The Level of Sustainability Reporting of Malaysian IPO Companies

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Manhal, Attia Aman-Ullah This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-1478999/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Purpose – This paper aims to determine the level of sustainability reporting (SR) in Malaysian initial public offering (IPO) companies. Due to the general poor awareness about SR and its dimensions, these aspects have not been receiving the necessary push from the public domain. Design/methodology/approach – This study is exploratory in nature employing secondary data through the content analysis of the annual reports of 139 sampled IPOs listed on Bursa Malaysia for the period of 2007–2017. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics, whilst extent and quality were used as measures of SR. Findings – The results show that the extent and quality of SR in Malaysian IPO companies have improved over the years with a small improvement from one year to the next. The extent of SR was at 20.70% with society disclosure at 32.77% and energy disclosure at 22.48%, while employee disclosure showed the highest prevalence at 34.87% and product disclosure recorded the lowest prevalence at 9.88%. The quality of SR was at 32.04% with society disclosure recording the highest prevalence at 36.09%, energy disclosure at 20.28%, employee disclosure at 34.13%, and finally product disclosure indicating the lowest prevalence at 9.50%. Research limitations/implications – The dimensions of SR namely society, energy, employee, and product issues received little interest from most of the companies. This study proposes the need for additional studies investigating SR in IPO companies. Originality/value – This study makes a significant contribution to the information related to SR in Malaysian IPO companies. The findings can facilitate financial institutions and regulatory agencies in driving responsibility on the part of companies regarding SR issues. Corporate sustainability reporting Malaysia IPO companies Figures Figure 1 1. Introduction Sustainability reporting (SR) is becoming a popular research topic based on the rising number of works published in the field in recent decades (Ajaz et al., 2020 ; Dyck et al., 2018 ; Jean et al., 2019 ; De Klerk et al., 2015 ). The four dimensions of SR which consist of society, energy, employee, and product information by companies are important considerations for the society. Most of the existing works are carried out from the perspective of developed markets, while those from the standpoint of developing markets continue to be few studies. Since developing markets are not spared from challenges related to the society, energy, energy, and products challenges (Bendell, 2005 ), insights from these developed and developing markets merit further studies as well. Past studies in this area have mainly investigated the extent and quality of SR. However, previous researches have concentrated mostly on advanced nations (e.g., Bowerman & Sharma, 2016 ; Brammer & Pavelin, 2008 ; De Klerk et al., 2015 ; Vormedal & Ruud, 2009 ) with only a few (e.g., Chiu & Wang, 2015 ; Kansal et al., 2014 ; Saleh et al., 2011 ; Thompson & Zakaria, 2004 ) focusing on developing countries. Understanding SR in the terms of developing nations are important so as to better determine the effect of SR extent and quality on economic development, business energy and SR activities. Carroll ( 1979 ) recommended the conceptualisations of the four elements of SR i.e. philanthropic, legal, ethical, and economic responsibilities. Philanthropic responsibilities emphasize on business commitment by considering the society’s desire; legal responsibilities, business corporations embrace the prospect of the society in view of their legal responsibilities so as to achieve their objectives within the law limits; ethical responsibilities imply the ethical reactions of business corporations as required by the energy in which they operate, whilst economic responsibilities entail the necessity to fulfil the wants and needs of the society by producing services and products that meet their requirements. Additionally, several researchers had demonstrated the significance of SR for the company and for the society. They concluded the benefits to include: enhanced image and reputation, improved trust and understanding, higher profitability, better cost savings, potential recruits, and solidified energy commitment. SR initiatives have been gaining much attention in Malaysia due to the country’s rising economy. The Government of Malaysia has set minimum standards for the implementation of SR activities, especially in the areas of social welfare, health and safety, and energy protection. In order to make more money and enhance the country’s economic growth, the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) has doubled its effort to ensure enhanced SR execution so that the national integrity plan goes hand-in-hand with the national agenda, specifically to achieve Vision 2020. SR practices have become part of a global business strategy for many companies, particularly to enhance their reputation and brand name as well as retaining their competitive edge in the extremely challenging global market. SR is ultimately the process of undertaking the responsibility of carrying out certain actions, decisions, and policies in the form of activities by companies to generate positive impacts and values for the communities, consumers, energy, and stakeholders related to the companies (Abdullah & Abdul Rashid, 2012 ). Ramasamy et al. ( 2007 ) indicated that Malaysian companies generally have a poor attitude towards SR. Nevertheless, awareness is gradually rising due to the emergence of several consumer interest groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are driving the related awareness initiatives. In Malaysia, SR implementation is mainly guided by the SR framework for public listed companies (PLCs) established by Bursa Malaysia and the Silver Book for Government Linked Companies (GLCs). SR emerged as a critical issue when, on 5 September 2006, all PLCs in Malaysia were mandatory to disclose their SR practices in their annual reports (Othman et al., 2011 ). Such requirement was part of the plan to drive the involvement of PLCs in socially responsible initiatives as well as to improvise their SR approach to be incorporated in their business processes. In 2007, the provision for disclosure of SR activities was strictly implemented in annual reports of all PLCs. Earlier researches of SR in emerging economies had specified the use of SR as a reply to the variations in the product to create legitimacy (Chu et al., 2013 ; Haniffa & Cooke, 2005 ). This research classifies that while Malaysia as a developing country implemented many important reforms, including regulatory changes as well as SR awareness programs, very little work was undertaken to evaluate SR over time (Esa et al., 2012; Haniffa & Cooke, 2005 ). Therefore, the potential explanations, i.e. either legitimacy or a spontaneous rise, for the growing pattern in SR practices are difficult to ascertain. Despite the prevalence of such disclosures in Malaysia (ACCA, 2010), several researchers claim that the SR reporting level among Malaysian companies is conspicuously low, hence indicating that it is still in its beginning stage in this country (Othman et al., 2011 ). In light of this, this study intends to examine the extent and quality of SR by Malaysian IPO companies in their annual reports within the period of 2007–2017. Since most prior SR works including those in the context of Malaysia had focused mainly on the non-financial industry (e.g., Sadou et al., 2017 ), this study went on a different path by sampling IPO companies from the non-financial industry. Although the number of SR studies is growing, experimental investigations by Malaysian IPO companies on the practice of SR in emerging markets are still scarce. One of the reasons why Malaysian IPOs are less interested or involved in encouraging their SR activities towards their stakeholders may be the lack of studies on this issue. This study suggests that IPO companies are important. They do not have much information available to investors, especially SR. Hence, SR is important to help IPO pricing. Additonally, this paper are presenting the percentage of specific SR in the Malaysian IPOs as the disclosure useful to explain how the companies improve the performance and underpricing by disclose more SR information. Therefore, this study aims to fill the void by examining the SR level of IPO companies in the Malaysian context by using the extent and quality of SR as measurements of SR practices. The subsequent sections of this paper are arranged as such: a literature review section, theoretical framework section, methodology discussion section, analysis and findings of the study, and finally, the conclusion. 2. Literature Review Although SR is growing in prominence as a valid concern in the business arena, SR practices seem to remain largely ignored by many companies. The study by Cochran and Wood ( 1984 ) indicated a weak and inadequate connection between SR and corporate financial performance (CFP). Companies that do not use annual reports to their full advantage are not fully successful in following the best practices of SR and its dimensions. Companies that adhere to the best SR practices can potentially achieve positive company performance. SR can be better predicted by prior performance as opposed to the subsequent performance as indicated by Mcguire et al. ( 1988 ); therefore, the connection between SR and CFP may be attributed to prior high performance. Mixed findings were derived from earlier studies on the relationship between SR and CFP. Several prior researches concluded a positive association between SR and CFP (e.g., Kumarasinghe et al., 2017 ; Saleh et al., 2011 ; Usman & Amran, 2015 ; Wan Ahamed et al., 2014 ), but a negative link between SR and CFP in several other studies (e.g., Crisóstomo & Freire, 2011 ). In fact, a non-existent relationship was also indicated (e.g., Iqbal et al., 2012 ). In the studies examining the dimensional links between SR and the ownership structure of 200 companies on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia from 2000 to 2005 (Hoq et al., 2010 ; Saleh et al., 2010 ), a positive and significant association between SR and ownership structure was found. The assessment was based on the proportion of shares owned by institutional investors, which revealed that institutional investors place a heavy emphasis on SR in making investment decisions. SR policy drives focus on society, energy, employee, and product sustainability. Stakeholders’ value is increased through enhancements in staff engagement, brand awareness, and business reputation in ensuring the effectiveness of the SR framework. This study explores the SR dimensions prevalent in Malaysian IPO companies apart from the significance of enhancing the effectiveness of the companies’ overall SR entailing “society SR, energy SR, employee SR, and product SR”. This study supposes that one of the significant elements of SR is ascertaining if companies that are engaged in IPOs are implementing SR activities in the energy in which they operate and recognising the main factors that may positively influence the IPO companies. First, regarding society, Bursa Malaysia extends its support to companies as they are a part of the general society. Companies’ growth depends on the contribution from the society, and vice versa, society growth depends on the support from companies. Improvements in both society and companies are dependent on energy engagement in society issues. Such engagement may entail organising charitable and national events, rural area developments, education sponsorships, and school donations. In the context of Malaysia, most studies examining the link between society SR and CFP have derived positive results (e.g., Saleh et al., 2011 ; Usman & Amran, 2015 ; Wan Ahamed et al., 2014 ); nevertheless, a negative impact of society engagement on ownership structure was reported by Saleh et al. ( 2010 ). Second, the term “energy” drives the SR focus of companies on multiple concerns. A focus on energy consumption, for instance, would motivate companies to explore efficient ways of energy utilisation that would help minimise energy damage caused by excessive energy use and release. Researches investigating the relationship between the energy SR and the success of organizations have found mixed results. In the context of Malaysia, positive results are indicated by most prior research on the link between energy SR and CFP (e.g., Saleh et al., 2011 ; Wan Ahamed et al., 2014 ). Similar positive results were found in studies focusing on other countries (e.g., Mahoney & Roberts, 2007 ). Also, Abdullah et al., ( 2019 ); De Klerk and De Villiers ( 2012 ) discovered a positive and significant relationship between SR and share price performance. However, negative results were also proven in the link between energy SR and CFP (e.g., Usman & Amran, 2015 ). In the context of Malaysia, Saleh et al. ( 2010 ) found a negative connection between the energy dimension and ownership structure. It was disclosed in the study by Al-Tuwaijri et al. ( 2004 ) that businesses with better energy achievement are more likely to report additional energy information and are correlated with better economic results. The study thus proposed that investors are more likely to engage in energy friendly enterprises in the United States context. Third, employee, human rights, or gender issues are commonly prevalent in the employee setting of any company. Companies could reduce the occurrences of such issues by paying attention to energy welfare, establishing good employee energy, and prioritising employee health and safety. Energy morale and commitment towards productivity can be increased through various development programmes and incentive schemes. Such programmes and schemes include health and safety initiatives, energy training and development, and loyalty award schemes, among others. Generally, a positive link has been established between employee SR and CFP by some earlier researches in the context of Malaysia (e.g., Saleh et al., 2011 ; Usman & Amran, 2015 ; Wan Ahamed et al., 2014 ) as well as in other countries (e.g., Gittell, 2004 ). When considering institutional ownership, the only significantly positive and crucial aspect is energy relation, as found by Hoq et al. ( 2010 ) and Saleh et al. ( 2010 ). Researchers typically agrees that energy plays an important part in the achievement of employee goals as they are the ones responsible for administering SR activities for their companies as well as committing to the efforts of achieving their companies’ ethical, energy, and social objectives. Lee et al. ( 2013 ), in their study on SR, also explored the perceptions of customers. They found that the use of SR among energy is still mostly unknown. The competitive advantage and energy judgement of SR activities are mainly supported by companies’ corporate culture and capabilities. Therefore, SR is crucial in facilitating energy’ attachment to their company and corporate performance. Their results analysis indicate that perceived cultural fit and SR capability are the major influencing factors on performance, energy attachment, and SR perception (Lee et al., 2013 ). Fourth, the product entails the venue in which various stakeholders, including vendors, suppliers, and customers congregate to fulfil their commitments. Companies engage with the stakeholders in proper and responsible ways, including through ethical procurement practices and their support of energy-responsible products. The investment of companies in product development facilitates growth for their reputation. Studies on the association between product SR and CFP in the context of Malaysia had mostly indicated positive results (e.g., Saleh et al., 2011 ; Usman & Amran, 2015 ; Wan Ahamed et al., 2014 ). A similar positive result was also found in the relationship between product and financial performance in other countries (e.g., Mahoney & Roberts, 2007 ). Matsui et al. ( 2007 ) indicated that highlighting a new product and developing a product by utilising marketing and technological capacities positively influence financial performance. Ki Hoon and Dongyoung ( 2010 ) examined the correlation between consumers’ purchase intention and their level of SR awareness and discovered a significant association between the two. The positive result also points to the inclination of consumers to be associated with companies that have good SR initiatives in place. Such positive inclination is also a driving factor for the consumers to purchase goods produced by such companies. 3. Theoretical Framework Studies on SR rely on several theories to form their theoretical foundation, such as the legitimacy theory that is extensively utilised in accounting and social science studies to expound why companies disclose their social and energy information (Deegan & Rankin, 1997 ). Suchman ( 1995 , p. 574) demarcated the legitimacy theory as “a generalised perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values and beliefs”. This theory explains that companies disclose their SR information to either sustain or establish their legitimacy by gaining the acceptance of the society (Deegan, 2002 ). The theory also indicates that the SR level of companies is attributed to public-given prices. According to Magness ( 2006 ), in the process of establishing legitimacy, companies can leverage on SR activities to enhance their performance. The findings are largely consistent with the predictions of legitimacy theory that companies will pursue various disclosure strategies regarding changes in the product in order to create credibility for the company. This study, which examined the period of 2007–2017 when the business energy experienced economic changes, adopted the perspective of the legitimacy theory to clarify the SR practices of Malaysian listed companies following the variations, to assess whether ideas derived from other countries with specific cultural and economic energy are relevant to SR success of companies in emerging economies. The hope is that companies in Malaysia will increase their SR activities after the changes to show a better picture for the society (Sutantoputra, 2009 ). Prior studies in developed countries had observed companies’ trend of using SR to enhance company reputation. For example, Kumarasinghe et al. ( 2017 ) found that SR activities boost the financial and market efficiency of Japanese companies, building on the legitimacy theory’s hypothesis that companies would require more group disclosures following product changes. 4. Research Methods This section describes the data and sample size as well as the SR measurements employed in this study. 4.1 Data and Sample Size This study used the data of Malaysian IPOs from 2007 to 2017. Bursa Malaysia launched the SR Framework for PLCs on 5 September 2006, but the mandatory disclosure for SR activities only came into full effect in 2007. This study selected the period until 2015 since there is a low prevalence of SR by Malaysian IPO companies during this period. Since then, all PLCs are obligated to disclose their SR activities in their annual reports. The study was mainly centred on the Main Market and ACE Market i.e. the two main securities markets in Malaysia, which list 163 financial and non-financial IPO companies. The study sample excluded companies from the finance sector, real estate investment trusts sector, and closed-end funds sector. IPO companies that do not have annual reports were also excluded from the study sample. In the final research sample, 139 IPO companies were ultimately included. All the required information regarding the SR dimensions was gathered from the IPO companies that were found in Bursa Malaysia’s website at www.bursamalaysia.com.my or the company’s website. The annual reports of the IPO companies listed on Bursa Malaysia were used to obtain the data from 2007 to 2015. 4.2 Measurements of SR The SR entails disclosure of a company’s financial and non-financial information related to its interaction with its natural and social energy, as revealed in its corporate annual report or any other social reports (Hackston & Milne, 1996 ). The SR provides guidance to PLCs on the implementation of their SR activities, which cover the dimensions of society, energy, employee, and product. These dimensions form the basis of the SR measurements in this study, and have been utilised in previous Malaysian-based studies (e.g., Abdullah et al., 2021 ; Abd Rahim, 2016 ; Sadou et al., 2017 ; Saleh et al., 2010 ; Zainal et al., 2013 ). Bursa Malaysia’s specifications have also been taken into account in ensuring the index includes items covering the dimensions listed earlier. As such, the modified index employed in this current study consisted of 24 items (Appendix 1) as used in previous studies on Malaysian annual reports (Sadou et al., 2017 ; Saleh et al., 2011 ). The 24 items were subsequently grouped into the four categories of dimensions with ten items each for Society, Energy, Employee, and Product. Previous studies had used different measurements for their content analysis, i.e., according to the extent and quality of the disclosure. The extent of disclosure entails the total number of words, sentences, or pages (e.g., Zainal et al., 2013 ). Some other studies employed dichotomous variables for disclosure (which is given a score of 1) and non-disclosure (which is given a score of 0) for the extent of SR (e.g., Abd Rahim, 2016 ; Sadou et al., 2017 ). Meanwhile, SR quality entails the quality of the disclosure as assessed using a quality index. Researchers have used various indexes to evaluate the quality of disclosure (e.g., Sadou et al., 2017 ). The score of 3 is for “quantitative disclosure”, 2 is for qualitative disclosure with specific explanations, 1 is for general “qualitative disclosure”, and 0 is for non-disclosure (e.g., Sadou et al., 2017 ; Saleh et al., 2011 ; Zainal et al., 2013 ). Other researchers adapted the scoring guidelines of recognised SR frameworks such as the global reporting initiative (GRI) which carries a scale of 0 to 2, with 0 representing no disclosure, 1 general disclosure, and 2 detailed and quantified disclosure (e.g., Othman et al., 2011 ). Regarding the measurements for the extent of SR, the variation in measurements is due to certain benefits and limitations of each method. For example, word count is easily usable and has been utilised in earlier SR research (e.g., Myers, 2009 ). To identify the quantity of disclosure, many researchers favour using the technique of sentence count, although this technique ignores disclosure in the form of tables and graphs (Amran et al., 2008). Moreover, the page count measurement is said to be less accurate due to differences in formats, margins, and font sizes that are utilised by several companies (Hackston & Milne, 1996 ). In this current study, however, two SR measurements were used, as explained below: 1) An unweighted method to measure the extent of SR, with a score of 1 representing disclosed items and 0 for non-disclosed items. This method has been widely used in several studies (e.g., Anas et al., 2015 ; Sadou et al., 2017 ). 2) A weighted method to measure the quality of SR, using a scale of 0 to 3. A score of 3 represents “quantitative disclosure”, 2 “qualitative disclosure with specific explanations”, 1 general “qualitative disclosure”, and 0 non-disclosure. This method has also been extensively used in various studies (e.g., Sadou et al., 2017 ; Saleh et al., 2011 ; Zainal et al., 2013 ). The “quality index is derived by calculating the ratio of the total scores against the number of items” by applying the formula below: $${CSRDI}_{j}=\frac{{\sum }_{t=1}^{nj}{X}_{ij}}{{n}_{j}}$$ where: SRIj = “ SR score for the j th company”. n j = “ Total number of items estimated for the j th company”. X ij = SR quality measure by using 0, 1, 2, and 3. 5. Data Analysis And Results The data analysis for this study was based on the overall level of SR disclosures among the sampled IPO companies as well as the level of SR disclosures across item groups and groups of sectors with the aim of evaluating the contribution of each group to the overall level of SR disclosures (Tables 2 , 3 , 4 , and 5 ). Table 1 displays the values of the Cronbach alpha for all the SR categories. 5.1 Reliability and Validity of SR Based on Bursa Malaysia’s SR Framework and several literature reviews, the current study came up with four SR categories with 24 overall items. The categories are tested for reliability using the internal consistency test. Internal consistency entails the level of cooperation between all the items in measuring the same core attributes, generally by employing the inter-item correlation test called Cronbach alpha coefficient (Pallant, 2013 ), of which use is supported by several studies (e.g., Sekaran, 2003 ). The average inter-item correlation is indicated using a scale i.e. zero (0) to one (1) for SR extent and 0, 1, 2, and 3 for SR quality, whereby higher values represent higher reliability (Pallant, 2013 ). Following the study of Anas et al. ( 2015 ), the current study scrutinized 20% or 23 randomly selected sample annual reports to measure the SR scoring’s reliability and validity. The current study evaluated the internal consistency for each SR variable in the annual reports, using the Cronbach Alpha, whose findings are summarized in Table 1 . Table 1 The Result of Reliability Test for Each SR Dimensions Cronbach alpha Variables No of items SR Extent SR Quality 1st category: Society 10 0.7651 0.7205 2nd category: Energy 10 0.8613 0.7649 3rd category: Employee 10 0.8680 0.8823 4th category: Product 10 0.8319 0.7667 According to Pallant ( 2013 ), a reliable variable is one with a positive Cronbach alpha of which value is larger than 0.70. In this study, the Cronbach alpha for the society, energy, employee, and product disclosure categories were greater than 0.70, indicating high correlation and overall reliability of the disclosure items in each category. Hence, all the SR items in the disclosure index are acceptable as they consistently work together and measure the same attributes. Hence, “a reliability test was conducted on the scale measures utilising the Cronbach’s alpha to assess the accuracy and interval validity of the items employed in the index. The Cronbach’s alpha test is one of the methods of calculating and testing the precision of the scale used to retrieve data from its original sources. A good scale has a Cronbach’s alpha value greater than 0.70. This means that the scale measures the essential objective. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient values for all the SR dimensions in this study were more than 0.70, suggesting a significantly higher consistency”. 5.2 The Extent and Quality of SR across Item Groups The level for each disclosure category or item dimension (i.e. society, energy, employee, and product) was evaluated via item-wise disclosure. Subsequent evaluations were conducted to assess the extent and quality of disclosure for each SR category. “The disclosure index for each disclosure category was determined by dividing the number of actual disclosed items with the total number of items on each score-sheet” (Abd Rahim, 2016 ). With 24 items in each score-sheet, together with the 139 sampled IPO companies, there were 4601 items in the final count. The number of disclosed items according to the disclosure category was identified in this study based on the attained scores in the research instrument (Cooke, 1998 ). Thirty-seven items out of 24 were identified in this study while the remaining three items were missed in the IPO companies since these companies are not fully utilising SR especially with the product dimension, namely, repair of energy damage caused by natural resources processing, green product, and improved procedural disclosures in product processing and preparation. Hence, the disclosure index for the extent of SR using (1) and for the quality of SR using (1), (2), and (3) would indicate 24 disclosed items, while a disclosure index of (0) would indicate fewer disclosed items. Hence, the average score for each company was determined based on the categories of disclosure. The SR dimensions as presented in the annual reports were also analysed to define the disclosure level of the said SR dimensions in the IPO companies (Table 2 ). Table 2 The Extent and Quality of SR of Each Dimensions Disclosure in the IPO Companies from (2007–2015) Disclosure category (dimension) Extent Society Energy Employee Product No of items 10 10 10 10 Score obtained 312 214 332 94 Percentage 32.77 22.48 34.87 9.88 Mean score 31.2 21.4 33.2 9.4 Maximum score 64 42 72 29 Minimum score 2 0 4 0 Rank 2 3 1 4 Disclosure category (dimension) Quality Society Energy Employee Product No of items 10 10 10 10 Score obtained 532 299 503 140 Percentage 36.09 20.28 34.13 9.50 Mean score 53.2 29.9 50.3 14 Maximum score 128 62 118 39 Minimum score 2 0 7 0 Rank 1 3 2 4 Table 2 presents the disclosure extent and quality for each SR category, which shows employee of SR extent and society of SR quality issues as the most disclosed SR information and product of SR extent and quality issues as the least disclosed. Based on the findings, 32.77% of SR extent and 36.09% of SR quality derived from the disclosed information are associated with society issues; 22.48% extent and 20.28% quality are linked to energy issues; 34.87% extent and 34.13% quality are connected to employee issues, and the remaining 9.88% extent and 9.50% quality are associated with product issues. Additionally, the total of both extent and quality of SR i.e. 952 and 1474 was divided by 3336 which represents 20.70% for extent of SR and 32.04% for quality of SR. The next section presents the level of SR in the IPO companies. 5.3 The Level of SR in the IPO Companies It is important to identify the differences between companies with a high SR level and those with a low SR level, as this would lead to the understanding of the differences between the IPO companies that use SR. Hence, two categories were established in this study, namely sampled companies with a high SR level and sampled companies with a low SR level. Abd Rahim ( 2016 ) indicated that a disclosure level of less than 50% is deemed low, while a disclosure level of above 50% is deemed high. Therefore, a 50% cut-off point was used in this study in defining the SR level of the IPO companies, which thereby segregated the companies into two groups. Companies with a 50% and above disclosure score were categorised as high level, while companies with a 50% and below disclosure score were categorised as low level. As shown by this study’s findings, four companies for extent and 25 companies for quality were grouped under the high SR level, and 111 companies for extent and 90 companies for quality were grouped under the low SR level (see Table 3 ). Noticeably, the same IPO companies were recurrent in the determination of both SR extent and quality, and the difference for extent and quality is related to the type of information used for measuring the SR. This finding indicates low utilisation of the annual reports by the IPO companies as a tool for disseminating SR information. Hence, the extent and quality of SR among the Malaysian IPO companies can be concluded to be low as indicated by the substantial number of companies scoring below 50% in SR (111 companies for extent and 90 for quality). Similar findings in the Malaysian context were derived in the study by Abd Rahim ( 2016 ) which revealed a disclosure level below 50% among the listed Malaysian companies. The total disclosure score for each category consists of the overall individual scores of the companies’ SR in the annual reports. Table 3 The Mean of Disclosure Scores between the Two Groups of Companies Disclosure Category (Extent) Society Energy Employee Product Score (N = 4) High Disclosure 21(6.7) 24(11.2) 26(7.8) 21(22.3) Mean Disclosure 5.25 6 6.5 5.25 Score (N = 111) Low Disclosure 291(93.3) 190(88.8) 306(92.2) 73(77.7) Mean Disclosure 2.62 1.71 2.76 0.66 Total 312 214 332 94 Disclosure Category (Quality) Society Energy Employee Product Score (N = 25) High Disclosure 237(44.5) 155(51.8) 203(40.4) 88(62.9) Mean Disclosure 9.48 6.2 8.12 3.52 Score (N = 90) Low Disclosure 295(55.5) 144(48.2) 300(59.6) 52(37.1) Mean Disclosure 3.28 1.60 3.33 0.58 Total 532 299 503 140 Figure 1 represents the trend of SR information usage level in Malaysia throughout the years under study. The disclosure index clearly reveals that the average level of SR among the Malaysian IPOs during the period under study (2007 to 2017) is only 20.70% for extent and 32.04% for quality. This shows a weak usage of the IPO companies to the SR and a weak usage of the annual reports for disseminating SR information. In a corporate sector study by Haji ( 2013 ) assessing SR extent among several PLCs between 2006 and 2009, it was revealed that the mean score of SR extent was 18.1% for 2006 and 31.7% for 2009, indicating an increase in SR level from 2006 to 2009. Figure 1 shows that the extent and quality of SR among Malaysian IPO companies is generally low in this report, as the disclosure rates are below 50%. The levels of annual report disclosures are shown to increase and decrease from year to year in this study as the number of IPO companies differs from one year to another. 5.4 Level of Sustainability Reporting between Groups of Sectors The data analysis in this study is based on the overall SR level among the sampled IPO companies as well as the SR level across industry groupings, with the objective of measuring the impact of each industry on the overall disclosure level of the sampled industries (Tables 4 and 5 ). The SR dimensions as presented in the annual reports were also analysed to identify the disclosure level of all the SR variables for each sector in the IPO companies. Table 4 shows the analysis of the extent for each sector in the four SR dimensions. Table 4 The Level of Extent of SR between the Groups of Sectors Sector Extent Society Energy Employee Product Basic Materials Total 22 16 37 0 Level 7.05% 7.48% 11.14% 0.00% Consumer Products and Services Total 45 35 49 35 Level 14.42% 16.36% 14.76% 37.23% Consumer Products Non- Cyclicals Total 32 20 24 15 Level 10.26% 9.35% 7.23% 15.96% Energy Total 25 14 30 5 Level 8.01% 6.54% 9.04% 5.32% Healthcare Total 25 5 15 2 Level 8.01% 2.34% 4.52% 2.13% Industrials Total 91 74 117 16 Level 29.17% 34.58% 35.24% 17.02% Technology Total 46 31 38 9 Level 14.74% 14.49% 11.45% 9.57% Telecommunication Services Total 17 11 9 6 Level 5.45% 5.14% 2.71% 6.38% Utilities Total 9 8 13 6 Level 2.88% 3.74% 3.92% 6.38% The industry rating analysis revealed that in terms of society disclosure, the industrial sector recorded the highest SR extent (29.17%), followed by the technology sector (14.74%), and finally the utilities sector which recorded the lowest SR extent (2.88%). In terms of energy disclosure, the industrial sector once again recorded the highest SR extent (34.58%), followed by the consumer products and services sector (16.36%), and finally the healthcare sector with the lowest SR extent (2.34%). For the dimension of employee disclosure, the industrial sector again recorded the highest SR extent (35.24%), followed by the consumer products and services sector (14.76%), and finally the telecommunication services sector with the lowest SR extent (2.71%). Lastly, for the dimension of product disclosure, the consumer products and services sector recorded the highest SR extent (37.23%), followed by the industrial sector (17.02%), and finally the basic materials sector which recorded the lowest SR extent (0.00%). Table 5 presents the analysis of the quality for each sector in the four SR dimensions. Table 5 The Level of Quality of SR between the Groups of Sectors Sector Quality Society Energy Employee Product Basic Materials Total 33 19 57 0 Level 6.20% 6.35% 11.33% 0.00% Consumer Products and Services Total 77 55 75 54 Level 14.47% 18.39% 14.91% 38.57% Consumer Products Non- Cyclicals Total 55 33 35 24 Level 10.34% 11.04% 6.96% 17.14% Energy Total 37 19 50 9 Level 6.95% 6.35% 9.94% 6.43% Healthcare Total 48 10 28 4 Level 9.02% 3.34% 5.57% 2.86% Industrials Total 160 90 175 19 Level 30.08% 30.10% 34.79% 13.57% Technology Total 78 44 52 12 Level 14.66% 14.72% 10.34% 8.57% Telecommunication Services Total 26 15 10 8 Level 4.89% 5.02% 1.99% 5.71% Utilities Total 18 14 21 10 Level 3.38% 4.68% 4.17% 7.14% The industry rating analysis revealed that in terms of society disclosure, the industrial sector recorded the highest SR quality (30.08%), followed by the technology sector (14.66%), and finally the utilities sector which recorded the lowest SR quality (3.38%). In terms of energy disclosure, the industrial sector once again recorded the highest SR quality (30.10%), followed by the consumer products and services sector (18.39%), and finally the healthcare sector with the lowest SR quality (3.34%). For the dimension of employee disclosure, the industrial sector again recorded the highest SR quality (34.79%), followed by the consumer products and services sector (14.91%), and finally the telecommunication services sector with the lowest recorded SR quality (1.99%). Lastly, for the dimension of product disclosure, the consumer products and services sector recorded the highest SR quality (38.57%), followed by the consumer products non-cyclical sector (17.14%), and finally the basic materials sector which recorded the lowest SR quality (0.00%). 6. Conclusion This study examined, from a longitudinal perspective, changes in the extent and quality of SR by Malaysian IPO companies in their annual reports, reflecting the compulsory SR duration. Due to the changes in the Malaysian energy, SR’s extent and quality improved significantly. The mandatory disclosure for SR activities only came into full effect in 2007, and SR improved after this period (Fig. 1 ). Based on the descriptive analysis, slight SR improvements in the sampled companies are indicated by means of both extent and quality over the nine-year time frame, i.e. from 2007 to 2017, as proven by the findings in this study. The extent of SR was found to be at 20.70% ( n = 952) while the quality of SR was found to be at 32.04% ( n = 1474). These improvements could be attributed to the greater emphasis placed on SR by the stakeholders, and the understanding that failure to comply would result in a damaged reputation for the companies. Based on the analysis according to dimension, a higher proportion of SR extent was found in the employee dimension ( n = 332, 34.87%) while a higher proportion of SR quality was found in the society dimension ( n = 532, 36.09%) of the sampled companies. Meanwhile, for the product dimension, the SR extent ( n = 94, 9.88%) and SR quality ( n = 140, 9.50%) were found to be minimal. This study generally highlights the crucial role of SR in Malaysian IPO companies in developing SR further in the country, which in turn warrants a more rigorous analysis. The results of this research suggest that SR initiatives could, to a certain extent, improve the performance of IPO companies. Company objectives, including profit maximisation and company reputation, can, therefore, be realised via the vigorous engagement in SR initiatives by company managers. Thus, the findings in this study can be used by companies in their engagement in SR activities and their disclosures thereof. Support by government agencies is also given in the form of regulations and laws enforced on Malaysian PLCs to drive their active engagement in SR performs (Bursa Malaysia, 2007 ). Malaysian companies face very little pressure on SR from the public, an indication that the general Malaysian public is yet to be well-informed about SR. Public awareness measures are thus called to highlight the dimensions of SR, i.e. society, energy, employee, and product. This study recommends more considerable efforts on the part of policymakers, SR, and multi-stakeholder initiatives to enhance the quality of SR in Malaysia, i.e. by positively channelling various pressure sources from their respective contexts to SR initiatives including ownership structures and local cultural traditions. Initiatives by the government to motivate companies to invest in SR efforts could be in the form of tax incentives and donations and philanthropy (Griffin, 2004 ). Meanwhile, financial institutions, including banks could play a role by making SR a pre-requisite in approving loan facility applications by these Malaysian companies. This study hence has paved the way for future research on the motivations for SR disclosures by Malaysian companies. Changes to SR standards are also affected by the relationship between Malaysian corporates and industry, whereby the often externally-identified standards can be adapted to suit the local context and therefore improve the intrinsic motivation of companies to disclose the information of their SR. Overall, the findings of this research can support the reform process drive for improving the performance and SR practices of IPO companies, which have been revealed to be still lacking in some aspects. Regulatory bodies in Malaysia could use the findings to develop specific processes that would improve the quality of SR. Also, they will be able to utilise the findings to define efficient SR dimensions. Declarations Acknowledgement Not applicable. Consent to Publish The author(s) do not have any consent issue to publish this research paper. Ethical Approval This article does not contain any involvement from human and animals. Consent to Participate Not applicable. Authors Contributions Yasir Abdullah Abbas: Original draft Waqas Mehmood: Formal analysis Mohammed H. Manhal: Review Attia Aman-Ullah: Review and supervision Funding The authors announce that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this paper. Competing Interests The authors declare no competing interests. Availability of data and materials All the required information regarding SR is gathered from the IPOs found in Bursa Malaysia’s website at www.bursamalaysia.com.my or the companies’ websites. The annual reports of the IPOs listed on Bursa Malaysia are used to obtain the data from 2007 to 2017. All data and outputs are available and can be shared whenever required. 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Bus Strategy Environ 18(4):207–222 Wan Ahamed WS, Almsafir MK, Al-Smadi AW (2014) Does corporate social responsibility lead to improve in firm financial performance? Evidence from Malaysia. Int J Econ Finance 6(3):126–138 Zainal D, Zulkifli N, Saleh Z (2013) Corporate social responsibility reporting in Malaysia: A comparison between shariah and non-shariah approved firms. Middle-East J Sci Res 15(7):1035–1046 Appendix Appendix 1 . List of SR items Theme I- general public -SR items 1 Donations program. 2 Educational program. 3 Health projects. 4 Development general public programs and activities. 5 Sports program. 6 Charity program. Theme II-Energy-SR items 1 Pollution control. 2 Conservation of natural resources. 3 Award for energy programs. 4 Waste management. 5 Water management. 6 Renewable energy. Theme III- Energy -SR items 1 Energy health and safety. 2 Energy trainings. 3 Safety award. 4 Improve energy working conditions. 5 Energy awards. 6 Energy welfare fund. Theme IV- Product -SR items 1 Products development. 2 Product safety. 3 Green product. 4 Product quality. 5 Product awards. 6 Consumer satisfaction. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 27 Mar, 2022 Reviewers invited by journal 26 Mar, 2022 Editor invited by journal 25 Mar, 2022 Editor assigned by journal 24 Mar, 2022 First submitted to journal 22 Mar, 2022 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-1478999","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":93830866,"identity":"5f7c9e8c-ac98-40ba-a619-bff6e30fa199","order_by":0,"name":"Yasir Abdullah Abbas","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABPUlEQVRIie3RP0vDQBgG8DcU4pKkm1w4tH6EE0EUavtVEgLNEopQKAUFz+Vc/PMF9DsoLo4XDswS2jXQpUHQJYIiiCKKl7SD9GJnwTy8tzzw471LAKpU+aPh8jjAa4dco02wpuVWUeazgGhUTgf0aYkWEvhBxBwpCYmiVAyg1bUSl/L3m1FDXxbpU7aPoL4UEJj0VRIHJIzB69mShCfxeJ3hzoZ9fovAPs4IOEOV8ABCCjX3Mt9isrHGsEOwoSMgidziMpWMHiaSHBQk/GTDNsP+y4fxhaD9G0kcIokoiDAZdxkONrHJ5BZUTuwkk4REPTtOqVhhnidJf/viFBkovt/lJW+xRv7dMx3sda3IC9NH1to5w/51kr02V+tH3lX6pn6xNV5cb742isn/sq6QBlWqGZlFJVWqVKny7/INEdF7sN5C+s4AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Almaaqal University","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yasir","middleName":"Abdullah","lastName":"Abbas","suffix":""},{"id":93830867,"identity":"596cb695-8ed1-4186-8f5f-78b020ac492a","order_by":1,"name":"Waqas Mehmood","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universiti Utara Malaysia","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Waqas","middleName":"","lastName":"Mehmood","suffix":""},{"id":93830868,"identity":"9b155543-e342-4158-b42e-3001fdace4c9","order_by":2,"name":"Mohammed H. Manhal","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Almaaqal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mohammed","middleName":"H.","lastName":"Manhal","suffix":""},{"id":93830869,"identity":"f8de6239-1c11-4ba1-8fe5-fb35920f2ec2","order_by":3,"name":"Attia Aman-Ullah","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universiti Utara Malaysia","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Attia","middleName":"","lastName":"Aman-Ullah","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2022-03-22 18:49:11","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-1478999/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1478999/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":19689453,"identity":"9fdc87ba-ad7d-4f82-aebf-d7ff1cc7db5f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2022-03-28 14:49:39","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":6319,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe Trend of SR in Malaysia from 2007 to 2017\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Onlinedrawingimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1478999/v1/0529524a2c054d7422ff67df.png"},{"id":19689454,"identity":"aedb22c6-9032-42e9-a9dc-ef72b07de72e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2022-03-28 14:49:42","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":446238,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1478999/v1/d7f75add-8bea-4ee5-b319-b5b7a91e808e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"The Level of Sustainability Reporting of Malaysian IPO Companies","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eSustainability reporting (SR) is becoming a popular research topic based on the rising number of works published in the field in recent decades (Ajaz et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Dyck et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Jean et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; De Klerk et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). The four dimensions of SR which consist of society, energy, employee, and product information by companies are important considerations for the society. Most of the existing works are carried out from the perspective of developed markets, while those from the standpoint of developing markets continue to be few studies. Since developing markets are not spared from challenges related to the society, energy, energy, and products challenges (Bendell, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e), insights from these developed and developing markets merit further studies as well.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePast studies in this area have mainly investigated the extent and quality of SR. However, previous researches have concentrated mostly on advanced nations (e.g., Bowerman \u0026amp; Sharma, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Brammer \u0026amp; Pavelin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e; De Klerk et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Vormedal \u0026amp; Ruud, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR55\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e) with only a few (e.g., Chiu \u0026amp; Wang, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Kansal et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e; Saleh et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Thompson \u0026amp; Zakaria, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR53\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e) focusing on developing countries. Understanding SR in the terms of developing nations are important so as to better determine the effect of SR extent and quality on economic development, business energy and SR activities.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCarroll (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1979\u003c/span\u003e) recommended the conceptualisations of the four elements of SR i.e. philanthropic, legal, ethical, and economic responsibilities. Philanthropic responsibilities emphasize on business commitment by considering the society\u0026rsquo;s desire; legal responsibilities, business corporations embrace the prospect of the society in view of their legal responsibilities so as to achieve their objectives within the law limits; ethical responsibilities imply the ethical reactions of business corporations as required by the energy in which they operate, whilst economic responsibilities entail the necessity to fulfil the wants and needs of the society by producing services and products that meet their requirements. Additionally, several researchers had demonstrated the significance of SR for the company and for the society. They concluded the benefits to include: enhanced image and reputation, improved trust and understanding, higher profitability, better cost savings, potential recruits, and solidified energy commitment.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSR initiatives have been gaining much attention in Malaysia due to the country\u0026rsquo;s rising economy. The Government of Malaysia has set minimum standards for the implementation of SR activities, especially in the areas of social welfare, health and safety, and energy protection. In order to make more money and enhance the country\u0026rsquo;s economic growth, the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) has doubled its effort to ensure enhanced SR execution so that the national integrity plan goes hand-in-hand with the national agenda, specifically to achieve Vision 2020. SR practices have become part of a global business strategy for many companies, particularly to enhance their reputation and brand name as well as retaining their competitive edge in the extremely challenging global market. SR is ultimately the process of undertaking the responsibility of carrying out certain actions, decisions, and policies in the form of activities by companies to generate positive impacts and values for the communities, consumers, energy, and stakeholders related to the companies (Abdullah \u0026amp; Abdul Rashid, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). Ramasamy et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e) indicated that Malaysian companies generally have a poor attitude towards SR. Nevertheless, awareness is gradually rising due to the emergence of several consumer interest groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are driving the related awareness initiatives.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn Malaysia, SR implementation is mainly guided by the SR framework for public listed companies (PLCs) established by Bursa Malaysia and the Silver Book for Government Linked Companies (GLCs). SR emerged as a critical issue when, on 5 September 2006, all PLCs in Malaysia were mandatory to disclose their SR practices in their annual reports (Othman et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). Such requirement was part of the plan to drive the involvement of PLCs in socially responsible initiatives as well as to improvise their SR approach to be incorporated in their business processes. In 2007, the provision for disclosure of SR activities was strictly implemented in annual reports of all PLCs.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEarlier researches of SR in emerging economies had specified the use of SR as a reply to the variations in the product to create legitimacy (Chu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e; Haniffa \u0026amp; Cooke, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e). This research classifies that while Malaysia as a developing country implemented many important reforms, including regulatory changes as well as SR awareness programs, very little work was undertaken to evaluate SR over time (Esa et al., 2012; Haniffa \u0026amp; Cooke, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, the potential explanations, i.e. either legitimacy or a spontaneous rise, for the growing pattern in SR practices are difficult to ascertain.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDespite the prevalence of such disclosures in Malaysia (ACCA, 2010), several researchers claim that the SR reporting level among Malaysian companies is conspicuously low, hence indicating that it is still in its beginning stage in this country (Othman et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). In light of this, this study intends to examine the extent and quality of SR by Malaysian IPO companies in their annual reports within the period of 2007\u0026ndash;2017. Since most prior SR works including those in the context of Malaysia had focused mainly on the non-financial industry (e.g., Sadou et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e), this study went on a different path by sampling IPO companies from the non-financial industry. Although the number of SR studies is growing, experimental investigations by Malaysian IPO companies on the practice of SR in emerging markets are still scarce. One of the reasons why Malaysian IPOs are less interested or involved in encouraging their SR activities towards their stakeholders may be the lack of studies on this issue. This study suggests that IPO companies are important. They do not have much information available to investors, especially SR. Hence, SR is important to help IPO pricing. Additonally, this paper are presenting the percentage of specific SR in the Malaysian IPOs as the disclosure useful to explain how the companies improve the performance and underpricing by disclose more SR information. Therefore, this study aims to fill the void by examining the SR level of IPO companies in the Malaysian context by using the extent and quality of SR as measurements of SR practices.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe subsequent sections of this paper are arranged as such: a literature review section, \u003cspan refid=\"Sec2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003etheoretical framework\u003c/span\u003e section, methodology discussion section, analysis and findings of the study, and finally, the conclusion.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Literature Review","content":" \u003cp\u003eAlthough SR is growing in prominence as a valid concern in the business arena, SR practices seem to remain largely ignored by many companies. The study by Cochran and Wood (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1984\u003c/span\u003e) indicated a weak and inadequate connection between SR and corporate financial performance (CFP). Companies that do not use annual reports to their full advantage are not fully successful in following the best practices of SR and its dimensions. Companies that adhere to the best SR practices can potentially achieve positive company performance. SR can be better predicted by prior performance as opposed to the subsequent performance as indicated by Mcguire et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1988\u003c/span\u003e); therefore, the connection between SR and CFP may be attributed to prior high performance.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMixed findings were derived from earlier studies on the relationship between SR and CFP. Several prior researches concluded a positive association between SR and CFP (e.g., Kumarasinghe et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e; Saleh et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Usman \u0026amp; Amran, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Wan Ahamed et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e), but a negative link between SR and CFP in several other studies (e.g., Cris\u0026oacute;stomo \u0026amp; Freire, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). In fact, a non-existent relationship was also indicated (e.g., Iqbal et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). In the studies examining the dimensional links between SR and the ownership structure of 200 companies on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia from 2000 to 2005 (Hoq et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e; Saleh et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e), a positive and significant association between SR and ownership structure was found. The assessment was based on the proportion of shares owned by institutional investors, which revealed that institutional investors place a heavy emphasis on SR in making investment decisions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSR policy drives focus on society, energy, employee, and product sustainability. Stakeholders\u0026rsquo; value is increased through enhancements in staff engagement, brand awareness, and business reputation in ensuring the effectiveness of the SR framework. This study explores the SR dimensions prevalent in Malaysian IPO companies apart from the significance of enhancing the effectiveness of the companies\u0026rsquo; overall SR entailing \u0026ldquo;society SR, energy SR, employee SR, and product SR\u0026rdquo;. This study supposes that one of the significant elements of SR is ascertaining if companies that are engaged in IPOs are implementing SR activities in the energy in which they operate and recognising the main factors that may positively influence the IPO companies.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFirst, regarding society, Bursa Malaysia extends its support to companies as they are a part of the general society. Companies\u0026rsquo; growth depends on the contribution from the society, and vice versa, society growth depends on the support from companies. Improvements in both society and companies are dependent on energy engagement in society issues. Such engagement may entail organising charitable and national events, rural area developments, education sponsorships, and school donations. In the context of Malaysia, most studies examining the link between society SR and CFP have derived positive results (e.g., Saleh et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Usman \u0026amp; Amran, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Wan Ahamed et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e); nevertheless, a negative impact of society engagement on ownership structure was reported by Saleh et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSecond, the term \u0026ldquo;energy\u0026rdquo; drives the SR focus of companies on multiple concerns. A focus on energy consumption, for instance, would motivate companies to explore efficient ways of energy utilisation that would help minimise energy damage caused by excessive energy use and release. Researches investigating the relationship between the energy SR and the success of organizations have found mixed results. In the context of Malaysia, positive results are indicated by most prior research on the link between energy SR and CFP (e.g., Saleh et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Wan Ahamed et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e). Similar positive results were found in studies focusing on other countries (e.g., Mahoney \u0026amp; Roberts, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). Also, Abdullah et al., (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e); De Klerk and De Villiers (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e) discovered a positive and significant relationship between SR and share price performance. However, negative results were also proven in the link between energy SR and CFP (e.g., Usman \u0026amp; Amran, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). In the context of Malaysia, Saleh et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e) found a negative connection between the energy dimension and ownership structure. It was disclosed in the study by Al-Tuwaijri et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e) that businesses with better energy achievement are more likely to report additional energy information and are correlated with better economic results. The study thus proposed that investors are more likely to engage in energy friendly enterprises in the United States context.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThird, employee, human rights, or gender issues are commonly prevalent in the employee setting of any company. Companies could reduce the occurrences of such issues by paying attention to energy welfare, establishing good employee energy, and prioritising employee health and safety. Energy morale and commitment towards productivity can be increased through various development programmes and incentive schemes. Such programmes and schemes include health and safety initiatives, energy training and development, and loyalty award schemes, among others. Generally, a positive link has been established between employee SR and CFP by some earlier researches in the context of Malaysia (e.g., Saleh et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Usman \u0026amp; Amran, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Wan Ahamed et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e) as well as in other countries (e.g., Gittell, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e). When considering institutional ownership, the only significantly positive and crucial aspect is energy relation, as found by Hoq et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e) and Saleh et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e). Researchers typically agrees that energy plays an important part in the achievement of employee goals as they are the ones responsible for administering SR activities for their companies as well as committing to the efforts of achieving their companies\u0026rsquo; ethical, energy, and social objectives. Lee et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e), in their study on SR, also explored the perceptions of customers. They found that the use of SR among energy is still mostly unknown. The competitive advantage and energy judgement of SR activities are mainly supported by companies\u0026rsquo; corporate culture and capabilities. Therefore, SR is crucial in facilitating energy\u0026rsquo; attachment to their company and corporate performance. Their results analysis indicate that perceived cultural fit and SR capability are the major influencing factors on performance, energy attachment, and SR perception (Lee et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFourth, the product entails the venue in which various stakeholders, including vendors, suppliers, and customers congregate to fulfil their commitments. Companies engage with the stakeholders in proper and responsible ways, including through ethical procurement practices and their support of energy-responsible products. The investment of companies in product development facilitates growth for their reputation. Studies on the association between product SR and CFP in the context of Malaysia had mostly indicated positive results (e.g., Saleh et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Usman \u0026amp; Amran, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Wan Ahamed et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e). A similar positive result was also found in the relationship between product and financial performance in other countries (e.g., Mahoney \u0026amp; Roberts, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). Matsui et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e) indicated that highlighting a new product and developing a product by utilising marketing and technological capacities positively influence financial performance. Ki Hoon and Dongyoung (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e) examined the correlation between consumers\u0026rsquo; purchase intention and their level of SR awareness and discovered a significant association between the two. The positive result also points to the inclination of consumers to be associated with companies that have good SR initiatives in place. Such positive inclination is also a driving factor for the consumers to purchase goods produced by such companies.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"3. Theoretical Framework","content":"\u003cp\u003eStudies on SR rely on several theories to form their theoretical foundation, such as the legitimacy theory that is extensively utilised in accounting and social science studies to expound why companies disclose their social and energy information (Deegan \u0026amp; Rankin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1997\u003c/span\u003e). Suchman (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1995\u003c/span\u003e, p. 574) demarcated the legitimacy theory as \u0026ldquo;a generalised perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values and beliefs\u0026rdquo;. This theory explains that companies disclose their SR information to either sustain or establish their legitimacy by gaining the acceptance of the society (Deegan, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e). The theory also indicates that the SR level of companies is attributed to public-given prices.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to Magness (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e), in the process of establishing legitimacy, companies can leverage on SR activities to enhance their performance. The findings are largely consistent with the predictions of legitimacy theory that companies will pursue various disclosure strategies regarding changes in the product in order to create credibility for the company. This study, which examined the period of 2007\u0026ndash;2017 when the business energy experienced economic changes, adopted the perspective of the legitimacy theory to clarify the SR practices of Malaysian listed companies following the variations, to assess whether ideas derived from other countries with specific cultural and economic energy are relevant to SR success of companies in emerging economies. The hope is that companies in Malaysia will increase their SR activities after the changes to show a better picture for the society (Sutantoputra, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e). Prior studies in developed countries had observed companies\u0026rsquo; trend of using SR to enhance company reputation. For example, Kumarasinghe et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) found that SR activities boost the financial and market efficiency of Japanese companies, building on the legitimacy theory\u0026rsquo;s hypothesis that companies would require more group disclosures following product changes.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4. Research Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis section describes the data and sample size as well as the SR measurements employed in this study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.1 Data and Sample Size\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study used the data of Malaysian IPOs from 2007 to 2017. Bursa Malaysia launched the SR Framework for PLCs on 5 September 2006, but the mandatory disclosure for SR activities only came into full effect in 2007. This study selected the period until 2015 since there is a low prevalence of SR by Malaysian IPO companies during this period. Since then, all PLCs are obligated to disclose their SR activities in their annual reports. The study was mainly centred on the Main Market and ACE Market i.e. the two main securities markets in Malaysia, which list 163 financial and non-financial IPO companies. The study sample excluded companies from the finance sector, real estate investment trusts sector, and closed-end funds sector. IPO companies that do not have annual reports were also excluded from the study sample. In the final research sample, 139 IPO companies were ultimately included. All the required information regarding the SR dimensions was gathered from the IPO companies that were found in Bursa Malaysia\u0026rsquo;s website at \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.bursamalaysia.com.my\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ewww.bursamalaysia.com.my\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"http://www.bursamalaysia.com.my\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e or the company\u0026rsquo;s website. The annual reports of the IPO companies listed on Bursa Malaysia were used to obtain the data from 2007 to 2015.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.2 Measurements of SR\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe SR entails disclosure of a company\u0026rsquo;s financial and non-financial information related to its interaction with its natural and social energy, as revealed in its corporate annual report or any other social reports (Hackston \u0026amp; Milne, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1996\u003c/span\u003e). The SR provides guidance to PLCs on the implementation of their SR activities, which cover the dimensions of society, energy, employee, and product. These dimensions form the basis of the SR measurements in this study, and have been utilised in previous Malaysian-based studies (e.g., Abdullah et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Abd Rahim, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Sadou et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e; Saleh et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e; Zainal et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). Bursa Malaysia\u0026rsquo;s specifications have also been taken into account in ensuring the index includes items covering the dimensions listed earlier. As such, the modified index employed in this current study consisted of 24 items (Appendix 1) as used in previous studies on Malaysian annual reports (Sadou et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e; Saleh et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). The 24 items were subsequently grouped into the four categories of dimensions with ten items each for Society, Energy, Employee, and Product.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePrevious studies had used different measurements for their content analysis, i.e., according to the extent and quality of the disclosure. The extent of disclosure entails the total number of words, sentences, or pages (e.g., Zainal et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). Some other studies employed dichotomous variables for disclosure (which is given a score of 1) and non-disclosure (which is given a score of 0) for the extent of SR (e.g., Abd Rahim, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Sadou et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). Meanwhile, SR quality entails the quality of the disclosure as assessed using a quality index. Researchers have used various indexes to evaluate the quality of disclosure (e.g., Sadou et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). The score of 3 is for \u0026ldquo;quantitative disclosure\u0026rdquo;, 2 is for qualitative disclosure with specific explanations, 1 is for general \u0026ldquo;qualitative disclosure\u0026rdquo;, and 0 is for non-disclosure (e.g., Sadou et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e; Saleh et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Zainal et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). Other researchers adapted the scoring guidelines of recognised SR frameworks such as the global reporting initiative (GRI) which carries a scale of 0 to 2, with 0 representing no disclosure, 1 general disclosure, and 2 detailed and quantified disclosure (e.g., Othman et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRegarding the measurements for the extent of SR, the variation in measurements is due to certain benefits and limitations of each method. For example, word count is easily usable and has been utilised in earlier SR research (e.g., Myers, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e). To identify the quantity of disclosure, many researchers favour using the technique of sentence count, although this technique ignores disclosure in the form of tables and graphs (Amran et al., 2008). Moreover, the page count measurement is said to be less accurate due to differences in formats, margins, and font sizes that are utilised by several companies (Hackston \u0026amp; Milne, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1996\u003c/span\u003e). In this current study, however, two SR measurements were used, as explained below:\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1) An unweighted method to measure the extent of SR, with a score of 1 representing disclosed items and 0 for non-disclosed items. This method has been widely used in several studies (e.g., Anas et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Sadou et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2) A weighted method to measure the quality of SR, using a scale of 0 to 3. A score of 3 represents \u0026ldquo;quantitative disclosure\u0026rdquo;, 2 \u0026ldquo;qualitative disclosure with specific explanations\u0026rdquo;, 1 general \u0026ldquo;qualitative disclosure\u0026rdquo;, and 0 non-disclosure. This method has also been extensively used in various studies (e.g., Sadou et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e; Saleh et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Zainal et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). The \u0026ldquo;quality index is derived by calculating the ratio of the total scores against the number of items\u0026rdquo; by applying the formula below:\u003cdiv id=\"Equa\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equa\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$${CSRDI}_{j}=\\frac{{\\sum }_{t=1}^{nj}{X}_{ij}}{{n}_{j}}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ewhere:\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eSRIj = \u0026ldquo;\u003c/em\u003eSR score for the \u003cem\u003ej\u003c/em\u003eth company\u0026rdquo;.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e \u003csub\u003e \u003cem\u003ej\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/sub\u003e \u003cem\u003e= \u0026ldquo;\u003c/em\u003eTotal number of items estimated for the \u003cem\u003ej\u003c/em\u003eth company\u0026rdquo;.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eX\u003c/em\u003e \u003csub\u003e \u003cem\u003eij\u003c/em\u003e \u003c/sub\u003e = SR quality measure by using 0, 1, 2, and 3.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"5. Data Analysis And Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe data analysis for this study was based on the overall level of SR disclosures among the sampled IPO companies as well as the level of SR disclosures across item groups and groups of sectors with the aim of evaluating the contribution of each group to the overall level of SR disclosures (Tables\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e, and \u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e). Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e displays the values of the Cronbach alpha for all the SR categories.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e5.1 Reliability and Validity of SR\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eBased on Bursa Malaysia\u0026rsquo;s SR Framework and several literature reviews, the current study came up with four SR categories with 24 overall items. The categories are tested for reliability using the internal consistency test. Internal consistency entails the level of cooperation between all the items in measuring the same core attributes, generally by employing the inter-item correlation test called Cronbach alpha coefficient (Pallant, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e), of which use is supported by several studies (e.g., Sekaran, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR48\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e). The average inter-item correlation is indicated using a scale i.e. zero (0) to one (1) for SR extent and 0, 1, 2, and 3 for SR quality, whereby higher values represent higher reliability (Pallant, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). Following the study of Anas et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e), the current study scrutinized 20% or 23 randomly selected sample annual reports to measure the SR scoring\u0026rsquo;s reliability and validity. The current study evaluated the internal consistency for each SR variable in the annual reports, using the Cronbach Alpha, whose findings are summarized in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Result of Reliability Test for Each SR Dimensions\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCronbach alpha\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eVariables\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo of items\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSR Extent\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSR Quality\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1st category: Society\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.7651\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.7205\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2nd category: Energy\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.8613\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.7649\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3rd category: Employee\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.8680\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.8823\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4th category: Product\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.8319\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.7667\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to Pallant (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e), a reliable variable is one with a positive Cronbach alpha of which value is larger than 0.70. In this study, the Cronbach alpha for the society, energy, employee, and product disclosure categories were greater than 0.70, indicating high correlation and overall reliability of the disclosure items in each category. Hence, all the SR items in the disclosure index are acceptable as they consistently work together and measure the same attributes.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHence, \u0026ldquo;a reliability test was conducted on the scale measures utilising the Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s alpha to assess the accuracy and interval validity of the items employed in the index. The Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s alpha test is one of the methods of calculating and testing the precision of the scale used to retrieve data from its original sources. A good scale has a Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s alpha value greater than 0.70. This means that the scale measures the essential objective. The Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s alpha coefficient values for all the SR dimensions in this study were more than 0.70, suggesting a significantly higher consistency\u0026rdquo;.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e5.2 The Extent and Quality of SR across Item Groups\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe level for each disclosure category or item dimension (i.e. society, energy, employee, and product) was evaluated via item-wise disclosure. Subsequent evaluations were conducted to assess the extent and quality of disclosure for each SR category. \u0026ldquo;The disclosure index for each disclosure category was determined by dividing the number of actual disclosed items with the total number of items on each score-sheet\u0026rdquo; (Abd Rahim, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). With 24 items in each score-sheet, together with the 139 sampled IPO companies, there were 4601 items in the final count. The number of disclosed items according to the disclosure category was identified in this study based on the attained scores in the research instrument (Cooke, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1998\u003c/span\u003e). Thirty-seven items out of 24 were identified in this study while the remaining three items were missed in the IPO companies since these companies are not fully utilising SR especially with the product dimension, namely, repair of energy damage caused by natural resources processing, green product, and improved procedural disclosures in product processing and preparation. Hence, the disclosure index for the extent of SR using (1) and for the quality of SR using (1), (2), and (3) would indicate 24 disclosed items, while a disclosure index of (0) would indicate fewer disclosed items. Hence, the average score for each company was determined based on the categories of disclosure. The SR dimensions as presented in the annual reports were also analysed to define the disclosure level of the said SR dimensions in the IPO companies (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Extent and Quality of SR of Each Dimensions Disclosure in the IPO Companies from (2007\u0026ndash;2015)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDisclosure category (dimension) Extent\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSociety\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEnergy\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmployee\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eProduct\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo of items\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eScore obtained\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e312\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e214\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e332\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e94\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePercentage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32.77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22.48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e34.87\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.88\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMean score\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e33.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaximum score\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e42\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e72\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMinimum score\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRank\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDisclosure category (dimension) Quality\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSociety\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEnergy\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEmployee\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eProduct\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo of items\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eScore obtained\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e532\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e299\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e503\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e140\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePercentage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36.09\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20.28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e34.13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.50\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMean score\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e53.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e29.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e50.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaximum score\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e128\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e62\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e118\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMinimum score\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRank\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e presents the disclosure extent and quality for each SR category, which shows employee of SR extent and society of SR quality issues as the most disclosed SR information and product of SR extent and quality issues as the least disclosed. Based on the findings, 32.77% of SR extent and 36.09% of SR quality derived from the disclosed information are associated with society issues; 22.48% extent and 20.28% quality are linked to energy issues; 34.87% extent and 34.13% quality are connected to employee issues, and the remaining 9.88% extent and 9.50% quality are associated with product issues. Additionally, the total of both extent and quality of SR i.e. 952 and 1474 was divided by 3336 which represents 20.70% for extent of SR and 32.04% for quality of SR. The next section presents the level of SR in the IPO companies.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e5.3 The Level of SR in the IPO Companies\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIt is important to identify the differences between companies with a high SR level and those with a low SR level, as this would lead to the understanding of the differences between the IPO companies that use SR. Hence, two categories were established in this study, namely sampled companies with a high SR level and sampled companies with a low SR level.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAbd Rahim (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e) indicated that a disclosure level of less than 50% is deemed low, while a disclosure level of above 50% is deemed high. Therefore, a 50% cut-off point was used in this study in defining the SR level of the IPO companies, which thereby segregated the companies into two groups. Companies with a 50% and above disclosure score were categorised as high level, while companies with a 50% and below disclosure score were categorised as low level. As shown by this study\u0026rsquo;s findings, four companies for extent and 25 companies for quality were grouped under the high SR level, and 111 companies for extent and 90 companies for quality were grouped under the low SR level (see Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e). Noticeably, the same IPO companies were recurrent in the determination of both SR extent and quality, and the difference for extent and quality is related to the type of information used for measuring the SR.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis finding indicates low utilisation of the annual reports by the IPO companies as a tool for disseminating SR information. Hence, the extent and quality of SR among the Malaysian IPO companies can be concluded to be low as indicated by the substantial number of companies scoring below 50% in SR (111 companies for extent and 90 for quality). Similar findings in the Malaysian context were derived in the study by Abd Rahim (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e) which revealed a disclosure level below 50% among the listed Malaysian companies. The total disclosure score for each category consists of the overall individual scores of the companies\u0026rsquo; SR in the annual reports.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Mean of Disclosure Scores between the Two Groups of Companies\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDisclosure Category (Extent)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSociety\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEnergy\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmployee\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eProduct\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eScore (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4) High Disclosure\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21(6.7)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24(11.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26(7.8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21(22.3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMean Disclosure\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.25\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.25\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eScore (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;111) Low Disclosure\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e291(93.3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e190(88.8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e306(92.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e73(77.7)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMean Disclosure\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.62\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.71\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.76\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.66\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e312\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e214\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e332\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e94\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDisclosure Category (Quality)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSociety\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEnergy\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEmployee\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eProduct\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eScore (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;25) High Disclosure\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e237(44.5)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e155(51.8)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e203(40.4)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e88(62.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMean Disclosure\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.52\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eScore (N\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;90) Low Disclosure\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e295(55.5)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e144(48.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e300(59.6)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e52(37.1)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMean Disclosure\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.60\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.33\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.58\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e532\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e299\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e503\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e140\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e represents the trend of SR information usage level in Malaysia throughout the years under study. The disclosure index clearly reveals that the average level of SR among the Malaysian IPOs during the period under study (2007 to 2017) is only 20.70% for extent and 32.04% for quality. This shows a weak usage of the IPO companies to the SR and a weak usage of the annual reports for disseminating SR information. In a corporate sector study by Haji (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) assessing SR extent among several PLCs between 2006 and 2009, it was revealed that the mean score of SR extent was 18.1% for 2006 and 31.7% for 2009, indicating an increase in SR level from 2006 to 2009. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e shows that the extent and quality of SR among Malaysian IPO companies is generally low in this report, as the disclosure rates are below 50%. The levels of annual report disclosures are shown to increase and decrease from year to year in this study as the number of IPO companies differs from one year to another.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e5.4 Level of Sustainability Reporting between Groups of Sectors\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe data analysis in this study is based on the overall SR level among the sampled IPO companies as well as the SR level across industry groupings, with the objective of measuring the impact of each industry on the overall disclosure level of the sampled industries (Tables\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e and \u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e). The SR dimensions as presented in the annual reports were also analysed to identify the disclosure level of all the SR variables for each sector in the IPO companies. Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e shows the analysis of the extent for each sector in the four SR dimensions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Level of Extent of SR between the Groups of Sectors\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSector Extent\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSociety\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEnergy\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmployee\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eProduct\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBasic Materials\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7.05%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7.48%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.14%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.00%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConsumer Products and Services\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e45\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e49\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.42%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16.36%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.76%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e37.23%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConsumer Products Non- Cyclicals\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.26%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.35%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7.23%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15.96%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEnergy\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e25\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.01%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.54%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.04%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.32%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHealthcare\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e25\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.01%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.34%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.52%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.13%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndustrials\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e91\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e74\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e117\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e29.17%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e34.58%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35.24%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17.02%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTechnology\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.74%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.49%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.45%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.57%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTelecommunication Services\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.45%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.14%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.71%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.38%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUtilities\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.88%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.74%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.92%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.38%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe industry rating analysis revealed that in terms of society disclosure, the industrial sector recorded the highest SR extent (29.17%), followed by the technology sector (14.74%), and finally the utilities sector which recorded the lowest SR extent (2.88%). In terms of energy disclosure, the industrial sector once again recorded the highest SR extent (34.58%), followed by the consumer products and services sector (16.36%), and finally the healthcare sector with the lowest SR extent (2.34%). For the dimension of employee disclosure, the industrial sector again recorded the highest SR extent (35.24%), followed by the consumer products and services sector (14.76%), and finally the telecommunication services sector with the lowest SR extent (2.71%). Lastly, for the dimension of product disclosure, the consumer products and services sector recorded the highest SR extent (37.23%), followed by the industrial sector (17.02%), and finally the basic materials sector which recorded the lowest SR extent (0.00%). Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e presents the analysis of the quality for each sector in the four SR dimensions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Level of Quality of SR between the Groups of Sectors\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSector Quality\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSociety\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEnergy\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmployee\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eProduct\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBasic Materials\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e33\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e19\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e57\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.20%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.35%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.33%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.00%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConsumer Products and Services\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e55\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e75\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e54\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.47%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18.39%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.91%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e38.57%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eConsumer Products Non- Cyclicals\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e55\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e33\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.34%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.04%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.96%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17.14%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEnergy\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e19\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e50\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.95%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.35%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.94%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.43%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHealthcare\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.02%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.34%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.57%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.86%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndustrials\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e160\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e90\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e175\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e19\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30.08%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30.10%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e34.79%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13.57%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTechnology\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e78\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e44\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e52\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.66%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.72%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.34%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.57%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTelecommunication Services\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.89%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.02%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.99%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.71%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUtilities\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLevel\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.38%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.68%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.17%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7.14%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe industry rating analysis revealed that in terms of society disclosure, the industrial sector recorded the highest SR quality (30.08%), followed by the technology sector (14.66%), and finally the utilities sector which recorded the lowest SR quality (3.38%). In terms of energy disclosure, the industrial sector once again recorded the highest SR quality (30.10%), followed by the consumer products and services sector (18.39%), and finally the healthcare sector with the lowest SR quality (3.34%). For the dimension of employee disclosure, the industrial sector again recorded the highest SR quality (34.79%), followed by the consumer products and services sector (14.91%), and finally the telecommunication services sector with the lowest recorded SR quality (1.99%). Lastly, for the dimension of product disclosure, the consumer products and services sector recorded the highest SR quality (38.57%), followed by the consumer products non-cyclical sector (17.14%), and finally the basic materials sector which recorded the lowest SR quality (0.00%).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"6. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study examined, from a longitudinal perspective, changes in the extent and quality of SR by Malaysian IPO companies in their annual reports, reflecting the compulsory SR duration. Due to the changes in the Malaysian energy, SR\u0026rsquo;s extent and quality improved significantly. The mandatory disclosure for SR activities only came into full effect in 2007, and SR improved after this period (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). Based on the descriptive analysis, slight SR improvements in the sampled companies are indicated by means of both extent and quality over the nine-year time frame, i.e. from 2007 to 2017, as proven by the findings in this study. The extent of SR was found to be at 20.70% (\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;952) while the quality of SR was found to be at 32.04% (\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1474). These improvements could be attributed to the greater emphasis placed on SR by the stakeholders, and the understanding that failure to comply would result in a damaged reputation for the companies. Based on the analysis according to dimension, a higher proportion of SR extent was found in the employee dimension (\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;332, 34.87%) while a higher proportion of SR quality was found in the society dimension (\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;532, 36.09%) of the sampled companies. Meanwhile, for the product dimension, the SR extent (\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;94, 9.88%) and SR quality (\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;140, 9.50%) were found to be minimal.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study generally highlights the crucial role of SR in Malaysian IPO companies in developing SR further in the country, which in turn warrants a more rigorous analysis. The results of this research suggest that SR initiatives could, to a certain extent, improve the performance of IPO companies. Company objectives, including profit maximisation and company reputation, can, therefore, be realised via the vigorous engagement in SR initiatives by company managers. Thus, the findings in this study can be used by companies in their engagement in SR activities and their disclosures thereof. Support by government agencies is also given in the form of regulations and laws enforced on Malaysian PLCs to drive their active engagement in SR performs (Bursa Malaysia, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMalaysian companies face very little pressure on SR from the public, an indication that the general Malaysian public is yet to be well-informed about SR. Public awareness measures are thus called to highlight the dimensions of SR, i.e. society, energy, employee, and product. This study recommends more considerable efforts on the part of policymakers, SR, and multi-stakeholder initiatives to enhance the quality of SR in Malaysia, i.e. by positively channelling various pressure sources from their respective contexts to SR initiatives including ownership structures and local cultural traditions. Initiatives by the government to motivate companies to invest in SR efforts could be in the form of tax incentives and donations and philanthropy (Griffin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e). Meanwhile, financial institutions, including banks could play a role by making SR a pre-requisite in approving loan facility applications by these Malaysian companies. This study hence has paved the way for future research on the motivations for SR disclosures by Malaysian companies. Changes to SR standards are also affected by the relationship between Malaysian corporates and industry, whereby the often externally-identified standards can be adapted to suit the local context and therefore improve the intrinsic motivation of companies to disclose the information of their SR.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOverall, the findings of this research can support the reform process drive for improving the performance and SR practices of IPO companies, which have been revealed to be still lacking in some aspects. Regulatory bodies in Malaysia could use the findings to develop specific processes that would improve the quality of SR. Also, they will be able to utilise the findings to define efficient SR dimensions.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgement\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to Publish\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe author(s) do not have any consent issue to publish this research paper.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthical Approval\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis article does not contain any involvement from human and animals.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to Participate\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthors Contributions\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYasir Abdullah Abbas: Original draft\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWaqas Mehmood: Formal analysis\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMohammed H. Manhal: Review\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAttia Aman-Ullah: Review and supervision\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors announce that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003epreparation of this paper.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting Interests\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interests.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability of data and materials\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll the required information regarding SR is gathered from the IPOs found in Bursa\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMalaysia\u0026rsquo;s website at www.bursamalaysia.com.my or the companies\u0026rsquo; websites. The annual\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ereports of the IPOs listed on Bursa Malaysia are used to obtain the data from 2007 to 2017.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll data and outputs are available and can be shared whenever required.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAbd Rahim N (2016) The extent ofyus online corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure: The Malaysian context. 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Acc Auditing Account J 19(4):540\u0026ndash;563\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMahoney L, Roberts RW (2007) Corporate social performance, financial performance and institutional ownership in Canadian firms. Acc Forum 31(3):233\u0026ndash;253\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMatsui Y, Filippini R, Kitanaka H, Sato O (2007) A comparative analysis of new product development by Italian and Japanese manufacturing companies: A case study. Int J Prod Econ 110(1\u0026ndash;2):16\u0026ndash;24\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMcguire JB, Sundgren A, Schneeweis T (1988) Corporate social responsibility and firm financial performance. Acad Manag J 31(4):854\u0026ndash;872\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMyers MD (2009) Qualitative research in business and management. SAGE publications, London\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOthman S, Darus F, Arshad R (2011) The influence of coercive isomorphism on corporate social responsibility reporting and reputation. Social Responsib J 7(1):119\u0026ndash;135\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePallant J (2013) SPSS survival manual, 5th edn. Open University Press, Berkshire\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRamasamy B, Ting HW, Yeung MCY (2007) Does it pay to be good in developing countries? The relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance in Malaysia. Asian Acad Manage J Acc Finance 3(1):21\u0026ndash;36\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSadou A, Alom F, Laluddin H (2017) Corporate social responsibility disclosures in Malaysia: Evidence from large companies. Social Responsib J 13(1):177\u0026ndash;202\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSaleh M, Zulkifli N, Muhamad R (2010) Corporate social responsibility disclosure and its relation on institutional ownership. Managerial Auditing Journal 25(6):591\u0026ndash;613\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSaleh M, Zulkifli N, Muhamad R (2011) Looking for evidence of the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance in an emerging market. Asia-Pacific J Bus Adm 3(2):165\u0026ndash;190\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSekaran (2003) Research methods for business: A skill building approach, 4th edn. John Wiley \u0026amp; Sons\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eStarrett RH (1996) Assessment of global social responsibility. Psychol Rep 78:535\u0026ndash;554\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSuchman MC (1995) Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Acad Manage Rev 20(3):571\u0026ndash;610\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSutantoputra AW (2009) Social disclosure rating system for assessing firms\u0026rsquo; CSR reports\u0026rdquo;, corporate communications. Int J 14(1):34\u0026ndash;48\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (2010) Sustainability reporting: Sustainability disclosure amongst companies in selected ASEAN member countries and responses from stakeholders, the rise of the report and the regulator. ACCA, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThompson P, Zakaria Z (2004) Corporate social responsibility reporting in Malaysia: Progress and prospects. J Corp Citizsh 13:125\u0026ndash;136\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUsman AB, Amran NAB (2015) Corporate social responsibility practice and corporate financial performance: Evidence from Nigeria companies. Social Responsib J 11(4):749\u0026ndash;763\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eVormedal IH, Ruud A (2009) Sustainability reporting in Norway - an assessment of performance in the context of legal demands and socio-political drivers. Bus Strategy Environ 18(4):207\u0026ndash;222\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWan Ahamed WS, Almsafir MK, Al-Smadi AW (2014) Does corporate social responsibility lead to improve in firm financial performance? Evidence from Malaysia. Int J Econ Finance 6(3):126\u0026ndash;138\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eZainal D, Zulkifli N, Saleh Z (2013) Corporate social responsibility reporting in Malaysia: A comparison between shariah and non-shariah approved firms. Middle-East J Sci Res 15(7):1035\u0026ndash;1046\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"},{"header":"Appendix","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAppendix 1\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e. List of\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSR\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;items\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable align=\"left\" border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"0\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTheme I-\u0026nbsp;general public\u0026nbsp;-SR\u0026nbsp;items\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDonations\u0026nbsp;program. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEducational\u0026nbsp;program.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHealth projects.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDevelopment\u0026nbsp;general public\u0026nbsp;programs and activities.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSports\u0026nbsp;program.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCharity\u0026nbsp;program.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTheme II-Energy-SR\u0026nbsp;items\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePollution\u0026nbsp;control.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConservation of natural resources.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAward for energy programs.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWaste management.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWater\u0026nbsp;management.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRenewable energy.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTheme III-\u0026nbsp;Energy\u0026nbsp;-SR\u0026nbsp;items\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEnergy\u0026nbsp;health and\u0026nbsp;safety.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEnergy trainings.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSafety award.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eImprove energy working conditions.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEnergy awards.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEnergy welfare fund.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"2\" valign=\"bottom\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTheme IV-\u0026nbsp;Product\u0026nbsp;-SR\u0026nbsp;items\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eProducts development.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eProduct safety.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGreen product.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eProduct quality.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eProduct\u0026nbsp;awards.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"bottom\" width=\"13.443396226415095%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd width=\"86.55660377358491%\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConsumer\u0026nbsp;satisfaction.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e "}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"environmental-science-and-pollution-research","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"espr","sideBox":"Learn more about [Environmental Science and Pollution Research](https://www.springer.com/journal/11356)","snPcode":"11356","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11356/3","title":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Corporate sustainability reporting, Malaysia, IPO companies ","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-1478999/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1478999/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003ePurpose \u0026ndash;\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis paper aims to determine the level of sustainability reporting (SR) in Malaysian initial public offering (IPO) companies. Due to the general poor awareness about SR and its dimensions, these aspects have not been receiving the necessary push from the public domain.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eDesign/methodology/approach \u0026ndash;\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study is exploratory in nature employing secondary data through the content analysis of the annual reports of 139 sampled IPOs listed on Bursa Malaysia for the period of 2007\u0026ndash;2017. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics, whilst extent and quality were used as measures of SR.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eFindings \u0026ndash;\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results show that the extent and quality of SR in Malaysian IPO companies have improved over the years with a small improvement from one year to the next. The extent of SR was at 20.70% with society disclosure at 32.77% and energy disclosure at 22.48%, while employee disclosure showed the highest prevalence at 34.87% and product disclosure recorded the lowest prevalence at 9.88%. The quality of SR was at 32.04% with society disclosure recording the highest prevalence at 36.09%, energy disclosure at 20.28%, employee disclosure at 34.13%, and finally product disclosure indicating the lowest prevalence at 9.50%.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResearch limitations/implications \u0026ndash;\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe dimensions of SR namely society, energy, employee, and product issues received little interest from most of the companies. This study proposes the need for additional studies investigating SR in IPO companies.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eOriginality/value \u0026ndash;\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study makes a significant contribution to the information related to SR in Malaysian IPO companies. The findings can facilitate financial institutions and regulatory agencies in driving responsibility on the part of companies regarding SR issues.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The Level of Sustainability Reporting of Malaysian IPO Companies","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2022-03-28 14:49:37","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-1478999/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2022-03-27T10:21:28+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2022-03-26T18:42:12+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","date":"2022-03-25T14:43:46+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2022-03-24T05:48:36+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","date":"2022-03-22T14:48:22+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"environmental-science-and-pollution-research","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"espr","sideBox":"Learn more about [Environmental Science and Pollution Research](https://www.springer.com/journal/11356)","snPcode":"11356","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11356/3","title":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"ca955ff2-08c4-468f-83f5-dbecc066fb02","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 28th, 2022","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2022-05-06T00:36:09+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2022-03-28 14:49:37","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-1478999","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-1478999","identity":"rs-1478999","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"7rjqhiLT3MXkJMwkYKINL","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}