The impact of human resource disclosure on corporate image

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of human resource disclosure on corporate image.Design/methodology/approachThe information about human resources presented in their annual reports by 105 Spanish listed companies was grouped in three categories, previously defined in literature. We distinguish information about human capital (items usually included as human capital in Intellectual Capital reports), social information about employees and information about ethics questions relative to employees. A content analysis of these 105 annual reports was conducted to measure human resource disclosure and a regression analysis was carried out to study the impact of this information on company image.FindingsThe findings reflect the significant effect of the three categories of human resource disclosure on corporate image.Practical implicationsThis study might encourage firms to improve their disclosure policy on issues related to human capital, such as training, and on social and ethical aspects of employees, such as health and safety at work and working rights.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to research on human resources by confirming the impact not only of information about human capital, which is mainly oriented to shareholders, but of social and ethical information about employees, oriented as well as to stakeholders, on corporate reputation.