Anti-corruption reporting in emerging country multinationals
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-10-2018-0114 |
| Published date | 02 July 2019 |
| Date | 02 July 2019 |
| Pages | 861-873 |
| Author | José Vale,Manuel Castelo Branco |
| Subject Matter | Financial risk/company failure,Financial crime |
Anti-corruption reporting in
emerging country multinationals
José Vale
Polytechnic of Porto, Porto Accounting and Business School, CEOS.PP and
CEPESE, Porto, Portugal, and
Manuel Castelo Branco
Faculty of Economics, CEF.UP and OBEGEF, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Abstract
Purpose –Based on a lens of analysis combininglegitimacy and stakeholder theories, this paper aims to
explore some factors which influence anti-corruption (AC) reporting in large multinationals from emerging
countries.
Design/methodology/approach –An ordinal logistic regressionis used to assess the relation between
the AC reporting and multinationals’industrial affiliation, number of countriesof operations, membership of
the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and public ownership. The sample was drawn from the 2016
Transparency International Report “Transparency in Corporate Reporting –Assessing Emerging Market
Multinationals”.
Findings –Evidence suggests that in emerging countries, listed multinationals, which operate in a large
number of countries or are members of theUNGC, present significant levels of AC reporting. Unexpectedly,
results also suggest that such reporting is not significantly affected by the corruption risk level of the
industries to which the multinationals belong. Finally, results suggest that in emerging markets, the
dependencyfor resources may also affect AC reporting.
Originality/value –This paper contributesto the extant literature, by exploring different determinants of
AC reporting, namely,a thus far unexplored one: public vs private ownership.This paper also contributes to
the literature by providing insights into the relationships in a specific context: that of emerging countries.
Finally, the reliance on the internationalcommunity for the provision of resources is shown as a factor that
potentiallyaffects AC reporting.
Keywords Emerging countries, Anti-corruption reports, Sustainability reports
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Corruption is usually broadly defined as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”
(Cuervo-Cazurra, 2016, p. 36). It has profoundly negative impacts on economic growth, on
trust in governments and on the legitimacy of both the market economy and democracy
(Branco and Delgado, 2012). In viewof such effects, corruption has been considered by some
as some sort of a cancer in society(Everett et al.,2007).
The fight against corruption may be justified with reference to the notion of corporate
social responsibility (CSR) (Branco and Delgado, 2012). This notion pertains to the
responsibility that companies have for the impacts they have on society and implies that
they integrate concerns regarding social, environmental, ethical and human rights issues
into their operations and strategy(European Commission, 2011). According to the European
Commission (2011), corporate reporting of non-financial information is an important cross-
cutting issue. European Union’s requirement of publication by major European
entities of information on environmental, social and employee issues, respect for human
Emerging
country
861
Journalof Financial Crime
Vol.26 No. 3, 2019
pp. 861-873
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-10-2018-0114
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