Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

• H. Shafiei ¹
• A. Khodamipour ²
• M. Dastgir ³

¹ PhD Candidate of Accounting, Department of Accounting, Khorasgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khorasgan, Isfahan, Iran

² Assistant Professor of Accounting, Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economic and Management, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran

³ Professor of Accounting, Department of Accounting, Faculty of Humanities and Literature, Khorasgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khorasgan, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

In recent years, the social and environmental responsibility of businesses and the influencing variables were considered by environmental activists and different groups using financial reports of the businesses. Social responsibility of companies is of “business ethics”, which deals with the role of companies in social domain. Business social responsibility is a set of tasks and commitments, which the firm should fulfill them in order to maintain, take care, and help the community operating in which. In addition, the impact of macroeconomic aspects, such as Gross Domestic Products (GDP), inflation, and rate of return without risk, on social and environmental responsibility of companies is of great concern to environmental activists. The current study aimed at evaluating the association between macroeconomics indices and changes in the level of social and environmental disclosure noted in financial reports and notes. The current quasi-experimental interdisciplinary study, covering accounting and economics, was conducted on 79 companies from 2001 to 2014. The multivariate regression and table data analysis were used for theory testing using the fixed effect method. To assess the social and environmental responsibility, the KLD index was employed. Results of data analysis and theory testing showed no significant association between macroeconomics indices- such as inflation and GDP- and changes in the level of social and environmental responsibility of the firms.

Keywords

• gross domestic product
• institutional ownership
• rate of return without risk
• rate of inflation
• social and environmental responsibility

Main Subjects

• Accounting