Does corporate social responsibility disclosure improve firm investment efficiency?

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ma Zhong ◽  
Lucia Gao

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure on firm-level investment efficiency. Design/methodology/approach An econometric model is used to estimate the impact of CSR reporting on investment efficiency on a sample of listed Chinese firms during the period from 2010 to 2013. Financial reporting quality is included in the model as a control variable. Investment efficiency is estimated based on existing models. Two scenarios are identified: under-investment and over-investment. Findings The results provide evidence of a higher level of investment efficiency for CSR reporting firms than for non-reporting firms. This relationship is, however, more pronounced in the over-investment scenario than in the under-investment scenario. In addition, the association between CSR disclosure and investment efficiency is stronger for firms with lower financial reporting quality (FRQ). These findings support the hypothesis that CSR disclosure provides effective incremental information that contributes to reduce information asymmetry and promote investment efficiency. Originality/value This is the first paper that directly tests the association between CSR disclosure and firm-level investment efficiency. The results suggest that firms and investors should consider the effect of CSR disclosure on information asymmetry and its impact on the availability and cost of capital. This work also contributes to the understanding of the economic impacts of CSR disclosure and provides arguments for regulatory entities to enforce CSR disclosure.

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faisal Shahzad ◽  
Ijaz Ur Rehman ◽  
Sisira Colombage ◽  
Faisal Nawaz

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of two monitoring mechanisms: family ownership (FO) and financial reporting quality (FRQ) on investment efficiency (IE) over the period of 2007–2014 for listed firms on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. Design/methodology/approach The authors employ two-dimensional pooled OLS cluster at the firm and year level, two-stage least square regression and feasible generalized lease square regression regression methods. Findings The findings suggest that higher FRQ and FO are associated with higher IE. Further, the authors report that higher FRQ and FO mitigate over- and under-investment. The impact of FRQ on IE is stronger (weaker) for family-controlled businesses. The results for these particular estimates are robust for alternative estimation techniques and measures of FRQ and FO. Originality/value The study draws on both agency and behavioral agency theories and therefore contributes to the literature in the following ways. First, the authors examine a relationship between FRQ and IE. Second, the authors test the impact of FO on IE. Third, the authors test the moderating impact of FO on the relationship between FRQ and the IE of family and non-family firms in relatively less regulated emerging market.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kahkashan Mahmood ◽  
Yasser Barghathi ◽  
Alhashmi Aboubaker Lasyoud

Purpose For investors to wholeheartedly entrust their finances to the supposed executives, there is the need to set up policies to checkmate the excesses of such executives, hence clawback policy. This study aims to explore the perceptions of professionals regarding the impact of clawback provisions on earnings management (EM) and financial reporting quality in the context of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach The application of a qualitative approach in an EM is of great significance in this study. For convenience, perceptions of the professionals were collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews, internet forums and telephone conversations from which the data were initially transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings The findings of the study indicate that clawbacks will have a significant impact on EM and financial reporting quality, and apart from this, other firm-level factors have also been supporting clawbacks. Practical implications EM has been a widespread practice; this research may potentially assist directors and regulatory bodies to comprehend factors that should be considered to reduce it. It may also provide practical insights from professionals regarding clawbacks and their bearing on EM and the quality of financial information from an emerging economy perspective. Originality/value A significant gap in the contemporary literature regarding the impact of clawback provisions on EM and financial reporting quality has been filed by this work, in the context of the UAE economy. Consequently, it provides a great insight into the effect of clawback in a business setting and how it can help checkmate the excesses of company executives.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Consuelo Pucheta-Martínez ◽  
Inmaculada Bel-Oms ◽  
Gustau Olcina-Sempere

Purpose Companies, politicians, the mass media, legislators, scholars and society in general have shown a growing interest in how board gender diversity affects a firm’s decisions. This concept has been developed because some nations have introduced voluntary policies to regulate and increase the proportion of female directors on corporate boards. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to review previous research based on board gender diversity as a corporate governance mechanism and its effect on some firms’ business decisions: financial reporting quality (FRQ), firm performance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. Design/methodology/approach The authors focus on the agency and stakeholder theory to examine the link between female directors on boards and FRQ, CSR disclosure and firm performance. Findings This review provides researchers a structure that can identify the benefits and disadvantages of including female directors on boards regarding three particular corporate outcomes (FRQ, firm performance and CSR reporting). Originality/value This study provides a review of past literature on firm performance, CSR disclosure and FRQ from 1975 to 2017, and it contributes to past research by giving a broad overview of the main results of the association between female board directors and corporate decisions. The findings have implications for governments, academics and company managers.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asma Houcine ◽  
Mouna Zitouni ◽  
Samir Srairi

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether Financial Reporting Quality (FRQ), Corporate Governance and IFRS affect investment efficiency of French listed companies.Design/methodology/approachBased on a sample of 125 French firms listed on the CAC All Tradable index between 2008 and 2017, the study uses Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) regressions to examine the relationship between FRQ and firms' investment efficiency.FindingsThe findings show that FRQ plays a role in reducing overinvestment and does not affect underinvestment, suggesting that in a code-law country, informal and personal relationships tend to replace the role of financial reports in mitigating information asymmetry. The results also reveal that the relationship between FRQ and investment efficiency increases with better corporate governance and with the implementation of IFRS. However, the results provide no evidence between incentives to minimize profits for tax purposes and firms' underinvestment and continues to be negative for overinvesting companies that have more incentives to manage their earnings for tax purposes.Research limitations/implicationsOur study has some limitations. First, we only examine listed firms, so the results cannot be generalized to unlisted companies that represent the vast majority of French economic activity. Second, this research does not distinguish between government companies and private companies. The two types of companies have different governance mechanisms, financial reporting, disclosure environment and concentration of ownership.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that in a code-law country with weak investor protection, FRQ acts as a governance mechanism by mitigating asymmetric information and improving firms' investment decisions.Originality/valueThe relationship between FRQ and investment efficiency has been widely examined for companies in “common law” countries. This study extends the scarce evidence of this relation to companies in a code-law country. It also builds on previous research by introducing new factors never discussed before that could change this relationship, namely corporate governance, IFRS implementation and tax purposes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faisal Shahzad ◽  
Ijaz Ur Rehman ◽  
Waqas Hanif ◽  
Ghazanfar Ali Asim ◽  
Mushahid Hussain Baig

Purpose This study aims to empirically investigate the effect of financial reporting quality (FRQ) and audit quality (AQ) on the investment efficiency (IE) for the firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange during the period 2007-2014. Design/methodology The authors use pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) regression which cluster at the firm and year level to test the hypotheses. For sensitivity check, the authors also account for reverse causality and cross-sectional dependence by using the GMM and FGLS regression methods. Furthermore, the authors built their theoretical arguments based on alignment hypothesis of the agency theory and resource-based view of the firm. Findings The findings suggest that higher FRQ and AQ are associated with higher IE. The results for these particular estimates are robust when tested using alternative estimation techniques. Overall, the outcomes of this study are in line with the arguments presented by the alignment hypothesis of the agency theory and resource-based view of the firm. Practical implications This study is fruitful for policymakers’ and investors. This study finds that the audit done by the Big 4 also reduces the information gap and, thus, reduces the moral hazard and adverse selection problems, thereby enhancing the IE. Originality The authors extend the debate on determinates of IE and highlight two monitoring mechanisms: FRQ and AQ. The authors further extend the literature on the economic consequences of AQ in terms of IE, as proposed by Francis (2011). For the first time, this study investigates the impact of AQ on IE in a setting where minority shareholder risk of exploitation is high relative to other markets in Asia.


Author(s):  
Yi-Hung Lin ◽  
Hua-Wei (Solomon) Huang ◽  
Mark E. Riley ◽  
Chih-Chen Lee

We find a negative relationship between aggregate CSR scores and the probability that firms restated financial statements over the period 1991-2012. We then break that period into three sub-periods in order to determine whether the relationship holds for all three sub-periods. During the sub-periods of 1991-2001 and 2002-2005, the negative CSR score - restatement probability relationship holds. The negative relationship disappears in the 2006-2012 sub-period. Additional analyses indicate CSR scores are significantly higher in the 2006-2012 sub-period, suggesting the disappearance of the relationship between aggregate CSR scores and financial statement quality may relate to changes in CSR assessments and the CSR reporting environment. Our findings update the literature linking CSR scores and financial reporting quality and identify the need for further research as to the reasons the link between these constructs disappeared.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanh Thi Song Pham ◽  
Hien Thi Tran

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effects of board model and board independence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure of multinational corporations (MNCs). Design/methodology/approach The authors developed an empirical model in which CSR disclosure is the dependent variable and board model (two-tier vs one-tier), board independence (a proportion of independent directors on a board) and the interaction variable of board model and board independence together with several variables conventionally used as control variables are independent variables. The authors collated the panel dataset of 244 Fortune World’s Most Admired (FWMA) corporations from 2005 to 2011 of which 117 MNCs use the one-tier board model, and 127 MNCs use the two-tier board model from 20 countries. They used the random-effect regression method to estimate the empirical models with the data they collated and also ran regressions on the alternative models for robustness check. Findings The authors found a significantly positive effect of a board model on CSR disclosure by MNCs. Two-tier MNCs tend to reveal more CSR information than one-tier MNCs. The results also confirm the significant moderating impact of board model on the effect of board independence on CSR disclosure. The effect of board independence on CSR disclosure in the two-tier board MNCs tends to be higher than that in the one-tier board MNCs. The results do not support the effect of board independence on CSR disclosure in general for all types of firms (one-tier and two-tier board). The impact of board independence on CSR disclosure is only significant in two-tier board MNCs and insignificant in one-tier board MNCs. Practical implications The authors advise the MNCs who wish to improve CSR reporting and transparency to consider the usage of two-tier board model and use a higher number of outside directors on board. They note that once a firm uses one-tier model, number of IDs on a board does not matter to the level of CSR disclosure. They advise regulators to enforce an application of two-tier board model to improve CSR reporting and transparency in MNCs. The authors also recommend regulators to continue mandating publicly traded companies to include more external members on their boards, especially for the two-tier board MNCs. Originality/value This paper is the first that investigates the role of board model on CSR disclosure of MNCs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen Thi Tran ◽  
Nguyen Phong Nguyen ◽  
Trang Cam Hoang

Purpose By drawing on the institutional theory and contingency theory, this study aims to examine the effects of leadership and accounting capacity on the quality of financial reporting and accountability of public organisations in Vietnam. Furthermore, this paper is to determine the impact of financial reporting quality on accountability. Design/methodology/approach The research model and hypotheses have been tested by partial least squares structural equation modeling, with 177 survey samples obtained from accountants and managers working in the public sector in Vietnam. Findings The research results indicate that leadership and accounting capacity have a positive effect on financial reporting quality; leadership and accounting capacity positively influence accountability; and the quality of financial reporting has a positive impact on accountability. Research limitations/implications The research results provide empirical evidence of the direct impact of leadership and accounting capacity on financial reporting quality and accountability of public organisations in a developing country. Moreover, the current work also provides important evidence for the impact of financial reporting quality on accountability. Practical implications Public sector organisations must realise that leadership and accounting capacity play a vital role in the accounting reform process. Public institutions likewise need to pay attention to develop accounting capacity and promote leadership. Moreover, the results respond to the continuing call for increased citizen trust in public organisations. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the chain from leadership, accounting capacity, financial reporting quality and accountability in the context of public sector organisations in an Asian transition market.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahsan Habib ◽  
Md. Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan ◽  
Mostafa Monzur Hasan

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on financial reporting quality and cost of equity. The paper further investigates whether such association varies at different life cycle stages. Design/methodology/approach This paper follows the methodologies of DeAngelo et al. (2006) and Dickinson (2011) to develop proxies for the firms’ stages in the life cycle. Findings Using both pre- and post-IFRS adoption period for Australian listed companies, the paper finds that financial reporting quality reduced and cost of equity increased because of the adoption of IFRS. The paper further evidences that financial reporting quality in the post-IFRS period increased cost of equity. Finally, the paper finds that mature firms produce a better quality of earnings, which result in lower cost of capital. The results indicate that a mature firm was benefited because of the adoption of IFRS. Originality/value The finding of this research is useful to the regulators and practitioners to understand the widespread benefit of IFRS adoption.


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