Do Multinational Companies Care about Child Labour? Disclosure Index Construction and Countermeasures Comparison

The abolition of child labour is one of the four fundamental human rights in the workplace as defined by the ILO and SDGs. However, since the advent of globalisation, several multinational corporations that have relocated production and labour-intensive activities to developing countries have violated this right. Although public institutions and governments have introduced a range of interventions to regulate corporate activities and protect the rights of children, instances of child labour adoption are still being reported. The article analyses the disclosure practices of multinational corporations about child labour and identifies measures adopted to address child labour issues. A content analysis technique is utilised on 98 sustainability reports from multinationals globally, operating in industries with a high child labour risk. The findings indicate a limited level of disclosure regarding this topic, with a preference for preventive rather than detective and reactive measures. The analysis findings are categorised according to impression management theory, affirming the hypothesis of negative event omission and text manipulation in shaping the corporate image. These outcomes have valuable implications for the development of the knowledge management theory as well as for managers, policymakers, and stakeholders.