Environmental and Social Disclosures of Public Listed Companies in Malaysia: A Dataset

Description

The data were collected from the top 100 Malaysian companies, as demonstrated in Table 1, totalling 300 firm-year observations from 2018 to 2020. Observations were based on the companies' disclosures pertaining to environmental and social aspects, primarily extracted from their annual financial statements, sustainability reports, and integrated reports. These documents were publicly available on the websites of Bursa Malaysia or the companies themselves. This study's content analysis allows for a detailed and systematic examination of sustainability disclosures, providing an empirical foundation for the assessment of sustainability strategies across various industries.

Steps to reproduce

This research employed a quantitative content analysis methodology, primarily analyzing annual, sustainability, and integrated reports of listed companies, accessible from their corporate websites or the website of Bursa Malaysia. Our sample comprised the top 100 Malaysian PLCs based on 2016 market capitalization, resulting in 300 firm-year observations from 2018 to 2020. Sector-wide analysis enabled us to discern common disclosure trends across industries. Following the GRI standards, we meticulously examined each accessible report, specifically seeking data relevant to sustainability. We employed a binary scoring system, assigning a "1" if a company demonstrated a particular sustainability attribute or a "0" if otherwise. The scores for each indicator within the GRI categories (GRI301-GRI308 and GRI401-GRI419) were then summed up, with the aggregate score categorized by industry. To calculate average scores, the total scores for each industry were divided by the number of observations within that industry sector. This content analysis process consisted of three stages. The first phase involved research assistants identifying sustainability-related information, providing screenshots for verification, and assigning preliminary scores. The research team then reviewed these scores in the second stage to ensure they met the defined criteria. In the final phase, an independent, professional accounting firm assessed and validated the content analysis results, providing an assurance of the score consistency and authenticity based on their expertise. Ethics were meticulously considered throughout this study. We ensured that all participant data was fully anonymized in compliance with relevant data redistribution policies. We also made sure to comply with all platform-specific regulations and ethical guidelines, confirming the data's integrity and confidentiality.

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