SRJ 04 2016 0055

Social Responsibility Journal
Determinants of CSR disclosure of Tunisian listed banks: a multi-support analysis

Raida Chakroun, Hamadi Matoussi, Sarra Mbirki,
Article information:
To cite this document:
Raida Chakroun, Hamadi Matoussi, Sarra Mbirki, (2017) "Determinants of CSR disclosure of Tunisian listed banks: a multi-
support analysis", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 13 Issue: 3, pp.552-584, https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-04-2016-0055
Permanent link to this document:
https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-04-2016-0055
Downloaded on: 18 August 2017, At: 01:51 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 110 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 191 times since 2017*
Downloaded by Doctor Raida Chakroun At 01:51 18 August 2017 (PT)
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:

(2016),"The impact of corporate governance mechanisms on earnings management in Islamic banks in the Middle East
region", Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, Vol. 7 Iss 4 pp. 318-348 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/
JIABR-11-2014-0039">https://doi.org/10.1108/JIABR-11-2014-0039</a>
(2016),"IFRS adoption and auditing: a review", Asian Review of Accounting, Vol. 24 Iss 3 pp. 338-361 <a href="https://
doi.org/10.1108/ARA-12-2014-0126">https://doi.org/10.1108/ARA-12-2014-0126</a>
Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by

For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service
information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit
www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of
more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online
products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication
Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.
*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

Determinants of CSR disclosure of
Tunisian listed banks: a multi-support
analysis
Raida Chakroun, Hamadi Matoussi and Sarra Mbirki
Raida Chakroun is Abstract

Associate Professor at Purpose – This study aims to investigate the extent and trends of voluntary corporate social
Department of responsibility (CSR) disclosure and to analyze the determinants of the listed banks’ annual reports and
Accounting, Higher websites in an emergent capital market, namely, Tunisia.
Business Studies Institute Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine the level of CSR disclosure by means of a
at Carthage (IHEC), manual content analysis where the sentence is used as the unit of the analysis. They use Branco and
Rodrigues’ (2006 and 2008) index which includes 23 items. They focus on the annual reports of 11
University of Carthage,
Tunisian listed banks during the period from 2007 to 2012 and the information presented on their
Carthage, Tunisia, and
websites in December 2013. They use, also, regression analysis to identify the determinants of CSR
Laboratory of disclosure used by Tunisian listed banks.
Interdisciplinary Research Findings – The results of the investigation show that Tunisian listed banks disclose CSR information
In Management Sciences, primarily in a narrative form. Human resources are the main focus in the annual reports, whereas, on the
ISCAE, University of websites, community involvement is the most widespread theme. With regard to the determinants, it
Manouba, Manouba, appears that bank age, financial performance and state shareholding are the main factors that impact
Tunisia. Hamadi Matoussi CSR disclosure in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports. Furthermore, this study finds a positive
is Full Professor at (negative) relationship between leverage (financial performance) and CSR disclosure in the banks’
Department of websites. In this regard, the results show different determinants of CSR disclosure for the two supports.
Accounting and Finance, Moreover, bank size, foreign shareholding and the type of auditor are unrelated to the listed banks’ CSR
disclosure either in their annual reports or on their websites.
Laboratory of
Research limitations/implications – The sample size is small; however, it consists of all the relevant
Interdisciplinary Research
Tunisian banks. Also, this study is subject to the limitations of using manual content analysis.
in Management Sciences,
Practical implications – This study enables highlights the importance of CSR disclosure and its
ISCAE, University of
determinants for the Tunisian banks’ stakeholders (such as regulators, investors and managers).
Manouba, Manouba,
Originality/value – The authors contribute to the scarce literature on CSR disclosure in financial
Tunisia. Sarra Mbirki is institutions. It is the first study to investigate Tunisian listed banks’ CSR disclosure. It is a first attempt to
Research Student at show, also, how banks’ characteristics and banks’ ownership structures impact on their CSR disclosure
Department of in their annual reports and on their websites.
Accounting, ISCAE, Keywords Content analysis, Banks, CSR, Regression analysis, Disclosure index
University of Manouba, Paper type Research paper
Manouba, Tunisia.
1. Introduction
Bank transparency is a key value which stakeholders consider nowadays. Actually, the
implementation of regulatory tools, such as Basel II, should improve the transparency of
banks but the quality of Tunisian listed banks’ financial reporting is still very irregular
(Dhouibi and Mamoghli, 2013). More specifically, the banking sector, which is considered
to be the cornerstone of Tunisia’s socioeconomic development (Joseph, 2008) is called
Received 22 April 2016 upon, like all other sectors, to adopt a socially responsible behavior. In fact, corporate
Revised 10 August 2016
12 November 2016
social responsibility (CSR) has become the major concern of several countries and
Accepted 15 November 2016 international organizations and a prominent topic in both business and academic press. In
PAGE 552 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017, pp. 552-584, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1747-1117 DOI 10.1108/SRJ-04-2016-0055
addition, CSR is an ethical dilemma faced by financial institutions (Masud and Hossain,
2012). In this regard, Paulet (2011) discusses the interest to solve the puzzle facing the
banking sector in making profits and, at the same time, being ethical in their business
practices. She provides an insight on how banks to satisfy the social pressure to adopt
more ethical behaviors.
Several previous studies focused exclusively on companies outside the banking sector due
to its specific disclosure requirements and financial characteristics (Khlif et al., 2015; Ben
Rhouma and Cormier, 2007; Zéghal and Ahmed, 1990). In fact, few studies tackled the
banks’ CSR disclosure, despite the fact that the expected level of awareness of ethical
standards would be higher in the case of financial institutions. This paper seeks to fill this
gap by providing an insight to the banking sector’s CSR disclosure practices and
determinants. Importantly, this study focuses, also, on the Tunisian context and contributes
to the growing number of banking sector empirical disclosure research studies in the North
African emergent markets (Kribat et al., 2013).
Three published papers examined the determinants of CSR disclosure in Tunisian companies
(Rabah Gana and Dakhlaoui, 2011; Khemir and Baccouche, 2010; and Driss and Jarboui,
2014). Only Rabah Gana and Dakhlaoui’s (2011) work does not exclude the companies from
financial sector, and their findings show that the company’s membership of this sector affects
its societal disclosure. No attempt has been made to examine the determinants of CSR
disclosure for Tunisian listed banks, although there have been calls from many international
organizations for an extensive focus on CSR disclosure in African countries (e.g. Basel
Committee, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) and of previous work
(Mahadeo et al., 2011; Hinson et al., 2010). Furthermore, most of these studies are descriptive
(Aribi and Gao, 2010; Upadhyay-Dhungel and Dhungel, 2012; Yeshmin, 2012; Masud and
Hossain, 2012; Lipunga, 2013), and only a few of them focus on the determinants of banks’
CSR reporting (Menassa and Brodhäcker, 2015; Kundid and Rogošić, 2012; Douglas et al.,
2004; Branco and Rodrigues, 2006 and 2008), African Sub-Saharan countries (Hinson et al.,
2010; Lipunga, 2013; Barako and Brown, 2008; Akano et al., 2013; Joseph, 2008) and Asian
countries (Hafij Ullah and Rahman, 2015; Khan, 2010; Yeshmin, 2012; Abdul Hamid, 2004;
Hossain, 2008; Sethi, 2013). With mixed results, these studies used the annual reports as the
only medium to communicate CSR information.
There is a wide range of literature that raises the CSR disclosure question based on the
legitimacy theory (Patten, 1991; Branco and Rodrigues, 2006; Deegan, 2002; Guthrie and
Parker, 1989; Mahadeo et al., 2011), the stakeholders theory (Brown and Deegan, 1998; Clarke
and Gibson-Sweet, 1999; Guthrie and Parker, 1989; Patten, 1991; Wilmshurst and Frost, 2000)
and the positive accounting theory (Hill and Jones, 1992; Ness and Mirza, 1991). Branco and
Rodrigues (2008) have called for greater examination of this relationship in an environment in
which a lower level of disclosure exists. Following this recommendation, our study seeks to
investigate the determinants of the Tunisian listed banks’ voluntary disclosure of CSR
information in their annual reports[1] and on their websites[2].
Our study is one of the first to address this issue in the Tunisian context. We examine the
relationship between CSR disclosure and a number of bank characteristics (size, age,
indebtedness and financial performance) and the two forms of ownership structure
comprising of state ownership and foreign ownership. To achieve this target and to explain
the variations between the banks’ CSR reporting, we selected a sample of 11 Tunisian
commercial banks listed on the Tunis Stock Exchange in the period spanning from 2007 to
2012. We conducted a content analysis to estimate CSR disclosure and we used Branco
and Rodrigues’ (2006 and 2008) index.
Tunisia is an emergent North African country which uses the civil law accounting system.
Therefore, with regard to corporate disclosure, culture values and the accounting regime
are characterized by statutory control, secrecy and weak legal enforcement concerning the
VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 553

corporate disclosures which play a main role in determining CSR disclosure policy (Khlif
et al., 2015). These characteristics give this research some originality in a way that our
findings can be valid for other emergent countries having the same characteristics.
This study’s contributions can be summarized as follows. First, our study adds to the CSR
disclosure literature by focusing on an emergent market (given the growing influence of
emergent markets on the global economy). It uses two supports (annual reports and
websites) to explore the association between, on the one hand, Tunisian listed banks’ CSR
disclosure and banks characteristics and, on the other hand, their ownership structure.
Second, our results provide evidence that bank age, financial performance and state
ownership play an important role in improving the level of voluntary CSR disclosure in the
Tunisian listed banks annual reports. Consequently, in addition to the mandatory
information, investors can use such information to differentiate between banks when
making their investment decisions. Third, we explore the banking sector which was ignored
in previous studies focusing on Tunisian context. Hence, through restoring confidence in
Tunisian listed banks, CSR disclosure can contribute to financial stability and to sustainable
social and economic growth (Lentner et al., 2015).
This paper is structured as follows: the first section gives an overview of Tunisian listed
banks’ CSR reporting. The second section presents the theoretical framework and the
research hypotheses. The third section presents the data and research design. Section 4
provides the empirical analysis. Finally, Section 5 presents some concluding remarks.
2. Banking sector in Tunisia and CSR reporting

Matten and Moon (2008) address the question of how and why CSR differs between
countries. Through an in-depth investigation of CSR, they conceptualize the differences
between the USA and Europe. Their results show that US companies are explicit about their
attachment to CSR, whereas European business responsibility to society is more limited
and implicit. Moreover, despite increasing concerns over recent years to examine CSR in
developed countries, very little is known about the practice of CSR in emergent countries.
Jamali and Mirshak (2007) highlight the specificities of CSR activities for Lebanese
companies. Their findings suggest the lack of a systematic, focused and institutionalized
approach to CSR and that the Lebanese understanding and practice of CSR are still
grounded in the context of philanthropic action. Peters et al. (2011) investigate the CSR
system in the emergent markets and argue that CSR system based on western codes and
regulations cannot be implemented in those markets.
In line with Hinson et al. (2010), this paper adopts the broader perspective of CSR that
seeks to fulfill the expectations of a Tunisian listed bank’s stakeholders. However, these
expectations should be consistent with the bank’s vision and values as defined by the
stakeholders (Carroll, 1993). In fact, the voluntary disclosure of CSR activities can help
Tunisian listed banks to build a positive image and reputation among their stakeholders.
2.1 Banking industry in Tunisia: an overview

As the only country emerging from the Arab Spring, Tunisia is building a new democracy,
is respected diplomatically and remains a key player in a volatile neighborhood. Despite
political, social and security tensions, Tunisia’s economy has preserved macroeconomic
stability. Tunisia has one of the highest gross domestic products (GDPs) per capita in
Africa, and its 2016 Economic Freedom Score was 57.6. Its global ranking was 114th and
the regional ranking (Middle East/North Africa) was 11th. In March 2016, Fitch rated Tunisia
BB- with negative outlook, and its strengths being diversified economy, political
stakeholders’ tangible efforts to build consensus on political transition and moderate
leverage in the private sector. The weaknesses are high political risk; moderate economic
growth prospects with large twin deficits; the weakness of the banks’ asset quality; and
insufficiency in allocating customer deposits to fund bank lending.
PAGE 554 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017

In 2012, the period of our investigation, the Tunisian financial sector was small and
dominated by the listed banks, with assets equal to about 115 per cent of GDP. The
non-bank financial sector is small and accounts for about only 20 per cent of the country’s
whole financial system.
The Tunisian financial services industry, of which banking is by far the largest component,
accounted for 3.7 per cent of the country’s GDP in 2014. The Tunisian banking industry is
dominated by public-controlled banks and there are, also, significant numbers of large and
small private banks. We take account, also, of the presence of important foreign banks. By
2012, there were 21 onshore credit institutions distributed in five state-owned commercial
banks (accounting for 39 per cent of total banking assets in June 2011), 10 private
commercial banks (33 per cent of assets) and six foreign banks (28 per cent of assets)[3].
The major players are the BIAT[4] (the largest one) with a market share of 12.6 per cent in
terms of assets, followed by the BNA[5] (with a market share of 11.7 per cent. Amen Bank,
BNA, STB[6] and BH[7] occupy the third, fourth, fifth and sixth ranks, respectively. Figure 1
displays the market shares of the largest fourteen banks in 2010.
The level of intermediation in Tunisia remains very low and, especially, for the private
sector. Figure 2 shows that this level is much below high-income Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OCDE) countries and is, also well below neighboring
Jordan and Morocco.
Figure 1 Market shares of the largest 14 Tunisian banks in 2010
Figure 2 Credit to private and public sector as percent of GDP in Jordan, Morocco,
Tunisia and high-income OECD countries, 2009-2011

In terms of regulation, the authorities have taken a number of measures to strengthen the
stability of the banking system by raising the minimum capital adequacy ratio from 8 per
cent to 10 per cent in 2012; the introduction of increased provisioning requirements for
non-performing loans (NPLs) in December 2013; and a new liquidity ratio of 70 per cent
from 1 January 2016.
2.2 Tunisian CSR disclosure environment in the banking sector

As this study focuses on the Tunisian listed banks’ CSR disclosure, it is appropriate to
provide a brief overview of Tunisia’s disclosure regulatory framework. In this regard,
despite the existence of laws that regulate corporate disclosure, CSR is poorly regulated in
Tunisia. To date, Tunisia has not applied International Financial Regulation Standards
(IFRS) and CSR reporting is voluntary. In this sense, within the Tunisian accounting
conceptual framework, Tunisian standards setters, who are aware about the information’s
importance extending beyond the financial dimension, encourage firms to disclose social
and environmental information in their annual reports. However, they do not give any
precision about the form and the content of CSR disclosure. Besides, Tunisia’s general
framework for corporate financial reporting is constituted within:
Articles 18 and 83 of the Tunisian accounting conceptual framework.
Article 201 of the Tunisian Companies Legal Code.

(New) Article 44 of the financial market regulation on public offering (Minister of Finance
Decree of 17 September 2008).
(New) Article 3 of Act No. 94-117 of November 14, 1994.
In addition, we noted a change in the Tunisian corporate information environment. In fact,
in recent years, the Tunisian Government has been making great efforts to let firms improve
their disclosure content and quality as the Tunisian financial market moves toward a
strengthening of transparency and disclosure. This is reflected in Law No. 2005-96, dated
18/10/2005, concerning the strengthening of financial security. It places a greater
obligation on publicly traded companies to enhance their accountability, transparency and
disclosure quality. Furthermore, corporate governance rules encourage the improvement
of transparency and disclosure. In 2009, the Arab Institute of Business Leaders (the main
non-governmental driving force with respect to corporate governance) published a Guide
on the Annual Reports of the Tunisian Companies. This Guide includes guidelines on
corporate financial reporting and disclosure to guarantee the rights of all shareholders. The
adoption of this guide is voluntary for companies and, as yet, its effect is to be seen clearly.
Despite the guide recommendations to improve the corporate social and environmental
reporting, most Tunisian companies’ annual reports disclose inadequate information.
Chakroun (2012) argues that voluntary disclosure in Tunisia is problematic. In this regard,
she asserts that the overall degree of voluntary disclosure amounts to 43.14 per cent,
indicating a mismatch between supply and demand for voluntary disclosure and,
especially, for social and environmental information.
Recently, the banking sector has been subjected to significant regulatory changes. To
overcome the problems assigned to the banking sector, Tunisian banks implement the
guidelines and directives of the first and second Basel Accord (Dhouibi and Mamoghli,
2013). In this regard, the Basel II agreement is based on three pillars. The third pillar
focuses on the concepts of transparency and market discipline because disclosure and
bank transparency are currently of crucial importance. More specifically, pillar three aims
to establish rules on financial transparency by improving the way in which information about
the assets is disclosed to the public, the risks and how to manage them. The underlying
objective is to standardize the banking practices in terms of financial communication and,
therefore, to facilitate the dissemination of the banks’ accounting and financial information
from one country to another. However, Paulet (2011) shows that regulation is a necessary

but insufficient condition to ensure the efficiency of banks which are capable through a
delicate arbitration of realizing profits and creating social values for their communities.
3. Theoretical framework and hypothesis development

A large body of research has examined the determinants of voluntary disclosure in
emergent markets. However, few studies have examined the determinants of CSR
disclosure within the banking sector.
3.1 CSR reporting: background to the study

Transparency and disclosure are essential for sound and effective corporate governance.
Kribat et al. (2013) list several reasons for the importance of accounting disclosure in the
banking industry. First, accounting reports are often the sole source of information for bank
stakeholders. Second, earnings numbers alone are inadequate to assess banks’
valuations. Similarly, profitability alone does not give investors a complete picture about a
bank’s performance. Third, the financial statements are less informative for banks than they
are for industrial firms; this is because the useful information lies in the details and
breakdowns of the financial items. The quality of banks’ financial reporting is central to the
efficacy of market discipline and to the stability of the financial system.
Environmental and social disclosures are very important issues when investigating banks.
Certainly, and unlike other sectors (such as chemical, paper [. . .]), the banking sector is
seen to be environmentally friendly because it has a weak impact on the environment
(Branco and Rodrigues, 2008). However, according to Jeucken and Bouma (1999), banks
have both direct and indirect impacts on the environment. Concerning the direct impact,
banks are strong consumers of resources (such as paper and energy) and produce a lot
of waste. Consequently, banks have to preserve natural resources and energy by recycling
because these activities are part of their social responsibilities (Coulson and Monks, 1999).
The indirect impact lies in relation to their financing role of the economy. Therefore, in their
financial analyses, they should consider the social and environmental risks and not accept
funding companies engaged in environment damaging activities such as highly industrial
waste-creating companies.
Moreover, in their reporting, banks are called to reflect on several social aspects such as
employee-related issues, community involvement and other ethical issues [. . .]. In fact, it
seems that social disclosure is popular in highly visible industries such as banks. For
instance, Tsang (1998) focused on CSR disclosure practices of banking, food and
beverages and hotel industries in Singapore. He found that the banking industry had the
highest proportion of companies disclosing social information. However, in terms of
quantity, they disclosed less information than companies in the other industries. In addition,
Zéghal and Ahmed (1990) studied the following the banks’ three supports of CSR
disclosure: namely, annual reports; advertisements; and brochures. They found that human
resources was the most important disclosure category in the annual reports while, for
advertisements, it was products and, for the brochures, it was community involvement. In
line with the GRI (2006) guidelines, banks are asked to ensure that, before financing
enterprises, steps have been undertaken to control environmental pollution. However,
enforcement of these steps has been very weak in Tunisia. Consequently, the banks have
not prioritized environmental protection.
In Tunisia, we are seeing to increase the number of banks’ annual reports that take into
account environmental and social issues. Crawford and Williams (2010) assert that country
contexts place different pressures on CSR disclosure within the banking sector. Tunisia is
one of the emergent countries in which the banking sector is at the core of the financial
system. In fact, Tunisian business funding is mainly through bank loans. Moreover, the
Tunisian financial market has been dominated by banks either through the number of listed
banks or through the number of financial intermediaries owned by banks[8]. In this context,

banks play a critical role as economic operators. In fact, more than 95 per cent of the
lending to the economy goes through these financial institutions. Funding includes
business development; renewal of the production facilities or innovation; and supporting
businesses internationally as well as the operating cycle. According to Dhouibi and
Mamoghli (2013), Tunisian banks face several problems, namely, a high level of
non-performing loans; and insufficient capitalization and profitability.
3.2 Theoretical framework

Modeling CSR goes to back to Carroll (1999), but the debate dates back to the 1950s with
the work of Howard R. Bowen. For Carroll (1999, p. 270) Bowen is: “the Father of Corporate
Social Responsibility”. Bowen (1953) argues that businessmen have social responsibilities
toward the citizens and the environment. The work of Bowen can be regarded as the first
attempt to challenge Friedman’s position and a building block of stakeholder theory. The
argument of Bowen and his followers is that maximizing the long-term market value of an
organization is not sustainable if we ignore or mistreat any important constituency. Indeed,
we cannot create value without good relations with customers, employees, financial
backers, suppliers, regulators and communities.
In the real world, CSR activities were characterized in the 1950’s and 60’s by the idea of
sheer philanthropy. In the late 1960s, some the authors’ focus shifted from philanthropy to
more generalist views, connecting social and economic interests of businesses. Thus, a
linkage was found between CSR and corporate financial performance (Lee, 2008). The
1980s were characterized by empirical research coupling CSR and corporate financial
performance. In the late 1990, Carroll came up with a pragmatic CSR model (Figure 3
below).
Since the early 2000, the CSR debate evolved toward the structure of business and the
approach corporations have adopted[9]. However, to analyze the impact of CSR
Figure 3 Carroll’s pyramid of CSR

disclosure, we should not rely on only one approach, but on most frequently used
approaches such as the economic and the socio-organizational approaches
(Alberti-Alhtaybat et al., 2012). While, the legitimacy and shareholder theories are a part of
the socio-organizational approach and the agency theory is a part of the economic
approach, these corporate disclosure theories are related (Alberti-Alhtaybat et al., 2012).
3.2.1 The legitimacy theory. Hogner (1982) was the first to use the legitimacy theory in the
study of social reporting. According to Hogner (1982), companies’ disclosure of societal
information is a response to what the society is expecting from business world behavior.
According to the legitimacy theory, CSR reporting is a way which the company uses to
ensure its sustainability and to justify its existence when there is a discrepancy between its
values and the ones usually accepted by the society (Wilmshurst and Frost, 2000; Patten
and Crampton, 2004; Brown and Deegan, 1998; Clarke and Gibson-Sweet, 1999). The
actions of an entity are legitimate when they are appropriate within the socially constructed
systems of norms, values and beliefs.
Mousa and Hassan (2015) assert that, consistent with the notion of legitimacy, companies
seek to gain, maintain or repair their legitimacy by using CSR reporting. Thus, the company
uses CSR information disclosure to signal its socially responsible behavior and to enhance
its legitimacy. To fulfill the social contract, banks can legitimize their actions and earn social
acceptance by disclosing their activities such as limitation of natural resource consumption

and limitation of unemployment. For Suchman (1995), a company discloses CSR
information to give the impression that its actions are desirable and appropriate when
compared to the social system built essentially on social standards and values. According
to Deegan (2002), the leaders use CSR reporting to affect their companies’ external
perceptions. Several other authors suggest that, when social information is disclosed, the
company seeks to reduce public pressure (Brown and Deegan, 1998; Abdul Hamid, 2004;
Akano et al., 2013; Khemir and Baccouche, 2010; Guthrie and Parker, 1989). Hinson et al.
(2010) suggest that, according to legitimacy theory, businesses disclose their CSR
activities to construct a socially responsible image for their stakeholders. Furthermore,
Mahadeo et al. (2011) confirm that the legitimacy, as a strategically and managerially
driven approach favoring symbolic actions, is the prevailing motivation underlying the
progression of CSR disclosure in Mauritius. Menassa (2010) and Menassa and Brodhäcker
(2015) argue that, while there is no one theory that can fully explain the CSR disclosure
phenomenon, the legitimacy theory appears empirically to be the most robust.
3.2.2 The stakeholder theory. Freeman (1984) developed the stakeholder theory which is
part of the socio-organizational approach. According to him, stakeholders are considered
to be: “any group of individuals that can affect or is affected by the achievement of
business objectives”. Stakeholders are a key element in the bank’s external environment.
Furthermore, stakeholders have specific expectations with regard to the banks’ CSR
actions and accountability. The stakeholder theory and the legitimacy theory have much in
common. Although the first one focuses on the society as a whole and on general social
expectations, the latter assumes the explicit existence of various groups with different
expectations. Additionally, Omran and Ramdhony (2015) suggest that stakeholder theory
is more suitable than legitimacy theory for organizations working in developing countries.
Compared to other sectors, a key characteristic of the banking sector is that it affects a
large and great variety of people. Banks’ stakeholders include the owners, borrowers,
depositors, managers, employees and regulators (Lentner et al., 2015).
Hinson et al. (2010) argue that the usefulness of the stakeholder approach appears to serve as
a guideline through which a bank may select particular operational systems or social
relationships that reflect its commitment to social responsibility. In accordance with the
stakeholder theory, CSR disclosure is considered to be a basis for dialog with the company’s
various partners (Ullmann, 1985) and a way in which to communicate with the society at large
to gain its support. For Freeman (1984), the dissemination of CSR information is regarded as a

means which helps the company to manage its relationships with its partners. Therefore, the
company discloses CSR information so that it can cope with the pressure from its partners and
can affect their perceptions and actions. In addition, CSR disclosure provides a way of
communicating with stakeholders and of convincing them that the bank is fulfilling their
expectations (Branco and Rodrigues, 2008). This theory was used frequently in previous
research on the determinants of CSR reporting (Roberts, 1992; Gray et al., 1995).
3.2.3 The positive accounting theory. Watts and Zimmerman (1978) founded the positive
accounting theory. In this theory, opportunistic behavior is the reason for the choice of
accounting methods and techniques as well as policy decisions such as CSR disclosure
(Setyorini and Ishak, 2012). This theory has an explanatory power of CSR reporting as it is
based on the stakeholder-agency theory or generalized agency theory whereby managers
are seen to be the agents of all stakeholders. Also, this theory, which links management to
their stakeholders, is called the extended agency theory. It helps to explain the role of CSR
reporting in the management of contracts between the stakeholders and the company
(Prior et al., 2008; Moroney et al., 2012). According to Hill and Jones (1992), any entity,
which has a legitimate claim on the firm, is considered to be a business stakeholder.
Furthermore, the managers may use the bank’s CSR reporting policy as a part of an
entrenchment strategy.
3.3 Hypotheses development

Several recent studies have investigated the importance of the CSR disclosure
determinants on banks in emerging markets (Hafij Ullah and Rahman, 2015; Menassa,
2010; Kundid and Rogošić, 2012; Hinson et al., 2010). In our study, we test six hypotheses
to explain the level of CSR reporting in Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports and on their
websites. There are hypotheses related to the bank’s characteristics and others related to
the bank’s ownership structure.
3.3.1 Hypotheses related to the bank’s characteristics. Adams (2002) argues that corporate
characteristics are influential factors in determining the extent of corporate social and
ethical reporting. Previous studies showed bank size to be a key factor in explaining the
level of CSR disclosure. In this regard, several arguments have been raised. For instance,
Branco and Rodrigues (2008) focuses on public visibility as a major determinant of the
social reporting of Portuguese banks. One key assumption of positive accounting theory
(Watts and Zimmerman, 1978) is that large-sized companies should disclose more
information than small-sized ones as they are more visible and, therefore, more exposed to
pressures and political costs. Moreover, they have more players who are concerned with
their social and environmental actions (Damak Ayadi, 2004). In addition, larger companies
have more resources than smaller ones and this enables them to bear the expenses of
additional disclosure (Chavent et al., 2006). Therefore, larger companies have skilled and
knowledgeable staff and this helps them to set up more developed reporting systems than
the ones used by small businesses. Another reason, which boosts large companies to
disclose more CSR information, is their willingness to improve their reputation with their
various partners (Branco and Rodrigues, 2008). In addition, Henault and Lemoine (2008)
state that companies tend to disclose a high level of CSR information to attract
high-performing personnel and managers.
The majority of empirical studies supports a positive relationship between bank size and
CSR disclosure (Akano et al., 2013; Belkaoui and Karpik, 1989; Cowen et al., 1987;
Hackston and Milne, 1996; Abdul Hamid, 2004); nonetheless, a few studies have reported
either a negative or no relationship between those variables (Stanwick and Stanwick, 1998;
Cowen et al., 1987).
Overall, the bulk of literature on legitimacy, stakeholder and positive accounting theories
lead us to expect that larger banks should disclose more CSR information. Hence, we
formulate our first hypothesis as follows:

H1. The larger the size of the bank, the higher the level of the CSR disclosure should be
in either their annual reports or on their websites.
The previous literature raises bank age as one of the determinants of the CSR reporting
level. According to the legitimacy theory, the bank’s reputation is built with age. In this
regard, older banks attempt to strengthen their reputations through increasing CSR
disclosure (Menassa, 2010). Baccouche et al. (2010) point out that older firms disclose
more CSR information as they have longer experience that helps them to identify the
resources needed for their survival and to safeguard their reputations through their social
actions. Nonetheless, Cabagnols and Le Bas (2006) argue that younger firms are those
who need to be more engaged in societal activities because CSR is a contemporary
phenomenon. Despite its importance, there has been no frequent study of the “age”
variable. Abdul Hamid’s (2004) findings indicate that this variable has a positive impact on
the level of CSR disclosure. In this regard, we expect appositive association between age
and CSR reporting. We formulate our second hypothesis as follows:
H2. Bank age has a positive impact on the bank’s level of CSR disclosure either in their
annual reports or on their websites.
Previous literature focused on the impact of financial performance on CSR disclosure.
Banks with higher financial performance are considered to have higher visibility. In
accordance with the legitimacy theory, these banks tend to increase CSR disclosure to
maintain good images (Branco and Rodrigues, 2008). However, previous empirical
findings have shown that this is not always the case. For instance, while some studies have
shown a positive relationship (Kundid and Rogošić, 2012; Hossain, 2008; Abbott and
Monsen, 1979; Roberts, 1992; Stanwick and Stanwick, 1998), others have found the
opposite (Damak Ayadi, 2004; Fry and Hock, 1976). Nonetheless, a few studies reported
the absence of any relationship (Hackston and Milne, 1996; Cowen et al., 1987; Belkaoui
and Karpik, 1989 . . .).
Consequently, there is no expectation of a directional relationship between the financial
performance and the level of CSR. Thus, we formulate a third hypothesis.
H3. Bank financial performance has an impact on the level of the CSR disclosure either
in their annual reports or on their websites.
The indebtedness level is one of the bank characteristics that have an impact on the level
of CSR disclosure. Some researchers show that the more the company is indebted, the less
it discloses CSR information (Belkaoui and Karpik, 1989; Cormier and Magnan, 1999;
Oxibar, 2005). For Oxibar (2005), indebted companies prefer accounting policies which
favor their results to be increased. Spending on social activities leads to a decline of
earnings and, therefore, over-indebted companies are not to be involved in these kinds of
activities and, even if they do, they do not disclose such information. However, Roberts
(1992) considers that the indebted company is more involved in CSR activities to meet the
expectations of its creditors with regard to its social aspect. Jensen and Meckling (1976)
consider that the most-indebted companies disclose more voluntary information to reduce
the agency costs and, therefore, their cost of capital. These authors argue, also, that, when
a company makes a large use of debt, a monitoring problem arises between stockholders
and creditors. Thus, increasing the level of CSR disclosure may solve this problem. Due to
this contrast in the justification of the relationship direction between debt level and CSR
reporting, we cannot support any association between the two variables. Hence, our fourth
hypothesis is as follows:
H4. No relationship between bank indebtedness and the degree of CSR disclosure can
be inferred from either their annual reports or from their websites.
3.3.2 Hypotheses related to the bank’s ownership structure. Ownership structure has been
one of the most frequently used variables in the context of CSR disclosure. Given the fact
that Tunisian setting is characterized by two main features (state ownership and foreign

ownership), we test the effect of such variables on CSR disclosure. The impact of internal
corporate governance mechanisms may be either complementary or substitutive (Ho and
Wong, 2001).
The Tunisian Government continues to play an important role as principal owner in some of
the country’s most important banks. These banks seek to play a social role: which is the
public authority’s priority and to disclose more CSR information. According to the positive
accounting theory through the regulation theory, state-owned companies further disclose
social information because these companies’ leaders disclose this type of information
voluntarily to avoid the regulator’s intervention (Baccouche et al., 2010). Furthermore, from
the angle of legitimacy, state-owned banks tend to achieve the expectations set by the
society. Consequently, these banks try to maintain their reputations by increasing the level
of CSR disclosure (Deegan, 2002). Despite the theory argument of there being a positive
relationship between CSR reporting and the state’s ownership, a few empirical
investigations were conducted. While some studies led to a positive association between
both variables (Eng and Mak, 2003), others found a negative association (Al Janadi et al.,
2013), and a third group found no relationship (Naser et al., 2006). Consequently, we
expect a convergence between the banks’ pure profit goals characterized by a strong state
ownership and goals related to public interests. Thus, a positive relationship is expected
between the state’s shareholding and the level of CSR disclosure and, accordingly, we
formulate the following hypothesis:

H5. Banks with high state ownership are expected to have higher CSR disclosure in
their annual reports and on their websites.
In general, foreign shareholders face a higher level of information asymmetry. To compete
effectively in the capital market, banks with a strong foreign ownership disclose more CSR
information. In fact, CSR disclosure is a way which foreign shareholders use to monitor the
management’s actions. In addition, the stakeholder and legitimacy theories suggest that
foreign shareholding tends to require banks to disclose more CSR information. Indeed,
according to previous studies, it appears that, for several reasons, the level of CSR
disclosure rises with foreign shareholding. Actually, foreigners attach great importance to
the CSR concept and, therefore, they can assess a company according to level of its
participation in social activities. Consequently, to attract foreign shareholders, the company
discloses more societal information. Several researchers show that foreign shareholders
prefer to investing more in companies that disclose more CSR information (Haniffa and
Cooke, 2002 and 2005). Furthermore, Adams and Mehran (2005) argue that foreign
shareholding makes the management disclose more societal information. In fact, in doing
so, the management can avoid the shareholders’ pressure, mainly when ownership and
management are separated. In this regard, a positive association is expected between the
level of the societal information disclosure and foreign shareholding. Hence, our sixth
hypothesis is as follows:
H6. Foreign shareholding should have a positive impact on the level of the CSR
disclosure in Banks’ annual reports and on their websites.
Figure 4 summarizes the link between the CSR approaches and the determinants of CSR
disclosure.
4. Data and research design

4.1 The sample selection and data
Following Hafij Ullah and Rahman (2015), who based a sample composed of all listed
banks on Bangladesh’s Dhaka Stock Exchange in, our sample consists of all listed banks
on the Tunis Stock Exchange (see Appendix 1). There are two main reasons why we focus
only on listed banks. The first reason is that these represent almost the whole sector with
a market share of more than 90 per cent, and the second reason is because the disclosure

Figure 4 Diagram of theoretical framework
The socio-organizational approach The economic approach

The agency theory
The legitimacy theory The stakeholder theory
CSR disclosure is a CSR disclosure is
Opportunistic behavior is
response to what the considered as a basis for
the reason for the choice
society is expecting dialogue with the
of policy decisions such as
from business world company's various
CSR disclosure
behavior partners
Setyorini and Ishak (2012)
Hogner (1982) Ullmann (1985)
Determinants of bank’s CSR Disclosure

The bank’s characteristics
Bank size
Bank age
Bank financial performance
Bank indebtedness
The bank’s ownership structure
State ownership
Foreign ownership
CSR Disclosure
Environmental disclosure
Community involvement disclosure
Human resources disclosure
Product and consumers disclosure
requirements for listed companies are higher when compared to those for unlisted ones.
This is due to the visibility of listed banks on the stock exchange and the needs of theirs
various stakeholders. In fact, when compared to the unlisted ones, the listed banks usually
place importance on their disclosures. When we explored the Tunisian banks’ annual
reports, we found that the unlisted banks’ level of disclosure was very low when compared
to the listed ones. In addition, we cannot include the unlisted banks in our current study due
to the unavailability of the majority of the unlisted banks’ annual reports and data and the
lack of websites for the majority of them. These reasons led us to exclude the unlisted
banks from our sample.
Our sample consists of 11 banks, four state-owned banks and seven private local and
foreign banks. All these banks have websites. As can be seen from Figure 1 and
Appendix 1, our sample is composed of the current major banks with more than 90 per cent
of the sector’s finance either in assets, deposits or loans. We choose to analyze the
Tunisian banking sector because, to the best of our knowledge, it is the first attempt to deal
with Tunisian listed banks’ CSR disclosure.
There are several reasons why we chose the annual reports the first CSR disclosure
support. First, it has a degree of credibility that does not exist in other media (Neu et al.,
1998; Baccouche et al., 2010). Second, it is characterized by a wide disclosure (Ernst and
Ernst, 1978). Third, it is characterized by the regularity of its production (Oxibar, 2005).
Finally, the listed banks’ annual reports are seen to be the most reliable and available
documents in Tunisia (Baccouche et al., 2010). Parker (1982) states that, despite all its
advantages, the annual report is characterized by some rigidity in its format and by the
rules governing the preparation and dissemination of information. This causes some social
inaccessibility as there are some people who find it difficult to decode its messages. On the
other hand, Zéghal and Ahmed (1990) point out to the deficiencies that may result after
studying CSR disclosure based only on the annual reports. For this reason, beside the

annual reports, we chose to analyze the banks’ websites which differ by their periodicity,
quality and scope of their audiences (Zéghal and Ahmed, 1990; Hinson et al., 2010). The
choice of making a multi-support analysis is justified by the objective to have a broader and
comprehensive view of CSR disclosure (Oxibar, 2005). Moreover, Gray et al. (1995) assert
that source diversification is required because: “the ideal thing is to try to take into account
all the company’s communication to study social disclosure practices”. We should mention
that all the websites are in the French language, while the annual reports are written in
Arabic, English or French.
We analyzed the annual reports over a six-year period from 2007 to 2012. To collect the
annual reports, we downloaded them from the banks’ websites, the Financial Market
Council website[10], the Tunis Stock Exchange (BVMT) website[11] and Tustex’
website[12]. For the annuals reports unavailable on the websites, we collected them
directly from the banks. As part of this research, we preferred to analyze the CSR
disclosure on the banks’ websites over one month (December 2013). In fact, there are
different disclosure periods between the websites and the annual reports. The bank
produces an annual report but the content can change on the website after publication.
We begin the construction of our database for the month of December 2013. The data
regarding banks characteristics and ownership structure is hand-collected and
obtained from the banks’ annual reports and from the BVMT website.
4.2 Variables measurement

4.2.1 Measurement of the dependent variable. Our study’s dependent variable is the level
of voluntary CSR disclosure in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports and on their
websites (Branco and Rodrigues, 2008). To measure this variable, we proceed with the
content analysis technique of the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports and websites.
Abbott and Monsen (1979) define the content analysis method as: “a technique of
collecting information which consists in codifying literal information into categories and
identify quantitative scales”. We chose this method because it facilitates the comparison
and is consistent with previous studies (Khan, 2010; Menassa, 2010; Khemir and
Baccouche, 2010; Al Janadi et al., 2013; Aribi and Gao, 2010).
The previous literatures on CSR disclosure have used several classes of information
categories. For instance, Zéghal and Ahmed (1990) use the following categories: the
environment; the energy; the human resources; the products; the involvement in the
community; the ethics; and others. For our study and like Hinson et al. (2010), we adopt
the grid-computing CSR disclosure used by Branco and Rodrigues (2006 and 2008).
This grid is composed of 23 items and is divided into four information categories (see
Appendix 2) representing: the environment; the human resources; the products and
customers; and the community involvement. We justified this choice by the fact that
these information categories are the most frequently used in previous studies dealing
with the CSR disclosure (Williams and Ho Wern Pei, 1999; Lipunga, 2013; Akano et al.,
2013; Menassa, 2010; Abdul Hamid, 2004). Moreover, we chose these information
categories to facilitate the comparison between the practices of the Tunisian banks’
CSR reporting with those of their counterparts in other countries. Finally, one more
reason, linked to our context, is data availability. After a first reading of the annual
reports and websites, it appeared that this list was the most suitable for our study as it
did not even need to be adapted to the Tunisian context.
Previous studies on the CSR disclosure used several measurement units. For example,
Aribi and Gao (2010), Zéghal and Ahmed (1990), Douglas et al. (2004) and Deegan and
Gordon (1996) retained the word as a unit of measurement; Gray et al. (1995) used the
pages; while others, like Williams and Ho Wern Pei (1999), Hackston and Milne (1996),
Khemir and Baccouche (2010) chose the sentences. As part of our study, we choose
the sentence as a unit of measure as it provides coherent ideas that make sense

(Hackston and Milne, 1996). Moreover, compared to words, the sentence helps to count
more accurately. In addition, the sentence can overcome the problem of the size of the
margin size and the inclusion of graphics. Finally, we chose this unit of measurement
because most researchers consider it to be the most appropriate instrument to measure
the level of CSR disclosure (Menassa, 2010; Unerman, 2000; Menassa and Brodhäcker,
2015).
We mixed “the form oriented content analysis” with “the meaning oriented content
analysis”. In fact, the objective of “the form oriented content analysis” involves routine
counting of sentences. Our test unit is the “sentence”. In this regard, high-frequency
sentences are more reliable than themes. However, Krippendorff (1980, p. 63) suggests
that, for many content analyses, thematic units, requiring user judgment in the
determination of the hidden messages conveyed in the narratives, may be preferable. This
is despite the difficulties in application which have restricted the use of this approach to
content analysis in practice. For instance, as described below, Menassa (2010) and Khemir
and Baccouche (2010) based their studies on this combined methodology of content
analysis.
“We think that our methodology of content analysis is reliable (make valid inferences
from the text) and valid (our study accurately assesses the specific concept that we are
attempting to measure). We used Branco and Rodrigues index to clarify the themes
definition and to remove reliability problems related to the content analysis.” Weber
(1990, p. 15) notes that “reliability problems [are] usually caused by the ambiguity of
word meanings, the ambiguity of category definitions or other coding rules”.
However, according to Ernst and Ernst (1978): “monetary or non-monetary
quantification of societal information improve its quality, however, information quality
would be enhanced by an explanation in a narrative form”. For this reason, in our study,
we opted for our study to classify the CSR information, disclosed in the Tunisian listed
banks’ annual reports and on their websites as: narrative; monetary quantitative; and
non-monetary quantitative forms.
Unerman (2000) argues that annuals reports are not the only medium through which
companies can report their CSR behaviors and other medias, such as the websites,
enable more timely communications to the stakeholders. Thus, we added to our study
the content analysis of banks websites. Besides, the researcher faces several
methodological difficulties in analyzing the website content. The first difficulty is spatial;
this means that the websites contain links to pages and external sites. Therefore, the
ideal solution is to fix the site’s space frontiers. The second difficulty is a time
characteristic as the sites are always updated. To deal with these challenges, we
adopted the solutions announced by Oxibar (2005). Regarding the space delineation,
we tried to follow the plan of the site by taking into account the information available
from the site map. Then, to cope with the temporal frontiers, we print the whole site while
taking account of the space boundaries; this makes the comparison with the annual
reports very easy.
4.2.2 Measurement of the independent variables. Table I below summarizes the
independent variables, their measurement instruments and the expected signs.
4.2.3 The empirical models. To identify the determinants of the level of CSR disclosure in
the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports and on their websites, we used both of the
following models. We performed a counting model analysis (Poisson regression or the
negative binomial regression) for a sample of 66 observations between 2007 and 2012
(Model 1) and a sample of 11 observations in December 2013 (Model 2). In our
analysis, we included six independent variables and one control variable. We used only
one control variable to preserve the degree of freedom of the models.

Table I Independent variables measurement and expected signs
Abbreviated Predicted
name Variable full name Variable description sign Measurement proposed by the previous literature
BKSIZE Bank size Number of bank ⫹ Total balance sheet: Hackston and Milne (1996),
brunches Branco and Rodrigues (2008)
Turnover: Belkaoui and Karpik (1989), Hackston
and Milne (1996)
Market value: Hackston and Milne (1996)
Number of branches: Branco and Rodrigues
(2006 and 2008), Akano et al. (2013), Hafij Ullah
and Rahman (2015), Menassa (2010)
BKAGE Bank age Number of the ⫹/⫺ Number of years since the setting up of the
operating years business: Baccouche et al. (2010), Hossain and
since the setting up Reaz (2007), Roberts (1992), Abdul Hamid (2004)
of the business
ROE Economic Return on Equity ⫽ ⫹/⫺ Return on equity (ROE): Patten (1991), Roberts
Performance Net Income/Equity (1992), Oxibar (2005), Damak Ayadi (2004),
Menassa (2010), Menassa and Brodhäcker (2015)
Return on assets (ROA): Patten (1991), Damak
Ayadi (2004), Branco and Rodrigues (2008)
Net Income/Trurnover: Damak Ayadi (2004)
LEV Leverage Debt ratio ⫽ Total ⫹/⫺ Long-term debts/Total assets: Oxibar (2005),
debts/Total assets Driss and Jarboui (2014)
Total debts/Total assets: Belkaoui and Karpik
(1989), Branco and Rodrigues (2008), Khemir and
Baccouche (2010)
STATE State Ownership Percentage of ⫹ Dummy variable; 1 if the State is shareholder and
shares held by the 0 if not: Baccouche et al. (2010)
State Percentage of shares owned by the state: Al
Janadi et al. (2013)
FORGN Foreign ownership Percentage of ⫹ Percentage of shares owned by Foreign
shares held by shareholders: Baccouche et al. (2010), Haniffa
foreigners and Cooke (2002 and 2005), Branco and
Rodrigues (2006), Al Janadi et al. (2013)
AUDIT Type of auditor Dummy variable: 1 if ⫹/⫺ Dummy variable: 1 if the bank is audited at least
the bank is audited by a Big 4 and 0 if not: Baccouche et al. (2010)
at least by a Big 4
and 0 if not
Model 1: the first model (panel-data model)

CSRDIS_ARit ⫽ ␤0 ⫹ ␤1BKSIZEit ⫹ ␤2BKAGEit ⫹ ␤3ROEit ⫹ ␤4LEVit ⫹ ␤5STATEit
⫹ ␤6FORGNit ⫹ ␤7AUDITit ⫹ ␧
Model 2: the second model (cross-section model)

CSRDIS_WSi ⫽ ␤0 ⫹ ␤1BKSIZEi ⫹ ␤2BKAGEi ⫹ ␤3ROEi ⫹ ␤4LEVi ⫹ ␤5STATEi
⫹ ␤6FORGNi ⫹ ␤7AUDITi ⫹ ␧
Where:
CSRDIS_AR is the dependent variable of the first model; this represents the level of the
disclosure of corporate social responsability (CSRD) in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual
reports of the measured by the number of sentences.
CSRDIS_WS is the dependent variable of the second model; this represents the level of the
CSRD on the Tunisian listed banks’ websites of the measured by the number of sentences.
BKSIZE: the size variable measured by the number of bank branches.
BKAGE: the age variable measured by the number of the operating years since the
business was set up.

ROE: the financial performance variable.
LEV: the debt variable measured by the proxy of overall debt ratio to total assets.
STATE: the state shareholding variable measured by the percentage of shares held by the
state.
FORGN: the foreign ownership variable measured by the percentage of shares held by
foreigners.
AUDIT: the control variable represents the type of auditor.
5. Empirical results and discussion

As mentioned above, our study’s main objectives are to investigate the Tunisian listed
banks’ levels and the determinants of CSR disclosure. We present and discuss our
empirical findings in this section.
5.1 Descriptive statistics

5.1.1 Results of the content analysis. The content analysis helped us identify the Tunisian
listed banks’ overall level of CSR disclosure of the in their annual reports for the period from
2007 to 2012 and their websites in December 2013. Moreover, through this content
analysis, we were able to identify either from the annual reports or from the websites the
most frequently disclosed items. In 2012, the level of the CSR disclosure in their annual
reports was 400 sentences, whereas, on their websites as at December 2013, it was a total
of 214 sentences. These findings suggest that Tunisian banks disclose more CSR
information in their annual reports than on their websites. On the contrary, Williams and Ho
Wern Pei (1999) assert that organizations in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong
appear to provide more narrative information on their websites than in their annual reports.
The following Table II summarizes the overall level of the CSR disclosure in the Tunisian
listed banks annual reports for the period between 2007 and 2012.
The comparison of the level of the CSR information disclosed in the Tunisian listed banks’
annual reports helps us to note that there are differences across the six years of the study.
Actually, a drop of 10 sentences was registered in 2008; this reduced this level from 202
to 192 sentences. In 2009, there was a rise of 135 sentences; this increased the level of
CSR disclosure in the annual reports from 192 to 327 sentences. This is the most important
increase recorded during the study’s six years. In 2012, the level of CSR disclosure
reached its maximum of 400 sentences. The legitimization of their activities is a possible
explanation of some changes in some banks’ CSR disclosure practices is. This result is in
accordance with the findings of Mahadeo et al.’s (2011) longitudinal study and provides
another piece of evidence of the increased importance of CSR disclosure in African
developing economies.
Table III displays the level of CSR disclosure in each category of CSR information
disclosed in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports and on their websites. Based on
the comparison between the disclosure levels in each category, it can be concluded
that during the six-year study, the most disclosed category in the Tunisian listed banks’
annual reports is the human resources. This accounts for 71.4 per cent of the global
disclosed level (with 1,297 sentences). This result seems consistent with Driss and
Table II The overall level of CSR disclosure in the annual reports

Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Overall disclosure level
CSRDIS_AR NS 202 192 327 358 344 400 1823

% 11.08 10.53 17.94 19.64 18.87 21.94 100
Notes: CSRDIS_AR ⫽ The level of CSR disclosure in the annual reports; NS ⫽ the number of sentences

Table III The disclosure level of CSR categories in the websites and annual reports
Annual Reports Websites
Categories NS (%) NS (%)
Category A 36 1.97 1 0.46

Category B 1297 71.14 54 25.23
Category C 269 14.75 34 15.88
Category D 221 12.14 125 58.43
Overall disclosure 1823 100 214 100
Notes: NS ⫽ The Number of Sentences; Category A: Environmental disclosure; Category B: Human
resources disclosure; Category C: Products and customers disclosure; Category D: Community
involvement disclosure; NS ⫽ the number of sentences
Jarboui’s (2014) findings for the non-financial firms in the Tunisian context, Mahadeo
et al. (2011) for the Mauritius context, Douglas et al. (2004) for the Irish context, Akano
et al. (2013) for the Nigerian context and Zéghal and Ahmed (1990) for the Canadian
context. However, it does not corroborate those of Barako and Brown (2008) for the
Kenyan context; they report a complete lack of disclosure in respect of the human
resource categories. The second category is products and services with 269 sentences
over the six-year period; this represents 14.75 per cent of the overall CSR disclosure in
the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports. This result differs from Abdul Hamid’s (2004)
finding that for the Malaysian context, product/service-related disclosures are more
frequent than environmental and energy, human resources or community-related
disclosures. The third category is information regarding the community involvement;
this represents 12.4 per cent of the total CSR information (with 221 sentences). Finally,
the environment is the least-disclosed category in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual
reports with only 1.97 per cent (36 sentences). Hence, our results provide evidence that
the Tunisian listed banks attribute greater importance to human resources and
products and services disclosures and less importance to environment disclosure.
These results corroborate Menassa’s (2010) findings for the Lebanon context.
Moreover, Lipunga (2013) shows that the sampled Malawian banks placed least
emphasis on disclosing environment-related activities.
With regard to the Tunisian listed banks’ websites, it appears that in December 2013 the
community involvement was the most widespread category. In fact, it represents 58.43 per
cent of the total CSR disclosure (with 125 sentences). This result corroborates those of
Branco and Rodrigues (2006 and 2008) for Portugal. The second category is the human
resources with 25.23 per cent of the total CSR disclosure (with 54 sentences). The third
category is the products and services, which represents 15.88 per cent of the total CSR
disclosure, and, in the last place, we find the environment; this is the least-disclosed
category with only 0.46 per cent of the total CSR information on the Tunisian listed banks
websites. This result seems consistent with those of the previous studies (Clarke and
Gibson-Sweet, 1999; Lipunga, 2013).
Table IV compares narrative to quantitative CSR disclosure in the Tunisian listed banks’
annual reports and on their websites. The analysis shows that CSR information is essentially
communicated in a narrative form. Actually, narrative disclosure represents 57.27 per cent
of the overall CSR information in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports during the period
from 2007 to 2012 (with 1,044 sentences). Moreover, there is a relatively large level of CSR
information in a non-monetary quantitative form. It represents 34 per cent of the overall CSR
disclosure in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports (620 sentences). However, the
Tunisian listed banks’ CSR reporting is very low (with 8.73 per cent of the overall voluntary
CSR information). Additionally, in the Egyptian context, Rizk et al. (2008) find that CSR
disclosure is low, unsatisfactory and descriptive in nature.

Table IV The CSR disclosure level depending on the information form in the websites
and annual reports
Annual reports Websites
Information forms NS (%) NS (%)
Narrative 1044 57.27 200 93.45

Quantitative and non monetary 620 34 11 5.14
Quantitative and monetary 159 8.73 3 1.41
Overall disclosure 1823 100 214 100
Note: NS ⫽ The number of sentences
With regard to the Tunisian listed banks’ websites, it appears that they prefer the narrative
form; this has 200 sentences and represents 93.45 per cent of the total CSR disclosure on
their websites. These banks rarely use the monetary and non-monetary quantitative forms
which represent, respectively, 5.14 per cent and 1.41 per cent of the overall volume of CSR
information. Thus, these banks prefer to disclose CSR information mainly in a narrative
form, either in their annual reports or on their websites. This result is consistent with those
of the previous studies (Yeshmin, 2012; Khemir and Baccouche, 2010; Zéghal and Ahmed,
1990).
5.1.2 Results of the descriptive analysis. It can be seen that the Tunisian listed banks
disclosed, on average, 27.62 sentences in their annual reports during the period from 2007
to 2012 (Panel A of Table V). The minimum disclosure was four sentences recorded by the
Banque de l’Habitat (BH) in 2008, whereas the maximum was 86 sentences achieved by
Banque Attijari de Tunisie (ATTIJARI) in 2009. Besides, the Tunisian listed banks disclosed
an average of 19.45 sentences on their websites in December 2013. The level of CSR
Table V Summary of the descriptive statistics

Variables N Minimum Maximum Mean SD
Panel A: (Model 1 variables: CSRDIS_AR is the dependent variable)

CSRDIS_AR 66 4 86 27.62121 18.01774
BKSIZE 66 5 185 108.5909 39.35244
ROE 66 ⫺11.87 29.76 9.622121 16.54069
LEV 66 64.55 101.09 89.65135 6.984151
STATE 66 0 66.76 20.54373 27.59613
FORGN 66 0 64.24 30.11726 23.41323
BKAGE 66 19 129 47.95455 27.0637
AUDIT Frequency Percentile
0 16 24.24
1 50 75.76
Panel B: (Model 2 variables: CSRDIS_WS is the dependent variable)
CSRDIS_WS 11 0 95 19.45455 27.9441
BKSIZE 11 19 189 124.4545 45.57711
ROE 11 1.5 163.03 25.32273 46.43749
LEV 11 83.11 101.62 92.01464 5.184594
STATE 11 0 67.4 19.59273 27.92948
FORGN 11 5.64 64.24 31.27591 23.08872
BKAGE 11 25 130 51.45455 28.11179
AUDIT Frequency Percentile
0 3 27.27
1 8 72.73
Notes: CSRDIS_AR ⫽ The level of CSR disclosure in the annual reports; BKSIZE ⫽ Number of bank brunches; ROE ⫽ Net Income/
Equity; LEV ⫽ Total debts/Total assets; STATE ⫽ Percentage of shares held by the State; FORGN ⫽ Percentage of shares held by
foreigners; BKAGE ⫽ Number of the operating years since the setting up of the business; AUDIT ⫽ 1 if the bank is audited at least by
a Big 4, 0 if not

disclosure on the Tunisian listed banks’ websites of varies between a minimum score of
zero and a maximum score of 25 sentences, which was recorded by Union Bancaire Pour
le Commerce et l’industrie (UBCI) in December 2013 (Panel B of Table V). The comparison
between the two supports reveals that the Tunisian listed banks use annual reports more
than their websites to disclose CSR information. This result is in concordance with that of
Branco and Rodrigues (2006 and 2008) for the Portuguese context.
Panel A of Table V displays a description of banks’ characteristics.
We can see from that table that that bank size (measured by the number of branches) is,
on average, 108 branches with a minimum of five branches for the Banque de Tunisie et
des Emirats (BTE) in 2007 and a maximum of 185 branches for ATTIJARI in 2012. Between
2007 and 2012, the number of the Tunisian listed banks’ years of operation ranged from a
minimum of 19 years, recorded by the BH in 2007, and a maximum of 129 years, recorded
by the BT in 2012.
The average age of the Tunisian listed banks is 47.95 years; this means that they are
relatively old. The average financial performance, which is measured by the ROE, is equal
to 9.62 per cent. It actually varies between a minimum value of-11.87 per cent recorded by
the UIB bank in 2008 and a maximum value of 29.76 per cent recorded by ATTIJARI in
2008. This means that the Tunisian listed banks were performing during the period from
2007 to 2012 and there in their leverage was, on average, 89.65 per cent. This level peaked
at the UIB in 2007 with 101.09 per cent and reached a trough of 64.55 per cent in 2007 at
the BTE. These values show that the Tunisian listed banks of our sample are carrying too
much debt.
On the other hand, the state shareholding variable varies between a maximum percentage
of 66.67 per cent recorded by the BNA in 2008 and a zero minimum percentage. The
percentage of shares held by the state is, on average, about 20.54 per cent. The banks in
which the State shareholding exceeded 50 per cent during the period from 2007 to 2012
are BH, BNA and STB. The variable foreign shareholding is, on average, equal to 30.11 per
cent during this period. Moreover, during this period, the percentage of shares held by
foreigners varies between a maximum rate of 64.24 per cent, recorded by the ATB between
2007 and 2012, and a zero rate, recorded by the BNA. This shows that the participation of
foreign shareholders in Tunisia is not too high. From Table V, we can see that 16
observations out of 66 in which the Tunisian listed banks were audited by small audit firms
between 2007 and 2012. However, there are 50 observations in which the Tunisian listed
banks were audited by at least a large audit firm (big 4).
5.2 Results of the multivariate analyses

The examination of the correlation matrix (Panel A of Table VI) and the VIF results (Panel B
of Table VI) shows the absence of a significant correlation between the independent
variables.
The significance of dispersion tests (deviance and Chi-2) in both models shows the
inadequacy of the Poisson regression. Therefore, the negative binomial regression is the most
appropriate one. The results of the regressions of both models are summarized in the Tables VII
and VIII below. In the first model, with the presence of panel data, we may have a problem of
heterogeneity. In response, we should check whether a fixed-effects or random-effects model
should be used. The result of Hausman test shows that the fixed-effect model is a better option
than the random-effect one. In terms of global significance, our first model is significant, as it
has a Chi-2 value of 39.07 and is significant at a 1-per cent level. As for the adjustment quality,
the log-likelihood absolute value is high (185.02) and indicates a good adjustment quality. For
our second model, it is not too significant as it has a Chi-2 value of 13.16 and is significant at
a 10-per cent level only. In terms of adjustment quality, the low log-likelihood absolute value

Table VI Summary of correlation analyses
CSRDIS_AR BKSIZE ROE LEV STATE FORGN BKAGE CSRDIS_WS AUDIT
Panel A: Pearson correlation matrix (N ⫽66)

CSRDIS_AR 1.0000
BKSIZE 0.4638*** 1.0000
ROE 0.3644** 0.4133*** 1.0000
LEV 0.2954* 0.7672*** 0.3562** 1.0000
STATE ⫺0.4443*** ⫺0.2608* ⫺0.5977*** ⫺0.2297 1.0000
FORGN 0.2200 ⫺0.2393 0.1630 ⫺0.2186 ⫺0.4417*** 1.0000
BKAGE ⫺0.2802* 0.0676 0.1387 ⫺0.0879 ⫺0.2430 ⫺0.1463 1.0000
CSRDIS_WS 0.1596 0.1618 0.0923 0.2105 ⫺0.4809*** 0.4292*** ⫺0.1135 1.0000
AUDIT 0,1388 ⫺0.0708 0.5402* ⫺0.3552 ⫺0.8521*** 0.6065** 0.1322 0.3822 1.0000
Model 1 Model 2
CSRDIS_AR is the dependent variable CSRDIS_WS is the dependent variable
Variables VIF 1/VIF VIF 1/VIF
Panel B: VIF tests
AUDIT 2.92 0.318002 2.92 0.342863
LEV 2.77 0.360738 2.27 0.439784
BKSIZE 2.76 0.362593 2.19 0.455973
STATE 1.84 0.544087 1.89 0.529313
FORGN 1.76 0.568340 1.80 0.556764
BKAGE 1.31 0.760936 1.72 0.579865

ROE 1.08 0.925598 1.13 0.881229
Mean VIF ⫽ 1.92 Mean VIF ⫽ 1.84
Note: *, **, *** Significant at the 10, 5, 1% level, respectively
Table VII Results of the first model multivariate regression (CSRDIS_AR is the dependent variable)
Variables Coefficient Z Significance
Panel A: Poisson regression

BKSIZE 0.100605 11.12 0.000***
BKAGE 0.0038103 2.03 0.043**
ROE ⫺0.0351836 ⫺5.82 0.000***
LEV ⫺0.0118179 ⫺8.60 0.000***
STATE ⫺0.0025541 ⫺2.20 0.028**
FORGN ⫺0.0106882 ⫺8.98 0.000***
AUDIT 0.05623 0.70 0.481
Deviance ⫽ 325.2178
Significance ⫽ 0.0000***
Chi2 of Pearson ⫽ 325.3045
Panel B: Hausman test
Chi2 104.46
p-value 0.0000***
Variables Predicted signs Coefficient Z Significance

Panel C: Negative binomial regression
BKSIZE ⫹ ⫺0.0067 ⫺1.28 0.199
BKAGE ⫹/⫺ 0.1497 4.59 0.000***
ROE ⫹/⫺ 0.0062 2.09 0.037**
LEV ⫹/⫺ ⫺0.0207 ⫺1.05 0.294
STATE ⫹ 0.0294 1.68 0.092*
FORGN ⫹ 0.0127 0.71 0.476
AUDIT ⫹/⫺ ⫺0.2143 ⫺1.16 0.245
Log Likelihood ⫽ ⫺185.02751
Chi2 ⫽ 39.07
Notes: BKSIZE ⫽ Number of bank brunches; ROE ⫽ Net Income/Equity; LEV ⫽ Total debts/Total assets; STATE ⫽ Percentage of
shares held by the State; FORGN ⫽ Percentage of shares held by foreigners; BKAGE ⫽ Number of the operating years since the setting
up of the business; AUDIT ⫽ 1 if the bank is audited at least by a Big 4, 0 if not; *, **, *** significant at the 10, 5, 1% level, respectively

Table VIII Results of the second model multivariate regression (CSRDIS_WS is the
dependent variable)
Variables Coefficient Z Significance
Panel A: Poisson regression

BKSIZE ⫺0.0318 ⫺7.06 0.000***
BKAGE ⫺0.0534 ⫺6.69 0.000***
ROE 1.0277 6.16 0.000***
LEV 0.0426 1.32 0.187
STATE 0.0193 4.52 0.000***
FORGN 0.0232 2.72 0.007***
AUDIT 14.9519 4.58 0.000***
Deviance ⫽ 65.187
Wald Chi 2 ⫽ 18501.27
Variables Predicted signs Coefficient Z Significance
Panel B: Negative binomial regression

BKSIZE ⫹ 0.0049 0.36 0.721
BKAGE ⫹/⫺ ⫺0.0140 ⫺0.66 0.507
ROE ⫹/⫺ ⫺0.0184 ⫺1.75 0.080*
LEV ⫹/⫺ 0.3305 1.85 0.064*

STATE ⫹ 0.0023 0.03 0.973
FORGN ⫹ 0.0292 1.31 0.189
AUDIT ⫹/⫺ 3.6239 0.79 0.430
Log likelihood ⫽ ⫺35.236
Chi 2 ⫽ 13.16
Significance ⫽ 0.0684*
Notes: BKSIZE ⫽ Number of bank brunches; ROE ⫽ Net Income/Equity; LEV ⫽ Total debts/Total
assets; STATE ⫽ Percentage of shares held by the State; FORGN ⫽ Percentage of shares held by
foreigners; BKAGE ⫽ Number of the operating years since the setting up of the business; AUDIT ⫽
1 if the bank is audited at least by a Big 4, 0 if not; *, and *** significant at the 10, 1% level,
respectively
(35.236) indicates an intermediary adjustment quality. The low regression quality of the second
model may be explained by the limited number of observations (11).
The size-related hypothesis has not been validated in both models (Panel C of Table VII
and Panel B of Table VIII). Actually, a negative but non-significant association was found
between the bank size and the level of CSR disclosure in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual
reports (⫺0.0067, z-statistic ⫽ ⫺1.28), while, a positive but non-significant association was
found between the size and the level of CSR disclosure on their banks websites (0.0049,
z-statistic ⫽ 0.36). Therefore, it can be concluded that Tunisian listed banks’ visibility (size)
has not led to an increase in CSR disclosure both in their annual reports and on their
websites. This interpretation has already been provided by Cowen et al. (1987) for US
companies, Kribat et al. (2013) for Libyan banks and Hafij Ullah and Rahman (2015) for
Bangladeshi banks. Although our finding is unexpected, we can explain this result as
follows: investors in smaller banks may face relatively greater information asymmetry and,
thus, require higher level of CSR disclosure to deal with agency problems. Our results do
not corroborate the predictions of legitimacy theory, which claims that large firms have
more visibility and are more likely to increase CSR disclosure to maintain good corporate
image (Branco and Rodrigues, 2008; Mahadeo et al., 2011). Overall, it appears that size
does not place pressure on banks to incorporate CSR considerations into their reporting
policy. Such results emphasize the need to consider CSR values prevailing in the banking
industry (for small and large banks).
A significant positive association is found between bank age and the level of CSR disclosure
in the banks’ annual reports (0.1497, z-statistic ⫽ 4.59). This means that compared to younger

ones, older banks disclose more societal information in their annual reports. This finding seems
to be consistent with that of Baccouche et al. (2010), Menassa (2010), Abdul Hamid (2004). Our
result suggests that the complementary theories (legitimacy and stakeholders theories) may be
an explanation of the Tunisian listed banks’ CSR disclosure. It shows that compared to younger
ones, older banks are more visible to the public and disclose more CSR information than
smaller ones. In fact, higher visibility leads a bank to adopt heightened levels of ethical
practices and CSR disclosure in particular. On the one hand and according to legitimacy
theory, banks can survive only if the society believes that the entity is operating in accordance
with its expectations. Hence, this theory stresses the importance of societal acceptance in
ensuring a bank’s survival. Thus, we conclude that older Tunisian listed banks tend to legitimize
their businesses and to exhibit ethical awareness through increasing CSR disclosure. On the
other hand, despite the fact that there are no clear CSR guidelines in Tunisia, older banks are
aware of the CSR issues. Thus, it is not surprising to observe that Tunisia’s older banks
are taking CSR disclosure seriously and are trying to address the expectations and concerns
of their various stakeholders. Whereas, on the Tunisian listed banks’ websites. There is a
positive but non-significant association between the bank’s age and its level of CSR disclosure
(⫺0.0140, z-statistic ⫽ ⫺0.66). This finding is consistent with earlier evidence for North Africa,
in Kribat et al. (2013) on Libya. Consequently, the age-related hypothesis is supported for the
first model but rejected for the second model.
In line with the results of several previous studies (Belkaoui and Karpik, 1989; Abbott and
Monsen, 1979; Roberts, 1992; Stanwick and Stanwick, 1998; Menassa, 2010), there is a
significant and positive association between financial performance and the level of CSR
disclosure in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports (0.0062; z-statistic ⫽ 2.09). This
result suggests that Tunisian listed banks, which are performing strongly, are more
accountable and have incentives to signal their CSR to the market. This result corroborates
the predictions of the legitimacy and stakeholders theories. Indeed, the socio-
organizational approach posits that highly visible organizations disclose information to
meet social norms related to their activities. Thus, the performing banks tend to achieve
legitimacy through meeting the expectations set by the society. However, on the Tunisian
listed banks’ websites, there is a negative and significant association between financial
performance and the level of CSR disclosure (⫺0.0184, z-statistic ⫽ ⫺1.75). This result was
already found by Damak Ayadi (2006) for the French context and Driss and Jarboui (2014)
for the Tunisian one. Conversely, Kundid and Rogošić (2012) found that more profitable
Croatian banks were more willing to disclose CSR voluntarily on the Internet. Hence, our
results provide mixed evidence about the relationship between financial performance and
CSR disclosure is mixed. Consequently, the performance-related hypothesis is supported
for both models.
The indebtedness level turned out to be a non-explanatory factor of CSR disclosure in the
Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports. This may be due to the fact that a negative but
non-significant association is found between the leverage and the Tunisian listed banks’
CSR disclosure in their annual reports (⫺0.0207, z-statistic ⫽ ⫺1.05). This finding seems
to contradict those found by Khemir and Baccouche (2010) and Driss and Jarboui (2014).
However, it appears that the indebtedness level has a positive and insignificant impact on
the CSR disclosure on their banks websites (0.3305, z-statistic ⫽ 1.85). Similarly, Yassin
(2016) found a positive effect of leverage on internet financial reporting for Jordan firms.
This result suggests that leveraged Tunisian listed banks, which are subject to relatively
more financial costs, perceive CSR internet disclosure as a potential means of facilitating
monitoring by creditors. In addition, this finding is in line with the predictions of the
politico-contractual theory. In fact, from a generalized agency point of view and to
maximize their own interests and wealth, managers can use the leverage to reflect a
favorable image of their socially friendly management. For this reason, the hypothesis
related to the leverage was confirmed in the first model but rejected in the second one.

Our results show a positive and significant relationship between state ownership and the level
of CSR disclosure in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports (0.0294, z-statistic ⫽1.68). Our
result is in accordance with the result found by Eng and Mak (2003). It implies that, compared
to other banks, the banks, in which the state is a dominant shareholder, disclose more CSR
information in their annual reports. That means that the Tunisian Government is concerned
about CSR issues and has a power to achieve a widespread influence on the financial
community. Accordingly, banks’ managers react by improving CSR reporting. If we consider
the state as the most powerful stakeholder and in conjunction with legitimacy theory,
stakeholder theory suggests, therefore, that CSR disclosure is made to gain or maintain
legitimacy with state. Thus, we can assert that state ownership pushes the banks to justify and
legitimize their actions via CSR disclosure in their annual reports. Additionally, Khlif et al. (2016)
show that voluntary disclosure is higher in firms when state ownership increases and more
specifically in countries with high investor protection and high market development. Our result
is inconsistent with the results of previous studies conducted on Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) countries. Alotaibi and Hussainey (2016) and Al-Janadi et al. (2013) found a negative
association between the state ownership and the level of CSR disclosure in the case of Saudi
Arabia; while Naser et al. (2006) found no relationship between these variables in the case of
Qatar. Nevertheless, the state shareholding was found to have a positive but insignificant
impact on the level of CSR disclosure on the banks’ websites (0.0023, z-statistic ⫽ 0.03). This
result shows that, compared to other banks, banks, in which the state is a dominant
shareholder; do not disclose more CSR information on their websites. Consequently, the state
ownership-related hypothesis is supported for the first model but rejected for the second one.
We did not find any association between foreign ownership and the CSR disclosure in the
Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports (0.0127, z-statistic ⫽ 0.71) and on their websites
(0.0292, z-statistic ⫽ 1.31). Our results do corroborate those of Barako et al. (2006), Haniffa
and Cooke (2002 and 2005) and Dhouibi and Mamoghli (2013). This finding can be
explained by the voluntary nature of the CSR disclosure in Tunisia and the little power of
foreign shareholders to influence banks’ CSR reporting. This suggests that this category of
shareholders tends to neglect CSR issues and focus more on financial performance.
According to stakeholders’ theory, the effort exerted in managing the relationship between
the bank and its stakeholders depends on the level of stakeholder power (Roberts, 1992).
Therefore, the foreign shareholding-related hypothesis was rejected in both models.
The type of auditor variable has no effect on the level of the Tunisian listed banks’ CSR
disclosure, either in their annual reports (⫺0.2143, z-statistic ⫽ ⫺1.16) or on their websites
(3.6239, z-statistic ⫽ 0.79). This means that the Tunisian listed banks, audited by large
audit firms, do not disclose more CSR information than those audited by small audit firms.
This result corroborates those of Baccouche et al. (2010) and Dhouibi and Mamoghli (2013)
in Tunisian context.
Overall, our findings indicate that the stakeholders and legitimacy theories play a vital role
in explaining the Tunisian listed banks’ level of CSR disclosure. In fact, our results provide
support for the application of legitimacy and stakeholders theories in the Tunisian setting
where stakeholders put pressure on banks’ management to engage in CSR disclosure. The
differences in the determinants of CSR disclosure between the two mediums of disclosure
(annual reports and websites) can be explained by the fact that they have different users.
Annual reports are oriented toward investors, while websites largely target the public
(Zéghal and Ahmed, 1990).
5.3 Results of the robustness test

In the counting models, the estimated coefficients are not directly interpreted since it is in
the linear regression models. However, it requires further analysis. This implies the use of
the marginal effect method to measure the impact of a one-unit increase in an independent

Table IX Marginal effect of independent variables
Variables dy/dx Z Significance
BKSIZE 0.0382684 0.35 0.724

BKAGE ⫺0.1434963 ⫺1.69 0.091*
ROE 2.56905 1.83 0.067*
LEV 0.0179636 0.03 0.973
STATE 0.2273858 1.23 0.220
FORGN ⫺0.1091806 ⫺0.65 0.517
AUDIT 20.32712 0.73 0.464
Notes: BKSIZE ⫽ Number of bank brunches; ROE ⫽ Net Income/Equity; LEV ⫽ Total debts/Total
assets; STATE ⫽ Percentage of shares held by the State; FORGN ⫽ Percentage of shares held by
foreigners; BKAGE ⫽ Number of the operating years since the setting up of the business; AUDIT ⫽
1 if the bank is audited at least by a Big 4, 0 if not; *, significant at the 10% level
variable on the level of CSR disclosure. The results, provided by the marginal effect
method, are similar to the original results which confirm them (Table IX below).
6. Conclusion
The importance of CSR disclosure seems to be growing worldwide and the same appears
to be the case in Tunisia which represents a good example of low information environment
in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This study has given an idea on how
emergent countries, especially Tunisia, perform CSR reporting generally and the banking
sector in particular. More specifically, it examined the Tunisian listed banks’ determinants
of CSR disclosure and illustrated the crucial role played by financial institutions in financing
the economic activities. It makes three important contributions to corporate disclosure
literature. First, it extends previous research on CSR disclosure to the banking industry
which usually is excluded from previous research on CSR reporting. Second, it investigates
an emerging market where companies still look more to their financial performance than to
their societal responsibility. Third, it is based on two corporate information supports,
namely, annual reports and websites. In this study, we followed Branco and Rodrigues
(2006 and 2008), and we analyzed four areas of CSR information, namely,
employee-related issues; environmental issues; products and costumers’ issues; and
community involvement issues.
This study shows that Tunisian banks do disclose CSR information. On the basis of the
content analysis, it appears clearly that the distribution of the level of CSR disclosure
among the four categories led us conclude that “human resources” is the most-reported
category in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports. Nevertheless, the most-explained and
detailed category on Tunisian banks websites is “the involvement in the community”.
Conversely, it appears that, whether in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports or on their
websites, the environment is the least-disclosed category. The analysis of CSR information,
on the form basis, assumes that the banks disclose CSR information essentially under a
narrative form. In this regard, the banks rarely use a quantitative monetary form either in
their annual reports or on their websites. Therefore, on the basis of the descriptive analysis,
we can assert that the Tunisian listed banks use their annual reports more than websites as
a media of CSR disclosure.
The results of the multivariate analysis help us conclude that the level of CSR disclosure in
the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports is explained by the leverage and the financial
performance variables. Furthermore, we document that bank age, financial performance
and state shareholding are the only strong determinants of the level of CSR disclosure in
the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports. These results suggest that older banks, with
higher performance and state shareholding, attribute greater importance to CSR disclosure
as part of their reputation management strategies. These banks show greater concerns

about improving their corporate images through CSR disclosure. Our findings are in line
with previous empirical studies conducted in other emergent markets (Abdul Hamid, 2004
in Malaysia; Eng and Mak, 2003 in Singapore).
Our study contributes to the growing literature on the determinants of CSR disclosure in an
emergent market, namely, Tunisia. It shows that banks’ characteristics and various
ownership structures play a crucial role in the banks’ reporting policies. Our findings have
several policy implications. First, more efforts should be made to enhance the awareness
of the Tunisian listed banks’ managements of the advantages of CSR disclosure. Second,
our results can be used for cross-country comparison, especially close emerging markets
(Morocco, Algeria [. . .]). Third, they shed some light on Tunisian listed banks’ CSR
disclosure policy; this may help the Tunisian central bank to develop its own CSR strategies
through regulation and criteria to grant credit to companies (e.g. implementation of basic
CSR principles; not to pollute the environment; produce safe products [. . .]).
To summarize, this study is expected to be useful to all market participants, namely,
investors, managers and regulators in providing new requirements on CSR disclosure in
Tunisia. The comprehensiveness of CSR disclosure may help Tunisian’ market participants
to consider the disclosure on CSR issues (environmental, human resources, product and
consumers and community involvement). For investors, it provides evidence that bank age
and the presence of a high level of financial performance and state ownership tend to
improve the level of CSR disclosure in the Tunisian listed banks’ annual reports.
Furthermore, enhanced CSR allows investors to discipline the market more effectively. For
banks managers, they should strive to take into account the CSR issues in their operations
and, thereby, report them systematically and as thoroughly as possible. In addition,
increased transparency through the CSR disclosure should enable a bank to access
capital markets more efficiently and to reduce the risk taking. In fact, banks transparency
is a key element of a safe and sound banking system.
Despite these contributions, our research has three shortcomings. The first relates to the
use of manual content analysis which suffers from being subjective. The second stems from
the small sample bias. Finally, we ignore in our analysis the endogeneity issue which can
arise from the use of ownership structure as an independent variable. Further research
should tackle this problem by examining the mediator/moderate variables that can affect
the complex relationship between corporate governance and CSR (Arora and Dharwadkar,
2011).
Notes
1. Most of the empirical studies analyzing CSRD have focused on the annual report; this is
considered to be the most important media of corporate communication.
2. Websites have become an important medium through which companies can disclose information
on different natures and, especially corporate social information.
3. Source: “A Financial Sector in Disarray”, in “The Unfinished Revolution, Synthesis”, Development

Policy Review; May 2014 (Page 214). URL: www.worldbank.org/.../the_unfinished_revolution_eng_
chap6.pdf
4. Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie
5. Banque Nationale Agricole
6. Société Tunisienne de Banque
7. Banque de l’Habitat
8. Currently, the Tunisian banking sector consists of 22 lending banks (11 listed and 11 non-listed),
nine leasing companies, two merchant banks, one factoring companies and seven offshore banks.
Almost half of the financial intermediaries are owned by banks.

9. We quote from Jarbeck and Martin (2015, p. 8): “Reflecting on the change that took place in the
development of CSR theory over time, there is to record a shift in theoretical orientation from initially
ethics oriented studies to performance orientation (Carroll and Shabana, 2010; Lee, 2008). In the
course of half a century the idea of CSR has thus changed from a purely philanthropic concept,
which did not seem to promise any financial contribution to business activities, to an indispensable
strategic management tool, which is closely coupled with corporate financial performance (Lee,
2008)”.
10. Available at: www.cmf.org.tn
11. Available at: www.bvmt.com.tn
12. Available at: www.tustex.com
References
Abbott, W.F. and Monsen, R.J. (1979), “On the measurement of corporate social responsibility:
self-reported disclosures as a method of measuring corporate social involvement”, Academy of
Management Journal, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 501-515.
Abdul Hamid, F.Z. (2004), “Corporate social disclosure by banks and finance companies: Malaysian
evidence”, Corporate Ownership and Control, Vol. 1 No. 4, pp. 118-129.
Adams, C.A. (2002), “Internal organizational factors influencing corporate social and ethical reporting:
beyond current theorizing”, Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 15 No. 2,
pp. 223-250.
Adams, R.B. and Mehran, H. (2005), “Corporate performance, board structure and its determinants in
the banking industry”, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports, No. 330.
Akano, A.Y., Jamiu, O.O., Yaya, O A. and Oluwalogbon, O.T. (2013), “Corporate social responsibility
activities disclosure by commercial banks in Nigeria”, European Journal of Business and Management,
Vol. 5 No. 7, pp. 173-185.
Al Janadi, Y., Abdu Rahman, R. and Haj Omar, N. (2013), “Corporate governance mechanisms and
voluntary disclosure in Saudi Arabia”, Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, Vol. 4 No. 4,
pp. 25-35.
Alberti-Alhtaybat, L.V., Hutaibat, K. and Al-Htaybat, K. (2012), “Mapping corporate disclosure

theories”, Journal of Financial Reporting & Accounting, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 73-94.
Alotaibi, K.O. and Hussainey, K. (2016), “Determinants of CSR disclosure quantity and quality:
evidence from non-financial listed firms in Saudi Arabia”, International Journal of Disclosure and
Governance, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 1-30.
Aribi, Z.A. and Gao, S. (2010), “Corporate social responsibility disclosure: a comparison between
islamic and conventional financial institutions”, Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Vol. 8
No. 2, pp. 72-91.
Arora, P. and Dharwadkar, R. (2011), “Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility
(CSR): the moderating roles of attainment discrepancy and organization slack”, Corporate
Governance: An International Review, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 136-152.
Baccouche, C., Erraies, O. and Mzoughi, K. (2010), “Les déterminants de la publication volontaire
d’informations sociales: cas des entreprises tunisiennes”, working paper, ISCAE-Tunis.
Barako, D.G. and Brown, A.M. (2008), “Corporate social reporting and board representation evidence
From the Kenyan banking sector”, Journal Manage Governance, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 309-324.
Barako, D.G., Hancock, P. and Izan, H.Y. (2006), “Factors influencing voluntary corporate disclosure
by Kenyan companies”, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 107-125.
Belkaoui, A. and Karpik, P. (1989), “Determinants of the corporate decision to disclose social
information”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 36-51.
Ben Rhouma, A. and Cormier, D. (2007), “Déterminants de la communication sociale et

environnementale des entreprises françaises”, Working paper, UQAM.

Bowen, H.R. (1953), Social Responsibilities of The Businessman, Harper, NY.
Branco, M.C. and Rodrigues, L.L. (2006), “Communication of corporate social responsibility by
Portuguese banks a legitimacy theory perspective”, Corporate Communications: An International
Journal, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 232-248.
Branco, M.C. and Rodrigues, L.L. (2008), “Social responsibility disclosure: a study of proxies for the
public visibility of Portuguese banks”, The British Accounting Review, Vol. 40 No. 2, pp. 161-181.
Brown, N. and Deegan, C. (1998), “The public disclosure of environmental performance information:
a dual test of media agenda setting theory and legitimacy theory”, Accounting and Business Research,
Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 21-41.
Cabagnols, A. and Le Bas, C. (2006), “Les déterminants du comportement de Responsabilité sociale

de l’entreprise: une analyse économétrique à partir de nouvelles donnée d’enquête”, Working paper,
Lyon 2 University, Lyon.
Carroll, A. (1993), Business and Society, 2nd ed., South Western Publishing, Cincinnati, OH.
Carroll, A. (1999), “Corporate social responsibility: evolution of definitional construct”, Business and
Society, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 268-295.
Carroll, A. and Shabana, K. (2010), “The business case for corporate social responsibility: a review of
concepts, research and practice”, International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol. 12 No. 1,
pp. 85-105.
Chakroun, R. (2012), “Confrontation between supply and demand for voluntary information in the
annual reports in an emerging country: the Tunisian case”, International Journal of Accounting and
Financial Reporting, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 333-366.
Chavent, M., Ding, Y., Fu, L., Stolowy, H. and Wang, H. (2006), “Disclosure and determinants studies:
an extension using the divisive clustering method (DIV)”, European Accounting Review, Vol. 15 No. 2,
pp. 181-218.
Clarke, J. and Gibson-Sweet, M. (1999), “The use of corporate social disclosures in the management
of reputation and legitimacy: a cross sectoral analysis of UK top100 companies”, Business Ethics: A
European Review, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 5-13.
Cormier, D. and Magnan, M. (1999), “Corporate environmental disclosure strategies: determinants,

costs and benefits”, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 429-451.
Coulson, A.B. and Monks, V. (1999), “Corporate environmental performance considerations within
bank lending decisions”, Eco-Management and Auditing, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 1-10.
Cowen, B., Ferrari, L.B. and Parker, L.D. (1987), “The impact of corporate characteristics on social
responsibility: a typology and frequency based analysis”, Accounting, Organization and Society,
Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 111-122.
Crawford, P.E. and Williams, C.C. (2010), “Should corporate social reporting be voluntary or
mandatory? Evidence from the banking sector in France and the United States”, Corporate
Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 512-526.
Damak Ayadi, S. (2004), “Comment justifier la responsabilité sociale des entreprises?”, Entreprise
Ethique, Vol. 20, pp. 108-113.
Damak Ayadi, S. (2006), “Analyse des facteurs explicatifs de la publication des rapports Sociétaux en
France”, Comptabilité, Contrôle et Audit, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 93-116.
Deegan, C. (2002), “The legitimizing effects of social and environmental disclosures a theoretical
foundation”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 281-310.
Deegan, C. and Gordon, B. (1996), “A study of the environmental disclosure practices of Australian
Corporations”, Accounting and Business Research, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 187-199.
Dhouibi, R. and Mamoghli, C. (2013), “Determinants of voluntary disclosure in Tunisian Bank’s reports”,
Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, Vol. 4 No. 5, pp. 80-94.
Douglas, A., Doris, J. and Johnson, B. (2004), “Corporate social reporting in Irish financial institutions”,
The TQM Magazine, Vol. 16 No. 6, pp. 387-395.

Driss, R. and Jarboui, A. (2014), “Social disclosure: what are the main explanatory factors? An
empirical test in the Tunisian context”, International Journal of Accounting and Economics Study, Vol. 2
No. 1, pp. 34-39.
Eng, L.L. and Mak, Y.T. (2003), “Corporate governance and voluntary disclosure”, Journal of
Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 325-345.
Ernst and Ernst (1978), “Social responsibility disclosure: Survey of Fortune 500 Annual Reports”,
Cleveland, Ohio.
Freeman, R.E. (1984), Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, Pitman, Boston.
Fry, E.L. and Hock, R.J. (1976), “Who claims corporate responsibility? The biggest and the worst”,
Business and Society Review, Vol. 18, pp. 62-65.
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) (2006), “Sustainability Reporting Guidelines 3”, available at: www.
globalreporting.org
Gray, R., Kouhy, R. and Lavers, S. (1995), “Corporate social and environmental reporting: a review of
the literature and longitudinal study of UK disclosure”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability
Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 47-77.
Guthrie, J. and Parker, L.D. (1989), “Corporate social reporting: a rebuttal of legitimacy theory”,
Accounting and Business Research, Vol. 19 No. 76, pp. 343-352.
Hackston, D. and Milne, M. (1996), “Some determinants of social and environmental disclosure in
New-Zealand companies”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 9 No. 1,
pp. 77-108.
Hafij Ullah, M.D. and Rahman, M.A. (2015), “Corporate social responsibility reporting practices in
banking companies in Bangladesh”, Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Vol. 13 No. 2,
pp. 200-225.
Haniffa, R.M. and Cooke, T.E. (2002), “Culture, corporate governance and disclosure in Malaysian
corporations”, Abacus, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 317-347.
Haniffa, R.M. and Cooke, T.E. (2005), “The impact of culture and governance on corporate social
reporting”, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 24, pp. 391-430.
Henault, G. and Lemoine, G. (2008), Entrepreneuriat et développement durable en Francophonie,

Edition des archives contemporaines-savoirs francophones, Paris.
Hill, C.W.L. and Jones, T.M. (1992), “Stakeholder-agency theory”, Journal of Management Studies,
Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 131-154.
Hinson, R., Boateng, R. and Madichie, N. (2010), “Corporate social responsibility activity
reportage on bank websites in Ghana”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 7,
pp. 498-518.
Ho, S.S.M. and Wong, K.S. (2001), “A study of the relationship between corporate governance
structures and the extent of voluntary disclosure”, Journal of International Accounting Auditing and
Taxation, Vol. 10, pp. 139-158.
Hogner, R.H. (1982), “Corporate social reporting: eight decades of development at US Steel”,
Research in Corporate Performance and Policy, Vol. 4, pp. 243-250.
Hossain, M. (2008), “The extent of disclosure in annual reports of banking companies: the case of
India”, European Journal of Scientific Research, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 659-680.
Hossain, M. and Reaz, M. (2007), “The determinants and characteristics of voluntary disclosure by
Indian banking companies”, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 14
No. 5, pp. 274-288.
Jamali, D. and Mirshak, R. (2007), “Corporate social responsibility (CSR): theory and practice in a
developing country context”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 72 No. 3, pp. 243-262.
Jarbeck, C. and Martin, V. (2015), “The CSR communication paradox from a consumer perspective –
how are a corporation’s CSR engagement and communication efforts understood and perceived by
consumers?”, Master Thesis, Lund University School of Economics and Management, Sweden.

Jensen, M. and Meckling, W. (1976), “Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and
ownership structure”, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 3, pp. 305-360.
Jeucken, M.H.A. and Bouma, J.J. (1999), “The changing environment of banks”, Greener Management
International, Vol. 27, pp. 21-35.
Joseph, K.A. (2008), “Corporate social responsibility in Nigerian banking system”, Society and
Business Review, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 57-71.
Khan, M.H. (2010), “The effect of corporate governance elements on corporate social responsibility
(CSR) reporting: Empirical evidence from private commercial banks of Bangladesh”, International
Journal of Law and Management, Vol. 52 No. 2, pp. 82-109.
Khemir, S. and Baccouche, C. (2010), “Analysis of the determinants of corporate social responsibility
disclosure in the annual reports of Tunisian listed firms”, Research in Accounting in Emerging
Economies, Vol. 10, pp. 119-144.
Khlif, H., Guidara, A. and Souissi, M. (2015), “Corporate social and environmental disclosure
and corporate performance”, Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, Vol. 5 No. 1,
pp. 51-69.
Khlif, H., Kamran, A. and Souissi, M. (2016), “Ownership structure and voluntary disclosure: a
synthesis of empirical studies”, Academy Journal of Management, Vol. 1, pp. 1-28.
Kribat, M., Burton, B. and Crawford, L. (2013), “Evidence on the nature, extent and determinants of
disclosures in libyan banks’ Annual Reports”, Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, Vol. 3
No. 2, pp. 88-114.
Krippendorff, K. (1980), Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Kundid, A. and Rogošić, A. (2012), “E-transparency of Croatian banks: determinants and disclosure
contents”, Ekonomska istraživanja / Economic research, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 86-116.
Lee, M.P. (2008), “A review of the theories of corporate social responsibility: its evolutionary path and
the road ahead”, International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol. 10, pp. 53-73.
Lentner, C., Szegedi, K. and Tatay, T. (2015), “Corporate social responsibility in the banking sector”,
Public Finance Quarterly, Vol. 1, pp. 95-103.
Lipunga, A.M. (2013), “Corporate social responsibility reporting by commercial banks in annual
reports: evidence from Malawi”, International Journal of Business and Social Research, Vol. 3 No. 9,
pp. 88-101.
Mahadeo, J.D., Oogarah-Hanuman, V. and Soobaroyen, T. (2011), “A longitudinal study of

corporate social disclosures in a developing economy”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 104 No. 4,
pp. 545-558.
Masud, M.A.K. and Hossain, M.S. (2012), “Corporate social responsibility reporting practices in
Bangladesh: a study of selected private commercial banks”, Journal of Business and Management,
Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 42-47.
Matten, D. and Moon, J. (2008), “Implicit and explicit CSR: a conceptual framework for a comparative
understanding of corporate social responsibility”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 33 No. 2,
pp. 404-424.
Menassa, E. (2010), “Corporate social responsibility: an exploratory of the quality and extent of social
disclosures by Lebanese commercial banks”, Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Vol. 11 No. 1,
pp. 4-23.
Menassa, E. and Brodhäcker, M. (2015), “The type and quantity of corporate social disclosures of
German ‘Universal’ Banks”, Journal of Management and Governance, Vol. 1, doi: 10.1007/
s10997-015-9336-y, ISSN: 1385-3457.
Moroney, R., Windsor, C. and Aw, Y .T. (2012), “Evidence of assurance enhancing the quality of
voluntary environmental disclosures: an empirical analysis”, Accounting and Finance, Vol. 52 No. 3,
pp. 903-939.
Mousa, G.A. and Hassan, N.T. (2015), “Legitimacy theory and environmental practices: short notes”,
International Journal of Business and Statistical Analysis, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 41-53.

Naser, K., Al-Hussaini, A., Al-Kwari, D. and Nuseibeh, R. (2006), “Determinants of corporate social
disclosure in developing countries: the case of Qatar”, Advances in International Accounting, Vol. 19,
pp. 1-23.
Ness, K.E. and Mirza, A.M. (1991), “Corporate social disclosure: a note on a test of agency theory”,
British Accounting Review, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 265-282.
Neu, D., Warsame, H. and Pedwell, K. (1998), “Managing public impressions: environmental
Disclosures in annual reports”, Accounting, Organization and Society, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 265-282.
Omran, M.A. and Ramdhony, D. (2015), “Theoretical perspectives on corporate social responsibility
disclosure: a critical review”, International Journal of Accounting and Financial Reporting, Vol. 5 No. 2,
pp. 38-55.
Oxibar, B. (2005), “La diffusion d’information sociétale: outils de mesure et déterminants: une
comparaison multi supports”, Working paper, Paris Dauphine University, Paris.
Parker, L.D. (1982), “Corporate annual accounting: a mass communication perspective”, Accounting
and Business Research, Vol. 12 No. 48, pp. 279-286.
Patten, D.M. (1991), “Exposure, legitimacy, and social disclosure”, Journal of Accounting and Public
Policy, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 297-308.
Patten, D.M. and Crampton, W. (2004), “Legitimacy and the internet: an examination of corporate web
page environmental disclosures”, Advances in Environmental Accounting and Management, Vol. 2,

pp. 31-57.
Paulet, E. (2011), “Banking ethics”, Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in
Society, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 293-300.
Peters, S., Miller, M. and Kusyk, S. (2011), “How relevant is corporate governance and corporate
social responsibility in emerging markets?”, Corporate Governance: The International Journal of
Business in Society, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 429-445.
Prior, D., Surroca, J. and Tribó, J.A. (2008), “Are socially responsible managers really ethical?
Exploring the relationship between earnings management and corporate social responsibility”,
Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 160-177.
Rabah Gana, M. and Dakhlaoui, M. (2011), “Societal information disclosure and the cost of equity:
the case of Tunisian companies”, Global Journal of Management and Business Research, Vol. 11
No. 7.
Rizk, R., Dinon, R. and Woodhead, A. (2008), “Corporate social and environmental reporting: a survey
of disclosure practices in Egypt”, Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 306-323.
Roberts, R.W. (1992), “Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure: an application of

Stakeholder theory”, Accounting Organizations and Society, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp. 595-612.
Sethi, P. (2013), “Social reporting by Indian banks and foreign banks: a comparative study”, Journal
of Business and Management, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 45-53.
Setyorini, C.T. and Ishak, Z. (2012), “Corporate social and environmental disclosure: a positive
accounting theory view point”, International Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol. 3 No. 9,
pp. 152-164.
Stanwick, P.A. and Stanwick, S.D. (1998), “The relationship between corporate social performance and
organizational size, financial performance and environmental performance: an empirical examination”,
Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 195-204.
Suchman, M.C. (1995), “Managing legitimacy: strategic and institutional approaches”, Academy of
Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 571-610.
Tsang, E.W.K. (1998), “A longitudinal study of corporate social reporting in Singapore: the case of the
banking, food and beverages and hotel industries”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal,
Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 624-635.
Ullmann, A.A. (1985), “Data in search of a theory: a critical examination of the relationship among
social performance, social disclosure and economic performance”, The Academy of Management
Review, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 540-557.

Unerman, J. (2000), “Methodological issues: reflections on quantification in corporate social
reporting content analysis”, Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 13 No. 5,
pp. 667-680.
Upadhyay-Dhungel, K. and Dhungel, A. (2012), “Corporate social responsibility reporting practices in

the banking sector of Nepal”, Banking Journal, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 61-78.
Watts, R.L. and Zimmerman, J.L. (1978), “Towards a positive theory of the determination of accounting
standards”, The Accounting Review, Vol. 53 No. 1, pp. 112-134.
Weber, R.P. (1990), Basic Content Analysis, 2nd ed., Sage, Newbury Park, CA.
Williams, S.M. and Ho Wern Pei, C.A. (1999), “Corporate social disclosures by listed companies on
their web sites: an international comparison”, The International Journal of Accounting, Vol. 34 No. 3,
pp. 389-419.
Wilmshurst, T.D. and Frost, G.R. (2000), “Corporate environmental reporting: a test of legitimacy
theory”, Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 10-26.
Yassin, M.M. (2016), “The determinants of internet financial reporting in Jordan: financial versus
corporate governance”, International Journal of Business Information Systems, Vol. 12 No. 1.
Yeshmin, F. (2012), “Visualization of corporate social responsibility information of commercial bank

in Bangladesh”, World Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 2 No. 5, pp. 114-127.
Zéghal, D. and Ahmed, S.A. (1990), “Comparison of social responsibility information disclosure
media used by Canadian firms”, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol. 3 No. 1,
pp. 38-53.
Further reading
Act n° (1996), -112 (December 30, 1996) on the Tunisian firms’ accounting system.
Act n° (2005), -96 (October 18, 2005) on the strengthening of the financial security.
Guide of the Annual Report of the Tunisian Companies (2009), “Guide of the Annual Report of the
Tunisian Companies”, Arab Institute of Business Leaders.
Smith, N.C. (2003), “Corporate social responsibility: whether or how?”, California Management Review,
Vol. 45 No. 4, pp. 52-76.

Appendix 1
Table AI List of banks

Banks Characteristic Websites
AMEN BANK (AB) Private bank www.amenbank.com.tn

BANQUE DE TUNISIE (BT) Private bank www.bt.com.tn
BANQUE INTERNATIONALE ARABE DE Private bank www.biat.com.tn
TUNISIE (BIAT)
UNION BANCAIRE POUR LE COMMERCE ET Foreign bank www.ubci.com.tn
L’INDUSTRIE (UBCI)
BANQUE ATTIJARI DE TUNISIE (ATTIJARI) Foreign bank www.attijaribank.com.tn
BANQUE DE L’HABITAT (BH) Public bank www.bh.com.tn
UNION INTERNATIONALE DE BANQUES Foreign bank www.uib.com.tn
(UIB)
SOCIETE TUNISIENNE DE BANQUE (STB) Public bank www.stb.com.tn
ARAB TUNISIAN BANK (ATB) Private bank www.atb.com.tn
BANQUE NATIONALE AGRICOLE (BNA) Public bank www.bna.com.tn
BANQUE DE TUNISIE ET DES EMIRATS (BTE) Foreign bank www.bte.com.tn
Overall 11 banks
Appendix 2: Grid-computing CSR disclosure (Branco and Rodrigues, 2006 and

2008)
Environmental disclosure
1. Environmental policies or company concern for the environment.
2. Environmental management, systems and audit.
3. Lending and investment policies.
4. Conservation of natural resources and recycling activities.
5. Conservation of energy in the conduct of business operations.
Human resources disclosure

6. Employee health and safety.
7. Employment of minorities or women.
8. Employee training.
9. Employee assistance/benefits.
10. Employee remuneration.
11. Employee profiles.
12. Employee share purchase schemes.
13. Employee morale.
14. Industrial relations.
Product and consumers disclosure

15. Product quality.
16. Consumer complaints/satisfaction.
17. Provision for disabled, aged and difficult-to-reach-customers.
Community involvement disclosure

18. Charitable donations and activities.

19. Support for education.
20. Support for the arts and culture.
21. Support for public health.
22. Sponsoring sporting or recreational projects.
Corresponding author
Raida Chakroun can be contacted at: raida_c@yahoo.fr
For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm
Or contact us for further details: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

SRJ 04 2016 0055

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

SRJ 04 2016 0055

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Social Responsibility Journal

Determinants of CSR disclosure of Tunisian listed banks: a multi-support analysis

Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

Raida Chakroun is Abstract

VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 553

2. Banking sector in Tunisia and CSR reporting

2.1 Banking industry in Tunisia: an overview

PAGE 554 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017

Jordan and Morocco.

Figure 1 Market shares of the largest 14 Tunisian banks in 2010

VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 555

2.2 Tunisian CSR disclosure environment in the banking sector

 Article 201 of the Tunisian Companies Legal Code.

PAGE 556 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017

3. Theoretical framework and hypothesis development

3.1 CSR reporting: background to the study

VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 557

3.2 Theoretical framework

Figure 3 Carroll’s pyramid of CSR

PAGE 558 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017

acceptance by disclosing their activities such as limitation of natural resource consumption

VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 559

3.3 Hypotheses development

PAGE 560 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017

VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 561

formulate the following hypothesis:

4. Data and research design

PAGE 562 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017

The socio-organizational approach The economic approach

Determinants of bank’s CSR Disclosure

VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 563

4.2 Variables measurement

PAGE 564 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017

VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 565

 Model 1: the first model (panel-data model)

 Model 2: the second model (cross-section model)

PAGE 566 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017

5. Empirical results and discussion

5.1 Descriptive statistics

Table II The overall level of CSR disclosure in the annual reports

CSRDIS_AR NS 202 192 327 358 344 400 1823

VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 567

Category A 36 1.97 1 0.46

PAGE 568 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017

Narrative 1044 57.27 200 93.45

Table V Summary of the descriptive statistics

Panel A: (Model 1 variables: CSRDIS_AR is the dependent variable)

VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 569

5.2 Results of the multivariate analyses

PAGE 570 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017

Panel A: Pearson correlation matrix (N ⫽66)

BKAGE 1.31 0.760936 1.72 0.579865

Panel A: Poisson regression

Variables Predicted signs Coefficient Z Significance

VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 571

Panel A: Poisson regression

Variables Predicted signs Coefficient Z Significance

Panel B: Negative binomial regression

LEV ⫹/⫺ 0.3305 1.85 0.064*

PAGE 572 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 13 NO. 3 2017

Article 201 of the Tunisian Companies Legal Code.

Model 1: the first model (panel-data model)

Model 2: the second model (cross-section model)