The Malaysian accountants` perception of corporate social responsibility

Abstract

The study mainly investigates the Malaysian accountants’ perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR). In addition, it examines the impact of the ethical ideology of accountants on shaping their perception. Based on Carroll’s four classification of CSR, it was found that the Malaysian accountants perceived the social responsibility of corporations as economic, legal, and ethical and philanthropy (discretionary). However, the evidence showed that Malaysian accountants do not differentiate between the economic and legal responsibility of the firm. Such perception was evidenced to be affected by the ethical ideology of accountants. The idealism ideology especially, seems to be the predictor of Malaysian accountants. The findings indicate towards the possibility of culture and religion influencing perception of Malaysian accountants.