Data Analysis

In this section, the choice of statistical techniques used in the study is presented and justified based on the nature of the research questions, the type of data and previous literature. All of the research questions therefore are reviewed as follows:

Research question 1: To what extent do companies in each of the six countries disclose their CSR information in annual reports and what type of category is the most disclosed?

Research question 2: What are the differences, if any, among the levels of CSRD across the six countries?

Both research questions focus on the extent of CSRD in firms across the six Southeast Asian countries. The answers for the research question 1 are based entirely on the descriptive statistics about the extent of CSRD in each of the countries as well as the disclosure levels across the four categories (ED, HRD, PCD and CD). For the research question 2, as the main purpose of this question is to identify whether there are any significant differences among the levels of CSRD across the countries. ANOVA, one of the statistical models in analysis of variance is used. This technique is selected because it allows differences in means across several groups on a metric variables, in this case is CSRD, to be examined (Hair et al., 2003). As a result, ANOVA has been used in comparative studies in CSRD area (see Adams et al., 1998; de Villiers and van Staden, 2010; Saida, 2009; Xiao, Gao, Heravi and Cheung, 2005). The equal numbers of observations in each country provide a good condition to apply ANOVA analysis. Other assumptions of ANOVA

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will be examined more detail in Chapter 6. There are two variables used for ANOVA analysis, country of origin as categorical independent variable and CSRDI as the dependent variable. The independent variable was recorded to groups based on the country of origin. One-way ANOVA will identify whether there are significant differences in the mean scores of the dependent variable, CSRDI. Post-hoc tests are followed to identify where the differences lie. The test will help to answer the question whether there are differences between the levels of CSRD among the six countries in Southeast Asia region.

Research questions 3: What are the important CG determinants of CSRD; and to what extent do these CG practices influence the level of CSRD in the six countries?

The first part of the research question 3 has been answered in the literature review chapter 3, section 3.3.1 in which relevant CG factors were identified based on the context of study, existing literature and theoretical framework. The second part of the research question seeks to examine the relationship between these CG practices and CSRD. In order to identify the relationship between diverse CG mechanisms and CSRD, multiple regression is considered an appropriate technique as one of the major uses for multiple regression is causal analysis which aims to determine whether an independent variable influences the dependent variable as well as calculating the extent of that effect (Allison, 1999). When applying this to the research question, the impact of individual CG practice on CSRD can be identified to test the established hypotheses. Furthremore, multiple regression, particularly the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method, has been intensively used in the literature to examine the impact of diverse factors on CSRD (see Anas et al., 2015; El-Halaby and Hussainey, 2015; Farook and Lanis, 2007; Hoang, Abeysekera and Ma, 2016; Khan et al., 2013a; Lone et al., 2016). Therefore, following the existing literature, this study uses the OLS method in which the dependent variable (CSRDI) is regressed on the independent variables (CG practices) and the control variables. The regression model (1) is presented as follows:

(1) CSRDIi = β0 + β1 BSi + β2 INDi + β3 FEDi + β4 DUALi + β5 BLOCi

+ β6 COMTi + ∑ βi CONTSi + εi

Notes: CSRDI denotes the CSRD index; BS denotes board size; IND denotes the percentage of independent directors; FED denotes the percentage of female directors on board; DUAL denotes CEO duality practices; BLOC denotes the percentage of block owner; CONTS denotes control variables for firm size (FSIZE), leverage (LEV), profitability (PROF), firm age (AGE), audit firm size (BIG4), environmental sensitivity (ES) and consumer proximity (CP).

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Research question 4: What are important institutional determinants of CSRD; and to what extent do these institutional factors influence the level of CSRD in the examined countries?

The structure of this research question is alike with the previous one. The first part of the research question has been answered in section 3.3.2 of chapter 3 in which relevant institutional factors were identified based on previous literature, institutional theory and the Scott’s institutional framework (1995). In the second half of this research question, similar with the previous one, the main purpose of this part is to examine the effect of various independent variables (institutional factors) on the dependent variable (CSRD). With the same argument, the OLS method is the most appropriate statistical technique. Consequently, in order to identify the relationship between the institutional factors and CSRD, the regression model (2) is established as follows, in which CSRDI is regressed on the independent variables (institutional variables) and the control variables:

(2) CSRDIi = β0 + β1 LEGi + β2 MDi + β3 UAi + β4 MASi + β5 GRIi

+ β6 CSRAi + ∑ βi CONTSi+ εi

Notes: CSRDI denotes the CSRD index; LEG denotes legal origin; MD denotes mandatory disclosure; UA denotes uncertainty avoidance; MAS denotes masculinity; GRI denotes GRI standard; CSRA denotes CSR-related associations; CONTS denotes control variables for firm size (FSIZE) ), leverage (LEV), profitability (PROF), firm age (AGE), audit firm size (BIG4), environmental sensitivity (ES) and consumer proximity (CP).

4.8 Chapter Summary

Through this chapter, the researcher’s methodological perspectives have been discussed and has led to the choice of a quantitative approach as research strategy and content analysis as the data collection method. The selection of research approach and data collection method has been clearly justified based on the philosophical perception and the nature of the research questions. Furthermore, the detailed development of coding instruments and coding procedure provides a sturdy foundation for the reliability and validity of the chosen data collection process. Additionally, the measurements of all the independent and control variables are presented. The chapter concludes with a series of different statistical techniques used for data in relation to the research questions. The details of data analysis and the use of these techniques will be addressed in the following chapters.

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