SOCIAL DISCLOSURE OF BRAZILIAN PUBLICLY-TRADED COMPANIES: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF ACTIONS IN EXTERNAL SOCIAL PROGRAMMES FROM 2005 TO 2009

This paper presents assessment results of the socia l disclosure level of Brazilian publiclytraded companies regarding the disclosure of extern al social projects. Social programs have among other aims the reduction of the negative impa ct c used by company’s operating activities (JENSEN et al., 1972). This research has a qualitative nature and uses content analysis as a technique for data analysis. Reports f 83 Brazilian companies listed in BM&FBovespa with the highest level of stock liquidi ty in the period from 2005 to 2009 were analysed. The analysed categories (past information , prospection of future actions, and accessibility) indicate that being listed in foreig n stock exchanges and in social responsible funds are the most important characteristics to hig her and better levels of social disclosure. It is also found that companies considered as having h gher levels of environmental impact are those which present higher levels of social disclos ure when compared with the other companies. Besides these factors, it is observed th at there is, in general, an evolution of the level of disclosure in the period, since the compan ies considered as having high levels of social disclosure increased from 21% in 2005 (17 co mpanies) to 27% in 2009 (22 companies). This trend demonstrates the importance of such information, as well as these companies’ concern in providing more transparency o f their actions in social programs.