Evidence from Bangladesh

This study aims at exploring the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in the listed companies of Bangladesh. One hundred eighty-two different companies from fifteen different sectors have been selected as a sample. A weighted disclosure index having fifty-two items has been applied to ensure the degree of CSR practices of the sample companies. Each of the content has been assigned a threescale value starting from zero to two. After that, eight dimensions of CSR are identified from CSR literature and have been evaluated by the predetermined disclosure index. Finally, a composite CSR disclosure (CSRD) score has been computed to measure the extent of CSR practices of the sample companies. The findings of the study reveal a poor CSRD score by the sample companies. Besides, it has been found that the listed companies provide more CSR activities on employee-related issues and community service-related issues while the listed companies provide less information on energy-related CSRD and customer-related CSRD in the context of Bangladesh. The findings of the study imply that the government and the regulatory authority should give more attention to develop a harmonized standards or policies to measure the degree of CSR practices for comparative purposes.