Corporate social performance and social disclosure: evidence from Italian Mutual Banks

The social report is a tool with which Social Disclosure can be attempted. However, it may become merely a communication of the fulfilment of a series of requirements. From this perspective, this study seeks to verify, with reference to the Italian Mutual Banks, whether the intensity of Social Disclosure (SD) is indeed representative of social responsibility. The aim is therefore twofold: on the one hand, the intention is to estimate the intensity of SD by measuring the extent to which the social reports of a sample of 57 mutual banks comply with GRI guidelines; and on the other, to test the relationship between social-environmental and financial performance and the intensity of SD. The analysis shows that SD intensity is closely linked to the quality of social reports. Some categories, such as corporate identity, membership and community, exhibit high levels of disclosure whilst for other categories, like the environment, there is a lack of a coherent and unitary plan. Moreover, the degree of SD intensity does not appear to be completely represented into actual social-environmental performance and this confirms the shortcomings of the use of SD as a proxy for Corporate Social Performance.