Abstract:
Within the last few decades environmental reporting has become a popular field
of research and has impressed several numbers of researchers around the world.
But, very few studies have been carried out in the context of developing
countries, particularly in Bangladesh. So, there exists a dearth of comprehensive
research in this field. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring two primary areas
of environmental reporting in Bangladesh. Firstly, the study explored the nature
and extent of environmental disclosures in the annual reports of the selected
Cement, Tannery, Textiles and Pharmaceuticals companies in Bangladesh
during 2009-2013 by using content analysis method and a dichotomous
procedure known as Kinder Lydenberg Domini (KLD) rating system. In this
regard, the International Organizations for Standardization’s requirements (ISO
14031) was selected as a benchmark. Then the study explored the perceptions of
multiple stakeholder groups regarding the various aspects of the reporting
practices through arranging a series of face-to-face interviews (with the help of a
structured questionnaire) with 85 respondents of five selected managerial and
non-managerial stakeholder groups.
The results revealed that sample companies disclosed very negligible amount of
information regarding environmental issues, but quantity of disclosure had been
increasing gradually during the period of analysis 2009-2913. The results further
showed that sample companies mainly disclosed descriptive information
regarding their environmental performance. It is also observed that sample
companies preferred to report the positive impacts of their activities on
environment rather than the information that reflects discredit to the company.
The study concludes that environmental disclosures of the sample companies
were largely unregulated and inconsistent.
The findings showed the low level of understanding of stakeholders on the
concept of environmental reporting. It is also revealed that most of the selected
stakeholders considered environmental reporting as a significant tool for
improving environmental accountability of the companies. Besides, survey
respondents believed that environmental performance and disclosures of
environmental information can influence the corporate relationships with
stakeholders. But environmental disclosures of the listed manufacturing
companies in Bangladesh were not considered credible to the stakeholders
without any external verification. It is also found that about 90% of the survey
participants supported the mandatory status of environmental reporting for the
listed manufacturing companies in Bangladesh. In addition, the study explored
the perceptions of stakeholders regarding the content-category themes for ideal
environmental reporting of the listed manufacturing companies in Bangladesh
context. Besides, the findings revealed a range of limiting factors of
environmental reporting practices in Bangladesh and the possible ways of
minimizing the challenges of the reporting practices based on views and
comments of respondents. Taking into consideration the findings, this study
sketched some recommendations for the consideration of the stakeholders
Moreover, the study concludes by proposing a number of potential avenues for
further research.
Description:
This thesis is Submitted to the Institute of Bangladesh Studies (IBS), University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh for The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)