Corporate Social Disclosure : Critical Perspectives in China and Japan

Corporate social disclosure (CSD), as an important branch in social accounting, has been widely examined since the 1970s. During that time, managers were under pressure to disclose the wider consequences that corporate activities may have on the environment, human resources and consumer policies. Rapid globalization in the 1980s and 1990s has forced corporations to realize that their operations and activities are not in a vacuum but have immense consequences both locally and globally. Consumers started to have an increasing awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and expected far more transparency in corporate affairs. The disclosure of this kind of information is demanded by various stakeholder groups, including governments and pressure groups. Nowadays, CSD is still voluntary in most countries although some European countries including France and Germany have mandatory requirements in environmental disclosure. Even so, given the fierce competition among global business players and the increased knowledge and demand of various stakeholders, companies, in order to continue to obtain their legitimate license to operate in society, cannot avoid CSD. __Corporate Social Disclosure__ focuses on China and Japan as two countries for critical observations of the latest CSD issues. The first reason is because Japan has a more mature approach to CSD as its development started quite early together with its Western counterparts. The second reason is inspired by prior literature on the cultural influence on corporate financial disclosure. A number of studies have employed Hofstede's four cultural dimensions to explain different countries' levels of disclosure of accounting information. The third reason is despite Japan's maturity in CSR and CSD and China's inexperience, both countries in recent years have shocked the world with serious business scandals. Corporate Social Disclosure focuses on China and Japan as two countries for critical observations of the latest CSD issues. This volume consists of 12 chapters written by scholars from these two countries, addressing the latest observation of CSD in general as we as in different industries based on their latest research findings. Corporate social disclosure (CSD), as an important branch in social accounting, has been widely examined since the 1970s. During that time, managers were under pressure to disclose the wider consequences that corporate activities may have on the environment, human resources and consumer policies. Rapid globalization in the 1980s and 1990s has forced corporations to realize that their operations and activities are not in a vacuum but have immense consequences both locally and globally. Consumers started to have an increasing awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and expected far more transparency in corporate affairs. The disclosure of this kind of information is demanded by various stakeholder groups, including governments and pressure groups. Nowadays, CSD is still voluntary in most countries although some European countries including France and Germany have mandatory requirements in environmental disclosure. Even so, given the fierce competition among global business players and the increased knowledge and demand of various stakeholders, companies, in order to continue to obtain their legitimate license to operate in society, cannot avoid CSD. Corporate Social Disclosure focuses on China and Japan as two countries for critical observations of the latest CSD issues. The first reason is because Japan has a more mature approach to CSD as its development started quite early together with its Western counterparts. The second reason is inspired by prior literature on the cultural influence on corporate financial disclosure. A number of studies have employed Hofstede's four cultural dimensions to explain different countries' levels of disclosure of accounting information. The third reason is despite Japan's maturity in CSR and CSD and China's inexperience, both countries in recent years have shocked the world with serious business scandals Cover 1 Contents 6 List of Figures and Tables 8 Notes on Contributors 12 1 Corporate Social Disclosure in China and Japan: An Introduction 14 Part I: Corporate Social Disclosure in China 30 2 The Trend of Corporate Social Disclosure in Mainland Chinese Listed Companies: A Longitudinal Observation 32 3 Corporate Social Disclosure and Performance Gap: Greenwashing Foxconn’s Shenzhen Factories 72 4 Corporate Social Disclosure: The Case of China’s Milk Product Industry 100 5 How Do Chinese SOEs Integrate Economic Functions with Social Functions? A Viewpoint Based on the Analysis of Social Reporting Features 137 6 An Initial Exploration of Corporate Social Disclosure and Responsible a Gambling Disclosure in Macau’s Gambling Industry 166 Part II: Corporate Social Disclosure in Japan 212 7 Revisiting Corporate Social Disclosure in Japan 214 8 Global Compact Corporations in Japan and Their Reporting: Trends and Issues 249 9 Assurance in Sustainability Reporting: Evidence from Japan 272 10 The Growing Acceptance of Global Standards by Japanese Companies and Its Implication in Terms of Disclosure 296 11 Corporate Social Disclosure Practices in Japanese Corporations: The Case of Meiko Electronics 323 12 Corporate Social Disclosure in China and Japan: Concluding Remarks 357 Index 362 Electronic book text. - Epublication based on: 9781137414670