中外企业社会责任报告信息披露比较

本文通过对中国石油和壳牌石油2006~2009年度社会责任报告在形式和内容上的比较,分析了中外企业社会责任报告披露的异同之处,然后对改进我国企业社会责任报告披露提出了一些重要启示:统一社会责任报告的编制框架;完善利益相关方的参与和信息反馈机制;开展社会责任报告第三方审验;社会责任报告内容要体现平衡原则;选择适当的社会责任报告披露形式以提高披露的效果。     

Using corporate social responsibility performance to evaluate financial disclosure credibility

Due to the paucity of immediate and direct information about financial disclosure credibility, it is often difficult for investors to assess the credibility of financial disclosures (e.g. whether reported earnings are biased). Given this situation, the present study proposes and finds that investors use additional cues, such as information about corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, to form overall impressions about management's honesty, credibility, and trustworthiness. Similar to other findings in the halo effect literature, we find that these overall impressions subsequently influence both investors' assessments of financial disclosure credibility and the prices they are willing to pay for a company's stock. The findings support the theoretical framework on financial disclosure credibility by (1) showing that management credibility is an important tool that investors use to assess disclosure credibility and (2) suggesting that management credibility is a multidimensional latent construct for which CSR performance can be one of several relevant indicators.     

Determinants and consequences of voluntary corporate social responsibility disclosure: Evidence from private firms

We examine whether and how private firms differ from public firms in determining corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure policies. We document that private firms are less likely to issue CSR reports compared with their public peers. Adopting a bivariate probit model that accommodates partial observability, we find that the effect is mainly driven by a supply-side force rather than a demand-side force. From a debtholder-oriented perspective, while public firms enjoy more favorable credit ratings and a lower cost of debt due to CSR disclosure, private firms do not reap similar benefits from CSR disclosure. Corporate governance and CSR assurance alleviate debtholders' concern on private firms’ engagements in CSR.     

Corporate social responsibility assurance and reporting quality: Evidence from restatements

Previous research has shown that obtaining independent assurance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting has capital market benefits and that these benefits are amplified when accountants provide the assurance. Yet, little is known about whether and the manner in which CSR assurance improves the quality of CSR reporting, and whether accounting providers improve reporting quality to a greater extent than non-accounting providers. This study uses the unique setting of CSR restatements to examine these issues. We present theoretical and empirical evidence supporting a competitive advantage of using accounting firms as assurance providers as they not only identify inaccuracies in previous reports earlier than non-accounting providers, but also prevent future reporting inaccuracies. CSR assurance, from either type of provider, also leads to improved reporting definitions, scopes, and methodologies that require restatements for comparability. Results also indicate that CSR reporting frameworks (e.g., GRI) are not a substitute for obtaining CSR assurance as the latter has incremental benefits over GRI usage in terms of identifying errors and reporting improvements. These results have implications for public policy makers considering the merits of mandating CSR assurance and for organizations assessing the relative benefits and costs of preparing GRI-based CSR reports, obtaining CSR assurance, and choosing between accounting vs. non-accounting CSR assurance providers.     

Corporate social responsibility committees and the use of corporate social responsibility assurance services

This study examines whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) committees associate with the external assurance of CSR reports. Specifically, we consider the presence and effectiveness of CSR committees. Using a sample of Australian firms over the period 2004–2016, we show the mere presence of a CSR committee is not related to the external assurance of CSR. However, CSR committee effectiveness is positively related. In addition, firms with higher CSR committee effectiveness are more likely to seek external assurance provided by the Big4 accountancy firms and acquire financial audit and CSR assurance services from the same provider. Taken together, CSR committee effectiveness plays an active role in CSR assurance services. Our results are particularly relevant to those with interests in understanding the demand and choice of external CSR assurance services, as well as the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on these services.     

Corporate social responsibility and social capital

When corporations make an effort to be socially responsible beyond what is required by the law, this effort is often described as strategic—made mainly for the shareholders’ or managers’ benefit. A large body of literature corroborates this belief. But, could the incentives for corporate social responsibility (CSR) come from an altruistic inclination fostered by the social capital of the region in which the firm is headquartered? We investigate whether this phenomenon exists by examining the association between the social capital in the region and the firm’s CSR. We find that a firm from a high social capital region exhibits higher CSR. This result suggests that the self-interest of shareholders or mangers does not explain all of the firm’s CSR, but the altruistic inclination from the region might also play a role.     

Corporate social responsibility and financial fraud: evidence from China

This paper investigates the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate financial fraud in China. We find that CSR scores are negatively associated with fraudulent financial activities, suggesting that CSR firms are less likely to engage in financial fraud. The results also indicate that the negative relation is more significant for CSR performance than CSR disclosure. Additionally, we demonstrate that the negative effect of CSR is more pronounced for firms with voluntary CSR practices, continuous CSR engagements, financial pressure and internal control weaknesses. Overall, we find that CSR is an ethical behaviour that reduces financial misconduct.     

Corporate social responsibility and dividend policy

This study outlines and tests two corporate social responsibility (CSR) views of dividends. The first view argues that firms are likely to pay fewer dividends because CSR activities lower the cost of equity, encouraging firms to invest or hoard cash rather than to pay dividends. The second view suggests that CSR activities are positive NPV projects that increases earnings and hence dividend payouts. The first (second) view predicts that firms with a stronger involvement in CSR activities should be associated with a lower (higher) dividend payouts. The finding supports the second view and is robust.     

The institutionalisation of corporate social responsibility reporting

This study examines corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR) structures through a comparison of the disclosures in two countries with different social issues. The analysis is guided by a focus on the legitimisation offered by isomorphism. We compare the 2007 annual report and website (including standalone report) CSRR of a matched sample of 18 Australian and 18 South African mining companies. Among the 30 comparisons of disclosure patterns, 29 show no difference. We also provide examples of specific disclosures that show a remarkable level of similarity in CSRR and in the CSRR management structures adopted in the two countries. Our findings show similar overall patterns of CSRR in diverse settings, while differences in CSRR content at a more detailed level remain. For example, companies refer to the applicable national regulations and rules; as well as to their specific local communities. These findings provide evidence that the same reporting templates are used in CSRR globally. There is evidence to suggest that CSRR is institutionalised through professionalization and other means, suggesting a need to interpret CSRR characteristics and patterns as a reflection of global CSRR templates. Management intent or company-specific characteristics, such as social and environmental performance, do not necessarily drive CSRR patterns.     

Corporate social responsibility and corporate tax avoidance: The channel effect of consumer awareness

This paper investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate tax avoidance and the impact of consumer awareness on the constructs. We show that consumer awareness has the effect of decreasing the positive relation between CSR ratings and tax avoidance levels. Our findings are robust to various measures of our constructs. Collectively, the findings of this study lend credence to the risk-management view of CSR and demonstrate that consumer awareness acts as a behavioral intervention and governance mechanism to help mitigate corporate hypocrisy.     

Mandatory corporate social responsibility disclosure and dividend payouts: evidence from a quasi‐natural experiment

Employing the enactment of a regulation that mandates a subset of firms to disclose their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities as a quasi‐natural experiment, we find that mandatory CSR disclosure reduces firms’ dividend payouts significantly. Further analyses indicate that the negative relation is more pronounced for firms with weaker corporate governance mechanisms, where shareholders lack of effective tools to protect themselves against pressures from stakeholders, and a shift of relative power towards stakeholders is more likely to occur. Our paper provides a specific channel through which mandatory CSR disclosure benefits stakeholders at the expense of shareholders.     

Corporate social responsibility and the assessment by auditors of the risk of material misstatement

This paper investigates whether, and how, firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance influences the auditor's assessment of the risk of material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, at the financial statement level by analysing their pricing decision (i.e., audit fees). Using a panel data set of 12,330 firms from 28 countries over the period 2003–2012 and different measures of CSR performance, we find a U‐shaped relationship between firms’ CSR performance and audit fees. This result suggests that there is an optimal level of CSR performance that minimizes the auditor's assessment of the risk of material misstatement, which in turn lowers the need for greater auditor effort; that is why auditors charge firms significantly less when their CSR performance is at the optimal level. Finally, we also show that the optimal level of CSR performance varies with the degree of environmental dynamism, ownership concentration and leverage.     

Mandatory CSR disclosure,monitoring and investment efficiency: evidence from China

This study investigates the effect of mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure on firms’ investment efficiency in China. Using the CSR regulation that mandates a group of listed firms to disclose stand‐alone CSR reports after 2008 as a natural experiment, we find that firms subject to the mandatory CSR regulation have decreased investment inefficiency subsequent to the mandate, especially in cases of overinvestment. This effect is more pronounced for firms with a control‐ownership wedge, state‐owned enterprises (SOEs), and firms having lower institutional ownership. Further analyses find that the reduction of overinvestment is much more significant in industries with high pollution and that the reduction in investment is not due to the CSR spending siphoning off capital used in other projects. We argue that mandatory corporate social responsibility disclosure improves monitoring over firms in China, especially when firms are characterised as having severe agency problems.     

Corporate social responsibility and litigation risk: Evidence from securities class action lawsuits

This study examines whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) is associated with the likelihood and outcomes of securities class action lawsuits. We find a lower likelihood of securities litigation for firms with higher CSR. This effect is larger for companies with lower levels of financial distress, companies with larger proportions of institutional investors, and for internal CSR. Additionally, CSR has a mitigating effect on negative market assessments around the filing dates of securities litigation. The results suggest that higher CSR firms are less likely to engage in financial misconduct, and investors are less likely to penalise them for such occurrences.     

企业社会责任信息披露指标体系的构建

社会责任越来越受到经济社会的重视,如何计量和报告企业所承担的社会责任情况,成为了会计学科里一个新的研究热点,在分析和比较国外社会责任信息披露现状的基础上,结合国内的实际情况,参考了全球报告倡议组织（GRI）评价体系,试图从经济、社会、环境三个角度出发,分为六大类二十七小类构建出适合我国国情的企业社会责任信息披露指标体系。     

Corporate social responsibility and dividend policy

Using a sample of 22,839 US firm-year observations over the 1991–2012 period, we find that high CSR firms pay more dividends than low CSR firms. The analysis of individual components of CSR provides strong support for this main finding: five of the six individual dimensions are also associated with high dividend payout. When analyzing the stability of dividend payout, our results show that socially irresponsible firms adjust dividends more rapidly than socially responsible firms do: dividend payout is more stable in high CSR firms. These findings are robust to alternative assumptions and model specifications, alternative measures of dividend, additional control, and several approaches to address endogeneity. Overall, our results are consistent with the expectation that high CSR firms may use dividend policy to manage the agency problems related to overinvestment in CSR.     

Auditor selection and corporate social responsibility

This study examines the association between the selection of an industry‐specialist auditor and corporate social responsibility (CSR). We find that firms with higher CSR ratings are more likely to hire industry‐specialist auditors (national‐level industry leaders, city‐level industry leaders or joint city‐national industry leaders). Moreover, firms with better CSR performance related to product quality and the environment in controversial industries are found to select non‐specialized auditors. The results suggest that such firms may overinvest in CSR activities associated with the environment and product issues to disguise the sin nature of their manufactured goods, and simultaneously engage low quality auditors perhaps to avoid full disclosure of potential environmental and legal liabilities. Overall, we conclude that CSR is associated with the non‐controversial firms ensuring high quality financial reporting in response to societal expectations, and thus CSR firms in such industries have strong incentives to engage industry‐specialist auditors.     

An ongoing journey of corporate social responsibility

The purpose of the following discussion is to consider how a progressive multinational corporation constrained by the demands of global market capitalism responds to the maelstrom of corporate responsibility. Employing a normative framework for considering corporate responsibility, a case study of Intel Corporation is undertaken that identifies the meaning and operationalization of corporate responsibility and its various dimensions. The process is followed over time through various responsibility centers. While corporate responsibility is important, it is always viewed through the fiscal viability dimension of the maelstrom. The business case dominates the representation and operationalization of corporate responsibility. Due to the increased public sensitivity to corporate responsibility, the attitude has evolved from one of unnecessary intrusion, through a proactive, operations focus, to a compliance based one residing within shareholder relations and legal.     

Voluntary CSR disclosure,institutional environment,and independent audit demand

Using a sample of A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, this study examines the impact of voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure on independent audit demand in different institutional environments. The sample covers the 2008–2016 period and excludes firms that are required to disclose CSR information. The findings show that compared with companies that choose to not disclose such information, companies that voluntarily disclose CSR information prefer to employ “small” accounting firms for auditing services, although the auditing fees are much higher. However, as the institutional environment improves, this preference is weakened. Further analyses show that this preference is stronger in enterprises where CSR disclosure is driven by strong political motivations and managerial self-interest motivations. Legitimate motivations and economic motivations do not significantly impact the preference for “small” audit firms. Furthermore, this preference is more obvious in enterprises with poor operational performance and low information disclosure quality, and it increases as CSR disclosure level decreases. The study enriches our understanding of the economic consequences of voluntary CSR disclosure and the factors that influence independent audit demand. The results also have implications for the construction and regulation of China’s system for supervising CSR information disclosure in the transitional phase.     

The real effects of stock prices: learning,disclosure and corporate social responsibility

This paper develops a tractable model to study the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on real decisions (i.e., production and disclosure decisions) of a firm which can learn from the stock price. Firms with high CSR disclose more precise information, improving the stock liquidity and price efficiency, which also benefit liquidity traders and consumers. Interventions by regulators in firms’ disclosure decisions, such as mandatory disclosure, can improve social welfare, but their effectiveness depends on the degree of CSR. We also discuss the implications of learning from the price.