Journal ArticleDOI
The public disclosure of environmental performance information—a dual test of media agenda setting theory and legitimacy theory
Noel Brown,Craig Deegan +1 more
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This paper conducted an empirical study of the relationship between the print media coverage given to various industries' environmental effects and the levels of annual report environmental disclosures made by a sample of firms within those industries.Abstract:
This paper documents the results of an empirical study undertaken within Australia of the relationship between the print media coverage given to various industries' environmental effects, and the levels of annual report environmental disclosures made by a sample of firms within those industries. The paper draws upon previous studies in media agenda setting theory and legitimacy theory to develop two testable hypotheses. Nine industries are reviewed across the period from 1981–1994. Drawing upon two theories, it is argued that the media can be particularly effective in driving the community's concern about the environmental performance of particular organisations (from media agenda setting theory). Where such concern is raised, organisations will respond by increasing the extent of disclosure of environmental information within the annual report (from legitimacy theory). The results indicate that for the majority of the industries studied, higher levels of media attention (as determined by a revie...read more
Citations
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Introduction: The legitimising effect of social and environmental disclosures – a theoretical foundation
TL;DR: In this article, the role of legitimacy theory in explaining managers' decisions is discussed and it is emphasised that legitimacy theory, as it is currently used, must still be considered to be a relatively underdeveloped theory of managerial behaviour.
Journal ArticleDOI
Environmental disclosures in the annual report: Extending the applicability and predictive power of legitimacy theory
TL;DR: In this paper, the applicability and predictive power of legitimacy theory was investigated by investigating to what extent annual report disclosures are interrelated to attempts to gain, maintain and repair legitimacy; and the choice of specific legitimation tactics.
Journal ArticleDOI
Media Reputation as a Strategic Resource: An Integration of Mass Communication and Resource-Based Theories
TL;DR: This article integrated mass communication theory into past research to develop a concept called media reputation, defined as the overall evaluation of a firm presented in the media, which is a resource that increases the performance of commercial banks.
Journal ArticleDOI
An examination of the corporate social and environmental disclosures of BHP from 1983‐1997: A test of legitimacy theory
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the social and environmental disclosures of BHP Ltd from 1983 to 1997 to ascertain the extent and type of annual report social-and environmental disclosures over the period, and whether such disclosures can be explained by the concepts of a social contract and legitimacy theory.
Journal ArticleDOI
Internal organisational factors influencing corporate social and ethical reporting: Beyond current theorising
TL;DR: In this article, interviews were conducted with seven large multinational companies in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors of the UK and Germany in order to identify any internal contextual factors influencing the nature and extent of reporting.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
The agenda-setting function of mass media
Maxwell McCombs,Donald L. Shaw +1 more
TL;DR: In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality as mentioned in this paper, and readers learn not only about a given issue, but also how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its position.
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Corporate social and environmental reporting
Rob Gray,Reza Kouhy,Simon Lavers +2 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the corporate social reporting literature, its major theoretical preoccupations and empirical conclusions, attempts to re-examine the theoretical tensions that exist between “classical” political economy interpretations of social disclosure and those from more “bourgeois” perspectives.
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Organizational Legitimacy: Social Values and Organizational Behavior
John Dowling,Jeffrey Pfeffer +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a conceptual framework for the analysis of organizational legitimacy and the process of legitimation through which organizations act to increase their perceived legitimacy. But they do not discuss the specific circumstances which can lead to organizational legitimacy problems and the actions that can be taken to legitimate an organization.
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A Study of the Environmental Disclosure Practices of Australian Corporations
Craig Deegan,Ben Gordon +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the environmental disclosure practices of Australian corporate entities and found that the extent of corporate environmental disclosure is positively associated with the environmental lobby groups' concern about the environmental performance of companies within particular industries.
Journal ArticleDOI
Corporate Social Reporting: A Rebuttal of Legitimacy Theory
James Guthrie,Lee D. Parker +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report the results of an historical analysis of social disclosures in 100 years of annual reporting by a dominant corporation in the Australian mining/manufacturing industry and identify a variable but significant pattern of social reporting.