西方公司社会责任信息披露研究及启示

在当前市场经济高速发展与社会矛盾日益突出的大环境下,社会要求公司披露社会责任信息的呼声越来越高涨.国外学者对于公司社会责任信息披露的研究已颇有建树,而我国学者在这方面的研究还相对滞后.因此在对西方学者关于公司社会责任信息披露与投资者关系管理、资本成本、信息不对称、公司业绩等之间相关关系的研究成果进行评述的基础上,提出了有益于我国公司社会责任信息披露的建议.     

家族控股公司的董事会规制与信息披露质量

自2001年证券发行核准制正式实施以来，家族企业上市控股呈现出迅猛发展的趋势，与此相关联，家族控股上市公司的信息披露状况也越来越受到业界及股民的关注。由于七市公司一般都由董事会掌握着信息披露的权力，因此，加强对董事会与信息披露之间的关系研究，对于进一步认识家族控股上市公司的信息披露质量具有十分重要的价值。国外关于董事会与信息披露质量的研究，主要是从董事会规模、独立蕞事制度、两职合一性等几个方面展开，本文也将遵循这一研究思路和方法，从这几个方面对我国家族控股上市公司董事会与信息披露的关系进行重点分析。     

影响交通运输行业信息披露质量的因素研究——基于深交所2001-2012年经验数据

从公司特征、董事会特征和监事会规模三方面研究影响我国交通运输行业上市公司会计信息披露质量的因素。以2001~2012年深圳证券交易所交运业19个上市公司为样本,采用加权最小二乘法进行拟合,通过这个实证分析方法分析深交所交通运输行业信息披露质量的影响因素,为提高其信息披露质量提供依据。     

企业环境信息披露影响因素分析

面临日益增长的环境信息披露外部压力和环境信息需求,上市公司是否有动机披露更多的环境信息?是什么因素制约着中国上市公司的环境信息披露水平?本文在对上市公司环境信息披露的动因进行了理论分析之后,以沪市制造业为样本,实证检验了公司特征和所有权结构对环境信息披露水平的影响.结果表明,代表公司特征的四个变量中,公司规模、公司盈利能力和公司营运能力与环境信息披露水平显著正相关.代表公司所有权结构的三个变量中,股权集中度与流通股比例与环境信息披露水平显著正相关.     

基于公司治理视角的内部控制信息披露影响因素分析——来自中国A股市场的经验证据

本文选择2006年至2007年在上海和深训证券交易所上市交易的全部A股公司作为研究样本,对上市公司治理特征与内部控制信息披露之间关系进行了验证分析,从而发现影响上市公司内部控制信息披露程度的决定性因素。研究表明：上市公司设置审计委员会、统计年度、公司规模、上市地点等因素对内部控制信息披露程度有显著影响;同时还对公司内部控制信息的提供者与监管者提出了建议。     

上市公司内部控制信息披露影响因素研究——基于农业类上市公司数据

本文以沪市涉农上市公司为样本,从公司治理结构和基本特征方面分析了上市公司内部控制信息披露的影响因素。研究发现：控股股东性质和股权集中度与内部控制信息披露质量正相关,管理层持股对内部控制信息披露质量负相关,但该三因素的影响均不显著;社会责任报告、盈利能力、负债比例和公司成长性对内部控制信息披露质量显著正相关,公司规模与内部控制信息披露质量显著负相关。     

信息披露质量与债务成本——来自中国证券市场的经验证据

以深圳证券市场部分A股上市公司为样本,研究了我国上市公司信息披露质量与企业债务成本之同的关系.研究发现,样本公司的债务成本与信息披露质量之间存在显著的负相关关系,也即信息披露质量越高,债务成本越低,而且这一结果是稳健的.此外,企业的市场风险越大,信息披露质量对债务成本的影响程度就越大.     

企业社会责任信息披露与公司特征关系研究——基于北京上市公司的分析

上市公司社会责任信息披露与公司特征之间存在着密切关系.本文选取北京地区上市公司社会责任信息披露的相关内容进行研究,发现公司规模、行业属性、国家控股与否、资产负债比率等特征与社会责任信息披露显著相关,而获利能力与其相关性不显著.     

上市公司信息披露质量对股东权益及市场价值影响的实证分析

信息披露是投资者了解上市公司经营效果的重要渠道,信息披露质量对投资人投资行为及收益具有重要影响。本文选取2009年资产重组的上市公司为研究样本,分析了信息披露质量与股东权益和市场价值之间的关系。结果显示,上市公司信息披露质量与股东权益和公司市场价值无显著相关关系。     

董事会特征与企业自愿信息披露

董事会作为公司治理结构的重要组成部分,是公司内部重要的决策机构,不同董事会特征对自愿信息披露的影响程度不同.本文对董事会特征与上市公司自愿信息披露水平之间的相关关系进行了实证研究.研究结果表明,董事会规模、董事会中独立董事的比例、独立董事亲自参加董事会的频率、董事会会议频率等都与自愿信息披露水平显著正相关,而董事长与CEO是否两职合一、董事会成员持股比例与自愿信息披露水平相关关系不明显.     

The Relationship between Voluntary Disclosure and Independent Directors in the Presence of a Dominant Shareholder

Abstract

Differently from prior studies that examine the role of stand-alone control systems within the relationship between owners and managers, our study investigates the correlation between two control mechanisms – voluntary disclosure and independent directors – in companies characterized by the presence of a dominant shareholder that is supposed to mitigate the classical agency problem. Based on agency theory, we hypothesize that the two mechanisms tend to coexist, since the presence of either one reduces the costs of introducing the other. Two further effects – the reputation and the domino effect – contribute to determine a positive relationship between the two mechanisms. We carried out the empirical analysis on 175 non-financial Italian listed companies, all controlled by a dominant shareholder. Voluntary disclosure is measured through three alternative disclosure indexes. Independent directors are identified not only according to a formal/legal definition, but also through stricter criteria. The empirical test is based on a multivariate analysis controlling for size, residual ownership diffusion, leverage, profitability and labour pressure. Results support our hypothesis and are robust to alternative criteria to identify dominant shareholders. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between different control mechanisms in particular agency settings.     

The Association between Board Composition and Different Types of Voluntary Disclosure

Abstract

This study examines the association between board composition and voluntary disclosure in annual reports. In particular, it addresses the incentives within the agency theory framework for both inside and independent directors to disclosure additional information voluntarily. Further, it provides evidence on the relation between the overall total voluntary disclosure and the components of voluntary disclosure, such as forward looking, strategic, non-financial and historical financial disclosures and board composition. Our sample is based on 181 Australian companies. We have developed and hand-collected 67 items from annual reports to develop the total voluntary disclosure index and the sub-indices of voluntary disclosure. Using two-stage multivariate analyses, our results provide some important insights. First, we find that there is a positive association between board composition and the voluntary disclosure of information in annual reports. Second, we also find that independent boards provide more voluntary disclosure of forward looking information and strategic information. However, board structure has no bearing on the voluntary disclosure of non-financial and historical financial information. Our findings are enhanced by different empirical specifications and sensitivity tests.     

Carbon disclosure: A legitimizing tool or a governance tool? Evidence from listed US companies

We study the motivations behind and consequences of firms disclosing carbon information. Specifically, we explain the bidirectional relationship between carbon disclosure and carbon performance and examine whether carbon disclosure is used as a legitimizing tool or a governance tool. We analyze carbon emissions and disclosure data from 2012 to 2015 for a sample of S&P 500 companies. After addressing issues of endogeneity, our findings support legitimacy theory and suggest that firms tend to greenwash carbon information and use carbon disclosure as a legitimizing tool. In particular, managers strategically select particular types of carbon information to disclose to the public. Our findings also indicate that firms in low-carbon sectors tend to use disclosure as a governance tool rather than a legitimizing tool, suggesting that firms in high carbon intensity sectors are likely to face serious legitimacy anxiety, and have stronger reasons to manage their green image. Implications of our empirical evidence for managers, investors, and policymakers are explored.     

Water disclosure and firm risk: Empirical evidence from highly water‐sensitive industries in China

In this paper, we examine the relationship between water disclosure and firm risk. Specifically, based upon a panel dataset of 334 Chinese listed firms operating in highly water‐sensitive industries during 2010–2015, we use regression models to analyze the relationships between water disclosure and three types of firm risk (i.e., total risk, systematic risk, and idiosyncratic risk) and the moderating effects of media coverage on these relationships. Our empirical results show that (a) although there are no significant relationships between water disclosure and total risk and idiosyncratic risk, there is a significant negative relationship between water disclosure and systematic risk; (b) negative media coverage weakens the negative relationship between water disclosure and systematic risk, whereas nonnegative media coverage reinforces this negative relationship. Our cornerstone study examines the effect of a specific type of environmental disclosure (i.e., water disclosure) on firm risk, and our empirical findings are different from previous studies, which examined the effects of overall corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure on firm risk. We analyze the causes of the differences in detail. With this study, we make theoretical, empirical, and managerial contributions to CSR disclosure–firm risk research in business ethics literature.     

基于会计目标的“事项会计”

信息技术已经给社会、经济带来了巨大的变化,“决策有用观“普遍被人们所接受,但构筑于价值法基础上的财务会计强调货币计量和报表揭示,只能履行受托责任。信息需求的多样性已经完全超出了现行会计界定的范围,也超出了现行会计信息的容量。本文从会计目标与“事项会计“的关系入手进行了分析,认为只有事项会计才能实现“委托责任观“与“决策有用观“的统一。     

Corporate climate-related voluntary disclosures: Does potential greenwash exist among Australian high emitters reports?

This study examines the issue of greenwashing among corporate high emitters subject to government scrutiny. To do so, we investigate the relationship between the actual environmental performance, measured as carbon emissions, of companies subject to the Australian National Greenhouse Energy Reporting Act 2007 (NGER) and their climate-related voluntary disclosures. To measure climate-related disclosure, we construct a climate-related disclosure index based on four prominent frameworks and score corporate report content against that Index. Using a sample of 150 companies with NGER emissions data for Years 2016 and 2017, a period that precedes the issuance of recommendations for disclosure by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), our regression results show a disappointingly low level of climate-related disclosure by most companies. We also find a negative relationship between climate-related disclosure and 1-year lagged environmental performance among companies exhibiting a year-on-year rise in carbon emissions. That is, our findings provide evidence of potential greenwashing by poor environmental performers, presumably to change negative perceptions by stakeholders, as predicted by socio-political theories. In contrast, we find no evidence of greenwashing among companies experiencing a year-on-year decrease in emissions.     

非对称信息下我国企业社会责任信息披露策略研究

当前民生事件频发,公众越来越关注企业承担的社会责任,并要求其披露社会责任信息报告。企业在履行对社会的责任的同时也愿意披露相关信息,但由于信息不对称情况的存在,造成公司经营成本的增加。本文以非对称信息为前提,归纳总结了社会责任披露与公司经营成本之间的关系,并指出了我国企业社会责任信息披露的现状及存在的问题、分析其形成的原因。在此基础之上,积极探索完善责任信息披露的方法和途径,为企业合理披露责任信息以实现持续发展提供理论建议。     

The Impact of Business Strategies on Online Sustainability Disclosures

With increasing attention being paid to corporate sustainability, pressure from stakeholders, especially customers, is forcing companies to implement sustainability strategies and practices that express their commitment to sustainable development, and engage with stakeholders through voluntary sustainability disclosure. To better understand the sustainability disclosure mechanisms from a business strategy perspective, this study investigates the influence of business strategy, formulated by customer groups, on online sustainability disclosure. It provides empirical observation of Malaysian public‐listed companies based on the combined lens of stakeholder and legitimacy theory. Despite the comparatively low level of corporate sustainability disclosure in Malaysia, this content analysis of online sustainability information disclosure reveals that the companies with more diversified product lines disclose more sustainability information, and that the corporate sustainability effort is significantly related to brand name. Hence, companies should be encouraged to proactively improve their sustainability performance and disclose more sustainability information in order to strengthen their brand names. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

企业社会责任报告语调与分析师预测：信号还是迎合？

运用文本分析方法提取了2010—2018年上市公司社会责任报告的文本语调信息，基于信号理论和迎合理论探讨企业社会责任报告语调对分析师预测的影响。研究发现，企业社会责任报告的净正面语调降低了分析师预测偏差和分析师预测分歧度，并且在分析师预测存在乐观偏差时这种作用更加显著。进一步分析发现，企业社会责任报告语调对分析师预测的积极作用仅发生在强制披露和不遵守可持续发展报告指南的企业中以及经验较少、非明星分析师中。经济后果检验发现，社会责任报告语调通过降低分析师预测偏差和分歧度缓解了公司股价崩盘风险。研究结论不仅有助于丰富非财务信息披露经济后果和分析师预测影响因素两个领域的学术文献，而且可以为监管部门合理规范企业社会责任报告披露和投资者有效利用企业社会责任报告中的语调信息提供有益借鉴。     

政治关联、信息披露质量与债务融资成本

以2007年至2012年深圳证券交易所A股主板上市公司为研究对象,采用深交所公布的信息披露考评结果作为信息披露质量的代理变量,实证检验政治关联、信息披露质量和债务融资成本之间的关系,结果显示:企业信息披露质量的提升能够显著降低其债务融资成本;政治关联的存在削弱了企业信息披露质量与其债务融资成本之间的相关性。