EXPRESSIONS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL-RESPONSIBILITY IN UK FIRMS

This study examines corporate publications of U.K. firms to investigat e the nature of corporate social responsibility disclosure. Using a st akeholder approach to corporate social responsibility, our results sug gest a hierarchical model of disclosure: from general rhetoric to spec ific endeavors to implementation and monitoring. Industry differences in attention to specific stakeholder groups are noted. These differenc es suggest the need to understand the effects on social responsibility disclosure of factors in a firm's immediate operating environment, su ch as the extent of government regulation and level of competitiveness in the industry.