Exploring the status of corporate social responsibility disclosure in the UK building and construction industry

Abstract/Summary

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the provision of environmental and social performance information have gained momentum over the past decade. In this respect, the practice of organisational accountability has expanded to include aspects of non-financial nature and issues that can enhance the transparency of business activities and empower stakeholders' decision making. In this paper, we attempt to shed light on the status of CSR reporting of the building and construction industry. Focusing on the UK, we benchmark the CSR reports of building and construction firms against the de facto standard for non-financial reports: the global reporting initiative guidelines. Findings indicate that the CSR reporting practices of assessed UK building and construction firms are lacking in key respects, leave much to be desired and have plenty of room for improvement.