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Towards a theory of social responsibility reporting Empirical analysis of 613 CSR reports by listed corporations in China

Towards a theory of social responsibility reporting Empirical analysis of 613 CSR reports by... Purpose – Here, the paper aims to model major corporate characteristics associated with corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting (in particular, its quality). Corporations in China are increasingly expected by the public and government to be more socially responsible. As such, it will be intriguing to ask, what are the characteristics associated with higher quality CSR reporting? Design/methodology/approach – CSR report quality scores are hand‐gathered from HEXUN (web site) whilst financial and stock market information from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) database. A total of 613 CSR reports' quality scores were utilized (Rankins CSR ratings) in the process of developing the model. Reports are hand‐gathered from corporations listed on both the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges (SSE). Findings – The results suggest most interestingly, the quality of CSR report (mandatory) to be strongly, positively related with corporate financial characteristics: market capitalization (corporate size), shareholders' concentration of powers, corporate financial leverage (implying bondholders/debtors' influence). Surprisingly, CSR reporting is associated neither with corporate profitability nor by state‐ownership. The presence of independent directors (at least in China) seems to have negative influences. Practical implications – CSR reporting may easily be mandated by government through a regulatory process. However, this does not necessarily lead to reports of a high quality. Instead, orientation towards higher visibility in social responsibility for listed corporations is better explained by financial characteristics: market valuation, ownership and leverage. Originality/value – This paper utilizes for the first time, in‐depth and multi‐faceted quality CSR scores (overall, segregated into macro‐social, content and technology) for investigating CSR behavior of listed corporations in China. The findings suggest financial characteristics size (market valuation), ownership (shareholders' concentration of powers) and corporate leverage are better predictors of CSR behavior among listed corporations. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Chinese Management Studies Emerald Publishing

Towards a theory of social responsibility reporting Empirical analysis of 613 CSR reports by listed corporations in China

Yuanhui Li; Jie Zhang; Check‐Teck Foo
Chinese Management Studies , Volume 7 (4): 16 – Nov 15, 2013
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References (20)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1750-614X
DOI
10.1108/CMS-09-2013-0167
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – Here, the paper aims to model major corporate characteristics associated with corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting (in particular, its quality). Corporations in China are increasingly expected by the public and government to be more socially responsible. As such, it will be intriguing to ask, what are the characteristics associated with higher quality CSR reporting? Design/methodology/approach – CSR report quality scores are hand‐gathered from HEXUN (web site) whilst financial and stock market information from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) database. A total of 613 CSR reports' quality scores were utilized (Rankins CSR ratings) in the process of developing the model. Reports are hand‐gathered from corporations listed on both the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges (SSE). Findings – The results suggest most interestingly, the quality of CSR report (mandatory) to be strongly, positively related with corporate financial characteristics: market capitalization (corporate size), shareholders' concentration of powers, corporate financial leverage (implying bondholders/debtors' influence). Surprisingly, CSR reporting is associated neither with corporate profitability nor by state‐ownership. The presence of independent directors (at least in China) seems to have negative influences. Practical implications – CSR reporting may easily be mandated by government through a regulatory process. However, this does not necessarily lead to reports of a high quality. Instead, orientation towards higher visibility in social responsibility for listed corporations is better explained by financial characteristics: market valuation, ownership and leverage. Originality/value – This paper utilizes for the first time, in‐depth and multi‐faceted quality CSR scores (overall, segregated into macro‐social, content and technology) for investigating CSR behavior of listed corporations in China. The findings suggest financial characteristics size (market valuation), ownership (shareholders' concentration of powers) and corporate leverage are better predictors of CSR behavior among listed corporations.

Journal

Chinese Management Studies – Emerald Publishing

Published: Nov 15, 2013

Keywords: Corporate characteristics; Corporate social responsibility report; Mandatory disclosure

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