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The purpose of this paper is to verify if the characteristics of the board of directors (BD) affects the disclosure practices of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Two different population samples were used from the period 2008-2011: Brazilian listed companies and Spanish companies. It is observed that the size of the board positively affects CSR disclosure practices of the two groups of companies. The percentage of independent directors of the board members positively affects the disclosure practices of CSR in Spanish companies. The percentage of participants of the board women positively impacts the disclosure practices of CSR in Brazilian companies.

The authors worked with two different population samples: one, composed by the Brazilian listed companies in BM&FBOVESPA and other by Spanish companies listed on Madrid Stock Exchange. The selection of this period was due to the increase in the adoption of GRI guidelines from 2008 (Prado-Lorenzo et al., 2012). In addition, as Spanish companies disclose more CSR reports according to the GRI guidelines (Global Reporting Initiative, 2012), this is a suitable environment for the analysis.

Regarding the research question of this study, it was found that the profile of the board affects the disclosure practices of CSR of Brazilian and Spanish companies. The size of the board positively affects CSR disclosure practices of the two groups of companies. The percentage of independent directors of the board members positively affects the disclosure practices of CSR in Spanish companies. The percentage of participants of the board women positively impacts the disclosure practices of CSR in Brazilian companies.

Both the BD of Spanish companies as the Brazilian still requires the participation of a greater number of women. It is important to remember that the variable that represents women in the board presented a positive impact on the dependent variables, and it is statistically significant, so it is possible to affirm that when a large number of women are on the Board, the company tends to disclose more standardized information about CSR practices. These results are in line to other empirical analysis that defend that women usually introduce more philanthropic worries (Ibrahim and Angelidis, 1991) and tend to provide higher information transparency, especially about sustainability issues (Barako and Brown, 2008; Prado-Lorenzo and García-Sánchez, 2010; Frías-Aceituno et al., 2012).

This research should benefit, in this sense, investors, managers and policymakers, civil society representatives and corporate managers themselves active in the two economies investigated.

It should be noticed that both Brazil and Spain use to encourage joint research between researchers of Brazilian and Spanish universities, funding projects developed in partnership as Cooperation Programme signed in 2001 by the Ministries of Education in both countries. Thus, it is justified the choice of Spain for its comparative analysis due to the need for more field studies on this topic in both countries, and also that it has been promoted by their governments.

It is expected that the results of this research contribute to the identification of relevant factors in disclosure of corporate environmental policies and actions that may be useful in the decision-making process of various stakeholders. Such identification will also allow us to identify possible relationships between environmental initiatives, the profile of BD.

This paper addresses the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance as a potential mechanism for reducing firms' likelihood of engaging in tax aggressiveness (TAG). The paper also contributes to the existing literature by addressing the moderating effect of national cultures on the link between CSR performance and corporate TAG.

The focus is placed on an unbalanced panel of 2,696 companies distributed in 30 countries and seven economic sectors over the period of 2002–2014.

The results provide support for those companies achieving high corporate social performance (CSP), corporate environmental performance (CEP) and corporate governance performance (CGP) being less likely to engage in aggressive tax practices. Finally, the results identify some national cultural dimensions moderating the link between disaggregated measures of CSR performance and firms' TAG.

The difficulty of accessing CSR and TAG data for non-listed companies could bias the data set towards a compliant company profile because of the higher visibility. In addition, the use of effective tax rates to examine firms' TAG should be interpreted with some caution.

The paper's findings provide unique and useful information for company stakeholders and managers aiming to address the factors that enhance firms' incentives to engage in aggressive tax practices.

This paper addresses the multidimensional nature of CSR performance by analysing the links between CSP, CEP and CGP and corporations' TAG. Furthermore, the research addresses the way in which national culture moderates the links between disaggregated measures of CSR performance and corporate TAG.

This paper explores the impact of some audit committees' characteristics (executive and independent directors and directors' attendance at audit committee meetings) on CSR reporting. Moreover, it also aims to test the moderating effect of women directors on boards on the association between audit committees' characteristics and CSR disclosure.

This study uses an international sample comprising 13,264 firm-year observations of non-financial firms from 2007 to 2018.

The results show that executive and independent directors on audit committees have a negative impact on CSR reporting, while the directors' attendance at audit committees meetings is positively associated with CSR disclosure. This study’s results also provide convincing evidence that female directors on corporate boards positively moderate the negative association between executive and independent directors on audit committees and CSR disclosure. Finally, the findings also show that female directors on corporate boards do not moderate the positive impact of directors' attendance at audit committees' meetings on CSR information.

This study is focused on attributes of audit committees based on a sample of international listed non-financial firms.

This is the first study analyzing the moderating role of female directors on boards on the relations between both executive directors on audit committees and CSR reporting and the average attendance of directors at audit committees' meetings and CSR disclosure.

Este trabajo explora el impacto de algunas características de los comités de auditoría (consejeros ejecutivos e independientes y la asistencia de los consejeros a las reuniones de los comités de auditoría) en la divulgación de información de responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC). Además, también tiene como objetivo analizar el efecto moderador de las consejeras del consejo de administración en la relación entre las características de los comités y la divulgación de la RSC.

Este estudio se basa en una muestra internacional que comprende 13,264 observaciones empresas-año no financieras desde 2007 hasta 2018.

Los resultados muestran que los consejeros ejecutivos e independientes en comités de auditoría tienen un impacto negativo en la divulgación de información de RSC, mientras que la asistencia de los consejeros a las reuniones del comité se asocia positivamente con la divulgación de información sobre RSC. Nuestros resultados también evidencian que las consejeras del consejo de administración moderan positivamente la asociación negativa entre los consejeros ejecutivos e independientes de los comités de auditoría y la divulgación de información sobre RSC. Finalmente, los hallazgos también muestran que las consejeras no moderan el impacto positivo de la asistencia de los consejeros a las reuniones de los comités de auditoría y la divulgación sobre RSC.

Este estudio se centra en los atributos de los comités de auditoría de una muestra de empresas internacionales no financieras cotizadas.

Este es el primer estudio que examina el papel moderador de las consejeras de los consejos en las relaciones entre los consejeros ejecutivos en los comités de auditoría y el informe de RSC y la asistencia media de los consejeros a las reuniones de los comités de auditoría y divulgación de la RSC.

The purpose of this study is twofold: to evidence the disclosure practices of Spanish companies in relation to a voluntary typology of strategic information; and to determine the factors that explain these practices. Among the factors considered, the study seeks to focus on the role of the Board of Directors in depth. According to Agency Theory, strategic information has positive consequences on external funds costs. On the other hand, Proprietary Costs theory limits these practices, given that they can lead to competitive disadvantages.

First, online strategic information disclosure practices are analysed by examining non‐financial quoted Spanish firms. A disclosure index is created, and subsequently, certain factors related to corporate governance – Activity, Size and Board Independence – as well as other factors traditionally analysed, are used to explain the volume of strategic information disclosed on the internet.

The results indicate that Spanish companies, on average, give out little strategic information, mainly related to objectives, their mission, and the company's philosophy. “Company annual planning” and “Information on risks” are scarcely disclosed. The findings also emphasise that companies where the Chairperson of the Board is the same person as the CEO and, moreover, in which there is a lower frequency of meetings, disclose a greater amount of strategic information on their web sites.

The findings suggest that the disclosure of strategic information is a decision taken by executives with the aim of satisfying the demands of creditors and investors. The Board of Directors represents the shareholders' interests, but it does not participate in strategic decision‐making disclosure, maybe due to the fact that the proprietary costs lack influence.

The link between corporate governance and strategic information disclosed online has scarcely been analysed in previous literature. This study provides interesting insights into how several Board characteristics can affect the disclosure of strategic information on the internet.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how several variables, such as universities' profitability, growth‐reduction of student numbers, age/tradition, type of university and internationality, among others, influence the transparency practices of Spanish universities as well as the technology, interactivity, structure and navigability of their webpages.

First a content analysis of the Spanish universities' websites is carried out. To do this a disclosure index is created and applied. This index is more complex than those in previous papers, focusing on several issues, such as financial information, corporate governance, social responsibility, research, teaching activities, strategic information, timeliness, contact information, technology, interactivity with users, navigability and web structure. Then an empirical model is estimated by applying a linear regression, taking several factors into consideration.

Three of the independent variables proposed to test the hypotheses – complexity, internationality and profitability – were statistically significant. Moreover, our findings emphasise prioritising use of the internet as a way to disclose teaching and research activities, as well as to monitor university bodies.

The most valuable output from this paper has to do with the content of the information disclosed online by Spanish universities and with the analysis of the factors that explain the disclosure of information through Spanish universities' websites.

The purpose of this study is to analyse whether CSR practices performed by European companies (both those CSR practices related to marketing‐based strategies and those that are not) create value. That value creation will be gauged through two variables: reputation and shareholder value creation.

To carry out this research, the 120 biggest European companies whose CSR practices have been analysed by Deloitte and Kinchhoff in The Good Company Ranking were taken. European firms have adopted an active stance on CSR and their organisational aspects and responsibilities related to sustainability are better‐founded compared with other companies. Financial data and reputation were obtained from the Forbes and Fortune websites, respectively.

The findings obtained show that all CSR practices, especially those linked to enhancing a company's image, have a positive effect on shareholder value creation, given that investors are able to detect the level of corporate commitment to sustainable development. On the other hand, none of the typologies of CSR practices undertaken have a relevant influence on corporate reputation.

The results of this study advise managers to design their CSR strategies with an orientation to increasing corporate reputation through large investments in CSR which prevent them from being imitated by direct rivals.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the voluntary disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in companies of different countries.

Based on a sample of 110 companies for the year 2014, a total of 79 indicators were analyzed, nine of which correspond to economic aspects of the company, 30 to environmental aspects and 40 to social aspects, according to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI G3.1). Moreover, a dependence model was set up to see which variables may affect the disclosure of economic, social and environmental information, both separately and as a whole.

The companies in the sample showed an average of six economic indicators, 20 environmental indicators and 27 social indicators. Regarding the explanatory variables tested, the results obtained showed that company SIZE, LEVERAGE, DJSI and CIVILLAW were the most significant variables, most affecting a company’s decision to make voluntary disclosure in relation to CSR issues.

The disclosure of more information about economic, environmental and social aspects can be used by the firm as a mechanism to reduce social and governmental pressure. It is important to point out that the information provided by companies in their CSR reports is essential in corroborating the legitimacy of their activity.

Improving a company’s image in society is one of the reasons why firms disclose CSR information and Internet and online tools are appropriate means of dissemination in an age of increasing speed of knowledge.

Previous studies have provided scores to reflect whether or not companies disclosed CSR, whereas the present study goes deeper by making a detailed analysis of the type of economic, environmental and social information presented by companies analyzed.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the contents of ethics codes from Spanish manufacturing companies disclosed on their corporate web sites. The analysis of these contents will reflect the main ethical concerns faced by Spanish organizations in the current business context.

A sample of companies listed on the Madrid Stock Market was used. The initial sample was made up of all the quoted companies. Firms belonging to the finance and insurance sectors were removed, leaving a final population made up of 117 corporations from different sectors. The Pearson's correlations were analysed to detect the sign of the relationships and some non‐parametric tests of mean differences – Mann–Whitney U and Wilcoxon W – were run to validate the statistical significance of the relationship.

The findings stress that the drawing up of codes in Spain is relatively recent and highlight that Spanish codes have received a dual influence. On one hand, they set out responsibilities and principles towards stakeholders and many of them reflect corporate social responsibility, as do many other European codes. On the other hand, their nature is mainly prescriptive and they set out desirable conduct for employees, as many US codes do.

From the analysis, it can be deduced that the main ethical concerns in Spanish corporations have to do with the adherence to law, protection of inside information, search for product quality and good relationships with customers and suppliers, conflicts of interests, the workplace and environmental issues.

This paper is the first study that examines the codes of ethics in Spanish corporations.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the bidirectional relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and innovation according to the resource‐based theory.

Based on a sample formed by companies with investments in R&D for the 2003‐2007 period worldwide, a bidirectional model is defined, one model in which the innovation realized by companies is a function of CSR practices, activity sector, firm size and risk, and another model in which CSR practices are a function of innovation, activity sector, firm size and risk.

The results of both models show that the bidirectional relationship between the two strategic decisions is negative. However, the effect of the sustainable practices undertaken by those companies listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index on innovative efforts is statistically less significant. It was also found that this type of investment takes three years to show its value added in CSR practices and that the relationship between innovation and corporate social responsibility practices is not the same in different sectors.

The empirical evidence suggests that, in general, companies do not implement innovations linked to topics of sustainability; at the same time, an incompatibility exists between investment in R&D and the encouragement of corporate sustainable behavior.

Previous studies have focused more on analyzing the influence of CSR practices on innovation and in this paper the influence of innovation on CSR practices is also analyzed.

The purpose of this study is to analyse different factors behind the disclosure of corporate information on issues related to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change world‐wide.

The empirical analysis carried out was performed in two stages: analysis of the data obtained through content analysis and analysis of the factors that influence the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change using a dependency model, a multiple linear regression. Several variables were introduced to represent the size of the companies, leverage, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and Market‐to‐Book ratio. Also, other dummy variables have been incorporated: Kyoto Protocol, activity sector in which the company operates and inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

The results obtained show a direct relationship between corporate size, its market capitalization and the disclosure of information in addition to proposed Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) indicators on greenhouse gas emissions. Conversely, an inverse relationship between ROE and disclosure is detected.

The findings emphasize that the main quoted companies operating in industries related to greenhouse gas emissions typically reveal information on almost all the GRI core indicators as well as the additional items specifically proposed for this issue. Moreover, the results suggest a trend for companies to utilize information on greenhouse gas emissions as a mechanism that enables them to legitimise themselves with those groups that can be of benefit to them.

The paper has analysed the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and other information of importance to climate change in companies from different countries, some of which have ratified, approved, adhered to or accepted the Kyoto Protocol, and some of which have still not accepted it.