Sustainability Disclosure in The Malaysian Construction Sector: The Effect of Community and Media Legitimacies

Abstract

"Research Aims: The objective of the study is to examine the effects of stakeholder pressure on sustainability disclosure (SD). The study includes the effect of community on SD when the company considers the media as one of the legitimate stakeholders. Design/Methodology/Approach: Stakeholder legitimacy is evaluated using SD via content analysis based on panel data samples from the construction and property sectors. Research Findings: It was found that legitimacy is an antecedent and has a positive relationship with SD. Furthermore, this relationship between community legitimacy and SD is stronger when mediated by media legitimacy. Theoretical Contribution/Originality: This study shows the effects of the legitimacy attribute on SD instead of the influence of stakeholders in general (regardless of the legitimacy concept) and the incremental value for companies to include the interest of the media in SD apart from the communities alone. Managerial Implications in the South East Asian Context: It guides managers in forming a comprehensive stakeholder engagement plan and budget to increase company value. This illustrates to the managers the motivation behind making disclosures about the media in the SD more so in this rapid social media where fake and misleading information threatens the public trust in Southeast Asia. Research Limitations & Implications: The study does not include power and urgency factors along with legitimacy. Keywords: Stakeholder Legitimacy, Stakeholder Salience Theory, Stakeholder Theory, Sustainability Disclosure, Construction, Endogeneity"