A comparative study of anti-corruption practice disclosure among Malaysian and Indonesian Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) best practice companies

Corruption is a serious concern all over the world. Due to the limited amount of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) research on specific issues such as bribery, this paper aims to determine the extent of anti-corruption information disclosure in annual reports that demonstrate organizational commitment towards combatting corruption. The index consists of 40 items developed from an analysis of past literature and several organizations' published reports. The input data was based on observation of several organizations' annual reports, CSR and sustainability reports, past literature and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting indicators. The sample consists of 24 companies that participated in the ACCA Malaysia Sustainability Reporting Awards (MaSRA) and 34 Indonesian companies that participated in the Indonesia Sustainability Reporting Award (ISRA). The disclosure of anti-corruption practices (ACP) is still in its infancy in both countries. This study shows that the disclosure of anti-corruption codes of conduct and whistle-blowing practices was the most reported item. Interestingly, Indonesian companies disclosed higher amounts of ACP information compared to Malaysian companies. This is possibly because there is a higher level of coercive pressure to disclose ACP information in Indonesia compared to Malaysia. Further, there are several challenges to curbing corruption in Malaysia which potentially contribute to the low disclosure level of ACP information. This research contributes to CSR studies with a focus on anti-corruption practice, particularly in emerging economies. Some implications to improve the level of anti-corruption disclosure are also presented in the paper.