Corporate social reporting and board representation: Evidence from the Kenyan banking sector

The paper examines the influence of gender and board representation on communication of corporate social reporting by Kenyan banks. The descriptive statistical analysis reveals that the level of corporate social disclosure by Kenyan banks is low with a mean of 15%, indicating that disclosure of corporate governance information is not of primary concern to Kenyan banks. In particular, there is a complete lack of disclosure on the categories of Recruitments, Employment of Special Groups, Assistance to Retiring Employees, Employees Productivity and Turnover. The results of multiple regression analysis indicate that board representation can fundamentally improve corporate communication. A higher level of women representation and independent directors greatly improves disclosure. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.