Board of directors’ performance and the extent of corporate social responsibility reporting

This study examined the impact of board size, presence of an audit committee, and chief executive officer (CEO) duality on the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in Jordan. The population of the research included all non-financial companies in the industrial and service sectors listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) for the period 2006–2015. The study covered the impact before and after the issuance of the Jordanian Corporate Governance Code (JCGC) (Jordan Securities Commission [JSC], 2009). The study results suggest that the level of CSR reporting has significantly improved among Jordanian public listed companies since issuing the corporate governance code in 2009. This finding suggests that these companies may have adopted CSR reporting as a legitimation strategy to influence the external perception of their performance and convince the public of their legitimacy.