The social reputation of European companies: Does anti‐corruption disclosure affect stakeholders' perceptions?

Abstract

Corruption is a very important topic in society but also for businesses. However, there are few empirical studies that analyze corruption from the point of view of disclosure by companies and none that analyze its effect in corporate reputation. The aim of this paper is to use stakeholder theory to analyze the potential power of reporting in influencing stakeholders' perceptions and communication tools, such as sustainability reports, to bolster corporate reputation in relation to the social issue of corruption. Based on a regression analysis using data from the 70 largest European companies, we find that disclosure positively correlates with social reputation in the anti-corruption area. The study addresses a gap in the literature by highlighting the fact that this global and key social issue has not yet been analyzed empirically.