Showing papers on "Signalling theory published in 2017"

Strategy disclosures by listed financial services companies: Signalling theory, legitimacy theory and South African integrated reporting practices

Abstract: This paper investigates the current extent of social-, environmental- and economic- (SEE) related strategy disclosure of companies listed in the financial services sector of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. It uses signalling and legitimacy theory to analyse the findings from a developed SEE strategy-related disclosure checklist. The paper finds social and environmental strategy-related disclosure is still secondary to economic strategy-related disclosures. This may be due to persistent focus on providers of financial capital and the need to perform financially. Further, the subsector’s business model and how closely the subsector interacts with their customers is seen as a driver of social and environmental strategy-related disclosure to maintain their legitimacy and to reduce information asymmetry, reduce cost of capital and assure investors that these factors are being appropriately managed by the entity. Following from above, the banking, insurance and real estate subsectors presented the most strategy-related disclosure. This was linked to their high public accountability and daily interaction with customers, necessitating the need to manage their legitimacy and address adverse selection. The paper also proposes some areas for future research to understand the potential obstacles to incorporating social and environmental concerns into strategy and related disclosures.

The (In)credible Bulk: The Role of CSR Standards in Enhancing the Credibility of Corporate CSR Claims

Abstract: With stakeholders sceptical about corporate CSR communications, firms are urged to develop strategies to enhance the credibility of their CSR claims. Using CSR standards may be a viable strategy to do so. Adopting a signalling theory perspective, this chapter identifies several problems associated with signalling CSR and suggests that CSR standards may offer a way to address these problems effectively. It provides an overview of CSR standards literature and presents original empirical data from a survey among Dutch CSR managers to shed light on the use of different types of CSR standards for enhancing the credibility of corporate CSR claims. It finds that adhering to (multiple) CSR standards comprises an important strategy for firms to enhance the credibility of CSR claims and that firms use other strategies for this objective as well. In addition to presenting empirical research findings, the chapter identifies several theoretical and empirical avenues for further research.

Fundamental Paradigms for Corporate Reputation

Abstract: Thanks to the divergent theoretical approaches from institutional theory, signaling theory, stakeholder theory, social identity theory, game theory, economics theory, mass communication theory, social cognition theory, impression management theory and to transaction cost theory the term corporate reputation is regarded as a conflux for social sciences. The concept of corporate reputation is an interdisciplinary phenomenon and within the social sciences literature it is defined as a state of awareness, as an assessment or as an asset in which reputation functions as an intangible resource and economic asset. In this comprehensive survey, the notion of corporate reputation is addressed in the framework of three basic and most prominent theories - institutional theory, signalling theory, resource-based view- in order to avoid a theoretical confusion and elusiveness.