Muslim CEO, women on boards and corporate responsibility reporting: some evidence from Malaysia

Abstract

Purpose: Very limited research has been devoted to answering the question of whether the religious beliefs of the upper echelons of management and gender diversity have any impacts on the communication of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information in the marketplace. This study attempts to fill the void in the literature by posing the two research question: first, does the CEO religion affect a firm's CSR behaviour?; second, do the women on the boards influence CSR reporting? Design/methodology/approach: We performed our tests on a sample of 133 firms listed in Bursa Malaysia that have analysts following using a self-constructed CSR disclosure index based on information in annual reports in 2009. Twenty three percent of our sample firms have Muslim CEOs, and women made up only 8% of board members. Findings: We find that Muslim CEOs are significantly associated with greater disclosure of CSR information. We also find only a moderate relationship between board gender diversity and CSR disclosure. This is probably due to insufficient number of women on boards. Limitations: The disclosure index is based on unsubstantiated CSR information provided in annual reports, and we examine only two aspects of board diversity namely Muslim religiousity and gender mix. Originality/value: This study advances the research on upper echelons theory by illuminating the importance of religious value in influencing the CSR behaviour of corporate leaders. This has been largely overlooked due to lack of data.

Pengaruh Keragaman Gender Dewan, Industri dan Ukuran Perusahaan terhadap Donasi Corporate Social Responsibility

“…Keberadaan perempuan sebagai anggota dewan direksi dan komisaris mampu meningkatkan kontribusi dalam melakukan corporate philanthropy dengan memberikan donasi pada permasalahan lingkungan dan sosial bahkan dimasa kritis (Schwartz-Ziv, 2017). Hasil berbeda menyatakan keberadaan perempuan tidak berpengaruh signifikan terkait upaya perusahaan dalam melakukan tanggung jawab sosialnya (Alazzani et al, 2019).…”

“…Adanya feminist care ethics mendukung perempuan dalam jajaran anggota dewan direksi dan komisaris untuk berperan lebih baik dalam melakukan tanggung jawab sosial perusahaan (Wu et al, 2018). Hasil berbeda ditunjukkan terkait peran perempuan dalam dewan bila jumlahnya hanya satu maka tidak berpengaruh pada kontribusinya dalam melakukan tanggung jawab sosial (Alazzani et al, 2019). Sehingga hipotesisnya sebagai berikut.…”

Profitability of Islamic Banks: A Panel Data Analysis

“…The institutions are more specifically responsible for developing strategies on gender mainstreaming and for coordinating and supervising the implementation of gender-sensitive human resources and mechanisms and management policies. More specifically, the institutions are responsible for developing strategies on gender mainstreaming and for coordinating and overseeing the implementation of gendersensitive human resource management systems and mechanisms (Alazzani, 2019). Establishments, mainly banks, insurance companies and private companies, give importance to the presence of women in the workforce.…”

Signalling IPO quality through female directors

“…Capital raised through an IPO in most cases is used for pursuing growth opportunities, among others (see Badru et al, 2016Badru et al, , 2019Kim and Weisbach, 2008). However, one of the greatest puzzles created by this event is the huge initial returns (IR) that occur on the first trading day, popularly referred to as IPO underpricing [1]. IPO underpricing is a challenge to market efficiency and it appears to be pervasive across financial markets (Banerjee et al, 2011), including in Asia (Yong, 2007;Moshirian et al, 2010), the consequence of which reduces the capital expected by the company through the IPO process to facilitate various operational activities (Lin and Chuang, 2011).…”