Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/323532 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Citation: 
[Journal:] Review of Accounting Studies [ISSN:] 1573-7136 [Volume:] 30 [Issue:] 2 [Publisher:] Springer US [Place:] New York, NY [Year:] 2024 [Pages:] 1804-1872
Publisher: 
Springer US, New York, NY
Abstract: 
We investigate whether firms that proclaim a commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) by CSR reporting indeed internalize such a commitment and behave more responsibly. We analyze the association of the issuance and quality of voluntary CSR reports with the occurrence, number, and severity of corporate misbehaviors, both preceding and subsequent to CSR reporting. We find a significantly positive association of CSR reporting with our measures of prior and future misbehavior. The results are corroborated by a quasi-natural experiment around the Rana Plaza disaster where we find that the signatories of an accord for better working conditions have significantly higher prior and future misbehavior relative to non-signatories and firms unaffected by the exogenous shock. Our results are in line with legitimacy theory implying that, on average, the firms’ proclaiming commitment to CSR is not a signal of internalized commitment but more likely serves greenwashing and impression management purposes.
Subjects: 
Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
Corporate misbehavior
CSR reporting
Real effects
Signaling theory
Legitimacy theory
JEL: 
G18
G32
K38
K42
M41
M48
Q01
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.