Title: Determinants of environmental disclosures by Indian industrial listed companies: empirical study

Authors: Prem Lal Joshi; Mishiel Said Suwaidan; Rajesh Kumar

Addresses: Department of Accounting, University of Bahrain, P.O. Box 32038, Bahrain. ' Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Yarmouk University, P.O. Box 566, Irbid, Jordan. ' Institute of Management Technology, P.O. Box 345006, Dubai, UAE

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing the level of environmental disclosure information from a sample of 45 Indian industrial listed companies in their websites. In order to explain the reasons for the disclosure of environmental information by the companies, legitimacy theory is applied in this paper. The evidence shows that there is a tendency to disclose the environmental protection information but the level of disclosures is still low. Multiple regression analysis shows a positive association between size, and industry type with the disclosure index. Large sized firms, which are heavily polluted, tend to disclose higher level of information. However, profitability and financial leverage have no impact on the disclosure level. The study|s findings help understand Indian industrial listed firms| behaviour in terms of environmental disclosure.

Keywords: disclosure index; environmental information; legitimacy theory; firm size; industry type; India; environmental disclosure; environmental protection; environmental pollution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAF.2011.043843

International Journal of Accounting and Finance, 2011 Vol.3 No.2, pp.109 - 130

Received: 11 Jun 2010
Accepted: 29 Nov 2010
Published online: 21 Oct 2014 *

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