IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v26y2019i2p367-376.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Institutional transitions and the role of financial performance in CSR reporting

Author

Listed:
  • Weizhang Sun
  • Chunguang Zhao
  • Charles H. Cho

Abstract

While many extant studies focus on the relation between financial performance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, less attention has been given to the shifting role of financial performance in CSR reporting in a changing institutional environment. The objective of this study is to investigate whether, why, and how institutional transitions affect the role of financial performance in CSR reporting. Using samples of A‐share listed companies from 2008 to 2015, we separately examine the impacts of institutional transitions on firms' propensity to issue standalone CSR reports, the quality of voluntary CSR reports, and the quality of mandatory CSR reports. We find that financial performance buffers against external pressures brought by institutional transitions rather than only serving as a slack resource. By highlighting the buffer role of financial performance, our study provides deeper insights on the relation between financial performance and CSR reporting and contributes to extant institutional research on CSR reporting.

Suggested Citation

  • Weizhang Sun & Chunguang Zhao & Charles H. Cho, 2019. "Institutional transitions and the role of financial performance in CSR reporting," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(2), pages 367-376, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:26:y:2019:i:2:p:367-376
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.1688
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1688
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.1688?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra A. Waddock & Samuel B. Graves, 1997. "The Corporate Social Performance–Financial Performance Link," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 303-319, April.
    2. Hsiang-Lin Chih & Hsiang-Hsuan Chih & Tzu-Yin Chen, 2010. "On the Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility: International Evidence on the Financial Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 115-135, April.
    3. Barbara Wisse & Rob Eijbergen & Eric F. Rietzschel & Susanne Scheibe, 2018. "Catering to the Needs of an Aging Workforce: The Role of Employee Age in the Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Satisfaction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(4), pages 875-888, February.
    4. Haniffa, R.M. & Cooke, T.E., 2005. "The impact of culture and governance on corporate social reporting," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 391-430.
    5. Wu, Meng-Wen & Shen, Chung-Hua, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility in the banking industry: Motives and financial performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3529-3547.
    6. Nerissa C. Brown & Theodore E. Christensen & W. Brooke Elliott & Richard D. Mergenthaler, 2012. "Investor Sentiment and Pro Forma Earnings Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 1-40, March.
    7. Abhinav Gupta & Forrest Briscoe & Donald C. Hambrick, 2017. "Red, blue, and purple firms: Organizational political ideology and corporate social responsibility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(5), pages 1018-1040, May.
    8. Denis Cormier & Michel Magnan & Barbara Van Velthoven, 2005. "Environmental disclosure quality in large German companies: Economic incentives, public pressures or institutional conditions?," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 3-39.
    9. Lys, Thomas & Naughton, James P. & Wang, Clare, 2015. "Signaling through corporate accountability reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 56-72.
    10. Torbjörn Tagesson & Veronica Blank & Pernilla Broberg & Sven‐Olof Collin, 2009. "What explains the extent and content of social and environmental disclosures on corporate websites: a study of social and environmental reporting in Swedish listed corporations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(6), pages 352-364, November.
    11. S. Lim & Z. Matolcsy & D. Chow, 2007. "The Association between Board Composition and Different Types of Voluntary Disclosure," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 555-583.
    12. Cho, Charles H. & Laine, Matias & Roberts, Robin W. & Rodrigue, Michelle, 2015. "Organized hypocrisy, organizational façades, and sustainability reporting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 78-94.
    13. Qiu, Yan & Shaukat, Amama & Tharyan, Rajesh, 2016. "Environmental and social disclosures: Link with corporate financial performance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 102-116.
    14. Li, Hongbin & Zhou, Li-An, 2005. "Political turnover and economic performance: the incentive role of personnel control in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(9-10), pages 1743-1762, September.
    15. Johan Graafland, 2018. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility Put Reputation at Risk by Inviting Activist Targeting? An Empirical Test among European SMEs," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(1), pages 1-13, January.
    16. Kerstin Lopatta & Reemda Jaeschke & Chen Chen, 2017. "Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Performance: International Evidence," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(3), pages 199-209, May.
    17. Scott J. Callan & Janet M. Thomas, 2011. "Executive compensation, corporate social responsibility, and corporate financial performance: a multi‐equation framework," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(6), pages 332-351, November.
    18. Wong, T. J., 2016. "Corporate Governance Research on Listed Firms in China: Institutions, Governance and Accountability," Foundations and Trends(R) in Accounting, now publishers, vol. 9(4), pages 259-326, March.
    19. Dongyong Zhang & Stephen Morse & Uma Kambhamptati & Bingjun Li, 2014. "Evolving Corporate Social Responsibility in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-20, November.
    20. Erin M. Reid & Michael W. Toffel, 2009. "Responding to public and private politics: corporate disclosure of climate change strategies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(11), pages 1157-1178, November.
    21. X. Meng & S. Zeng & C. Tam, 2013. "From Voluntarism to Regulation: A Study on Ownership, Economic Performance and Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 217-232, August.
    22. Erin Marie Reid & Michael W. Toffel, 2008. "Responding to Public and Private Politics: Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Strategies," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-019, Harvard Business School, revised Jun 2009.
    23. Caroline Flammer, 2015. "Does product market competition foster corporate social responsibility? Evidence from trade liberalization," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(10), pages 1469-1485, October.
    24. Contrafatto, Massimo, 2014. "The institutionalization of social and environmental reporting: An Italian narrative," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 414-432.
    25. Christopher Marquis & Cuili Qian, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in China: Symbol or Substance?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 127-148, February.
    26. Nittai K. Bergman & Sugata Roychowdhury, 2008. "Investor Sentiment and Corporate Disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5), pages 1057-1083, December.
    27. Roberts, Robin W., 1992. "Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure: An application of stakeholder theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 17(6), pages 595-612, August.
    28. Chen, Yi-Chun & Hung, Mingyi & Wang, Yongxiang, 2018. "The effect of mandatory CSR disclosure on firm profitability and social externalities: Evidence from China," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 169-190.
    29. Eduardo Ortas & Isabel Gallego‐Alvarez & Igor Álvarez Etxeberria, 2015. "Financial Factors Influencing the Quality of Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management Disclosure: A Quantile Regression Approach," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(6), pages 362-380, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nguyen Hoang Tien & Dinh Ba Hung Anh & Nguyen Minh Ngoc, 2020. "Corporate financial performance due to sustainable development in Vietnam," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 694-705, March.
    2. Mitzi Isabel Cubilla‐Montilla & Purificación Galindo‐Villardón & Ana Belén Nieto‐Librero & María Purificación Vicente Galindo & Isabel María García‐Sánchez, 2020. "What companies do not disclose about their environmental policy and what institutional pressures may do to respect," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1181-1197, May.
    3. Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez & Cristina‐Andrea Araújo‐Bernardo, 2020. "What colour is the corporate social responsibility report? Structural visual rhetoric, impression management strategies, and stakeholder engagement," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 1117-1142, March.
    4. Carri Reisdorf Tolmie & Kevin Lehnert & Hongxin Zhao, 2020. "Formal and informal institutional pressures on corporate social responsibility: A cross‐country analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 786-802, March.
    5. Zhang, Hongyan & Zhang, Lin, 2023. "Public support and energy innovation: Why do firms react differently?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    6. Peng‐Yu Li, 2023. "Determinants of corporate social responsibility performance in emerging markets: An international orientation perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1348-1362, May.
    7. Rafal Miedziak & Filip Wojcik, 2019. "Spoleczna odpowiedzialnosc biznesu – czy to sie oplaca? Analiza stop zwrotu indeksow zrownowazonego rozwoju wzgledem tradycyjnych indeksow gieldowych (Corporate Social Responsibility – Is It Worth It?," Research Reports, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 2(31), pages 14-24.
    8. Alvaro Plinio Pureza & Ki‐Hoon Lee, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility leadership for sustainable development: An institutional logics perspective in Brazil," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1410-1424, May.
    9. Xuan Li & Chi Zhang & Wenliang Gao & Yanli Geng & Weizhang Sun, 2024. "Foreign ownership, passive‐learning knowledge spillovers, and corporate social responsibility reporting in China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 133-152, January.
    10. Weizhang Sun & Xuan Li & Yanli Geng & Jinfeng Yang & Yifei Zhang, 2020. "Board interlocks and the diffusion of CSR reporting practices: The role of market development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1333-1343, May.
    11. Yaghoub Abdi & Xiaoni Li & Xavier Càmara‐Turull, 2022. "How financial performance influences investment in sustainable development initiatives in the airline industry: The moderation role of state‐ownership," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1252-1267, October.
    12. Fawad Rauf & Cosmina Lelia Voinea & Hammad Bin Azam Hashmi & Cosmin Fratostiteanu, 2020. "Moderating Effect of Political Embeddedness on the Relationship between Resources Base and Quality of CSR Disclosure in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-19, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Weizhang Sun & Xuan Li & Yanli Geng & Jinfeng Yang & Yifei Zhang, 2020. "Board interlocks and the diffusion of CSR reporting practices: The role of market development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1333-1343, May.
    2. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    3. Xuan Li & Chi Zhang & Wenliang Gao & Yanli Geng & Weizhang Sun, 2024. "Foreign ownership, passive‐learning knowledge spillovers, and corporate social responsibility reporting in China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 133-152, January.
    4. Xue, Xingnan & Hu, Nan, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty and imitation behaviors of corporate social responsibility practices: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    5. Waris Ali & Jedrzej George Frynas, 2018. "The Role of Normative CSR‐Promoting Institutions in Stimulating CSR Disclosures in Developing Countries," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 373-390, July.
    6. Yaghoub Abdi & Xiaoni Li & Xavier Càmara‐Turull, 2022. "How financial performance influences investment in sustainable development initiatives in the airline industry: The moderation role of state‐ownership," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1252-1267, October.
    7. Waris Ali & Jedrzej George Frynas & Zeeshan Mahmood, 2017. "Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Disclosure in Developed and Developing Countries: A Literature Review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(4), pages 273-294, July.
    8. Jane Andrew & Max Baker, 2020. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: The Last 40 Years and a Path to Sharing Future Insights," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 56(1), pages 35-65, March.
    9. Luo, Jinbo & Liu, Qigui, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility disclosure in China: Do managerial professional connections and social attention matter?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    10. Fawad Rauf & Cosmina Lelia Voinea & Hammad Bin Azam Hashmi & Cosmin Fratostiteanu, 2020. "Moderating Effect of Political Embeddedness on the Relationship between Resources Base and Quality of CSR Disclosure in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-19, April.
    11. Moufty, Souad & Clark, Ephraim & Al-Najjar, Basil, 2021. "The different dimensions of sustainability and bank performance: Evidence from the EU and the USA," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    12. Lin Liao & Yukun Pan & Daifei (Troy) Yao, 2023. "Capital market liberalisation and voluntary corporate social responsibility disclosure: Evidence from a quasi‐natural experiment in China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2677-2715, June.
    13. Faisal Faisal & Erika Dwi Andiningtyas & Tarmizi Achmad & Haryanto Haryanto & Wahyu Meiranto, 2018. "The content and determinants of greenhouse gas emission disclosure: Evidence from Indonesian companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1397-1406, November.
    14. Kontesa, Maria & Brahmana, Rayenda Khresna & Mail, Gesti Memarista, 2020. "Does Market Competition Motivate Corporate Social Responsibility? Insight from Malaysia," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 54(1), pages 167-179.
    15. Yuyuan Chang & Wen He & Jianling Wang, 2021. "Government Initiated Corporate Social Responsibility Activities: Evidence from a Poverty Alleviation Campaign in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 661-685, November.
    16. Antonio J. Mateo-Márquez & José M. González-González & Constancio Zamora-Ramírez, 2021. "Components of Countries’ Regulative Dimensions and Voluntary Carbon Disclosures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-22, February.
    17. María Luisa Pajuelo Moreno & Teresa Duarte-Atoche, 2019. "Relationship between Sustainable Disclosure and Performance—An Extension of Ullmann’s Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-33, August.
    18. Isabel‐Maria García‐Sánchez & Nazim Hussain & Sana Akbar Khan & Jennifer Martínez‐Ferrero, 2020. "Managerial entrenchment, corporate social responsibility, and earnings management," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1818-1833, July.
    19. Garanina, Tatiana & Kim, Oksana, 2023. "The relationship between CSR disclosure and accounting conservatism: The role of state ownership," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    20. Sudipta Bose & Amitav Saha & Indra Abeysekera, 2020. "The Value Relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility Expenditure: Evidence from Regulatory Decisions," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 56(4), pages 455-494, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:26:y:2019:i:2:p:367-376. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.