Corporate Disclosure-Based Behavioral Measures of CSP
Aiming to overcome the ambiguity and inaccuracy of the survey-based subjective measures, some researchers (Bowman and Haire, 1975; Abbott and Monsen, 1979; Cowen et al., 1987; Davidson and Worell, 1990; Verschoor, 1998) turned to use behavioral measures that are based on official information disclosed by the companies themselves. Most widely used were various kinds of official information that companies are obliged to disclose under law and regulations.Among such official disclosures are annual reports to shareholders, and the 10Ks reports that companies publish in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations. Other corporate disclosure sources have been used as well such as the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) report – a mandatory report applicable to the chemical industry in the U.S., corporate philanthropy report, and official internet sites.