Abstract

The significant amount of research related to corporate social disclosure (CSD) over the last few decades indicates its importance. Prior studies have revealed continuous improvement in the level of CSD by corporations in different sectors. The recent economic and financial crisis has been identified by many economic and financial experts as the worst since the Second World War and is likely to have an impact on level of CSD. This study examines the extent of CSD before and during global financial crisis for 48 selected Australian companies. The results of the study reveal that there is an insignificant upward change in CSD during the financial crisis. In addition, this study examines the association between several firm level factors (profitability, leverage, change in profitability, change in leverage and size) and the extent of CSD and change in CSD. The study finds that the extent of CSD is not significantly associated with leverage and profitability but it is significantly associated with size. Additionally, change in profitability and size do not have any significant influence on change in CSD. However, change in leverage has a significant negative association with change in CSD.

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