Social and Environmental Disclosure: An Analysis of Social Balance of Electricity Sector Companies in the South and Northeast Regions of Brazil

Abstract

Based on the social responsibility indicators of the Instituto Brasileiro de Análises Sociais e Econômicas (IBASE) model, this paper identifies the social and environmental disclosure level of electricity distribution companies in Brazilian market. The method chosen was the descriptive research to obtain results in a qualitative approach for the problem. The technical procedure used was documentary research. Data was collected over the social balance sheet released by several companies’ websites between 2009 and 2010. In the Northeast region, the companies Companhia de Eletricidade do Estado da Bahia (COELBA), Companhia Energética de Pernambuco (CELPE) and Companhia Energética do Rio Grande do Norte (COSERN) had the highest levels of social disclosure. COELBA, for example, obtained the maximum score according to the score methodology proposed by the paper. Coming from the South area, the best ranked was Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL), from Paraná state, which disclosed 99% of the information analyzed in this study. Average level of disclosure of companies by region remained practically stable between the years 2009 and 2010. In general, companies located in the Northeast region evidenced a higher percentage of social and environmental information compared to companies of South region.