Impact of ownership pattern and board structure on Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: A study of listed Banks in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The main aim of the study is to examine the impact of ownership pattern and board structure on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting of listed banks in Sri Lanka over the period from 2015 to 2019 by using ownership proxies, namely foreign ownership and institutional ownership, board structure variables such as board size, board diversity and board independence and CSR reporting. This study considered 13 banks listed in Sri Lanka, and data is collected from annual reports of respective banks. Descriptive and inferential analysis was performed with the help of STATA's latest version. Regression analysis confirmed that ownership pattern has a significant impact on banks' CSR reporting while board structure has an insignificant impact. Correlation analysis revealed that foreign ownership, institutional ownership, and board size have a significant positive relationship with CSR reporting while board diversity and board independence have an insignificant positive relationship. Descriptive statistics show that there is room for improvement in CSR reporting. The study's findings can have important implications for regulatory organizations, banks, stakeholders, non-governmental organizations, and firms