An analysis of CSR contents in annual reports of listed companies in Iran

This study presents a content analysis survey of the corporate social reporting (CSR) in annual reports of the listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) in Iran. This study is based on the assumption that the annual report is the most commonly used medium for CSR and the main mechanism through which companies disseminate CSR to different user groups (Tilt, 2001, p.193). Descriptive analysis and multiple linear regression techniques are used to analyse the extent of CSR disclosure and to test hypotheses regarding the relationships between overall CSR disclosure and four companies’ characteristics namely size, profitability, financial leverage and industry type. Among the five themes of social disclosures (human resources, environmental performance and policies, community activities, energy consumption and customer satisfaction and product quality) the human resources theme found to be the most common type of disclosure in terms of number of companies disclosing and the amount of disclosure. Only size was significantly related to the level of overall CSR disclosure. In conclusion, the results of this study would enhance the knowledge of CSR in developing countries, in particular in the case of Iran and also provide a basis for the conduct of future research with public policy implication.