The Availability, Extent and Quality of Sustainability Reporting by Malaysian Listed Firms: Subsequent to Mandatory Disclosure

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the availability, extent and quality of Sustainability Reporting (SR) by Malaysian firms subsequent to the mandatory disclosure. Based on an across-industry sample of 300 firms in 2011, the results indicate that despite the mandatory disclosure, 3% of the sampled firms failed to make such reporting. Furthermore, in both aspects of extent and quality, human-related sustainability engagement, which consists of the workplace and community themes are found to be the favorite themes to be reported. Meanwhile, firms in the infrastructure, finance and plantation industries perform the best of extent and quality of SR, while firms in hotel industry marks the poorest in quality and lowest in extent of SR.