The Impact of Commitment to Implementing Governance on the Disclosure of Social Responsibility by Companies Listed on the Palestine Exchange

This study aimed to demonstrate the impact of commitment to implementing corporate governance, represented by the following principles: ensuring the basis of an effective corporate governance framework, protecting shareholders and investors, equitable treatment of shareholders, the role of stakeholders in corporate governance, disclosure and transparency, and the responsibilities of the board, on the disclosure of social responsibility by companies listed on the Palestine Exchange. To achieve the study objectives, the researcher designed a questionnaire, which was distributed to the study population of 49 companies. The elements of social responsibility were measured using content analysis by creating an index to assess the level of disclosure of social responsibility in the annual reports for the year 2019 of companies listed on the Palestine Exchange. The results showed that the highest percentage of total disclosure of the elements of social responsibility was in the banking sector, while the lowest was in the industrial and investment sectors. Additionally, there was a positive impact from some governance principles, specifically ensuring the basis of an effective corporate governance framework, the role of stakeholders in corporate governance, disclosure and transparency, and the responsibilities of the board, on the disclosure of social responsibility by the companies. The researcher offered several recommendations, the most important of which are enhancing the focus of corporate administrations, particularly in the industrial and investment sectors, on social responsibility and its disclosure; the necessity of activating laws that require companies to apply the principles of corporate governance according to high standards; and directing companies to disclose social responsibility through the formulation of legal frameworks for social responsibility.