IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v28y2021i6p1549-1563.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate social responsibility performance and information asymmetry: The moderating role of analyst coverage

Author

Listed:
  • Syeda Khiraza Naqvi
  • Faisal Shahzad
  • Ijaz Ur Rehman
  • Fiza Qureshi
  • Usama Laique

Abstract

The study investigates the moderating effect of analyst coverage on the relationship between corporate social responsibility performance and information asymmetry. Data for the period 2008–2018 encompass 208 listed firms from nine different sectors in China. The study employs the fixed effect regression to identify dynamic relationships. The findings suggest that firms engaged in corporate social responsibility activities confront a lower level of information asymmetry. The results also indicate that analyst coverage moderates the relationship between corporate social responsibility performance and information asymmetry and that analyst coverage may play an imperative role in reducing the level of information asymmetry for the firm. Our findings advance the understanding of the association between corporate social responsibility performance and information asymmetry with the moderating effect of analyst coverage. The study investigates the moderating effect of analyst coverage on the relationship between corporate social responsibility performance and information asymmetry. Data for the period 2008–2018 encompass 208 listed firms from nine different sectors in China. The study employs the fixed effect regression to identify dynamic relationships. The findings suggest that firms engaged in corporate social responsibility activities confront a lower level of information asymmetry. The results also indicate that analyst coverage moderates the relationship between corporate social responsibility performance and information asymmetry and that analyst coverage may play an imperative role in reducing the level of information asymmetry for the firm. Our findings advance the understanding of the association between corporate social responsibility performance and information asymmetry with the moderating effect of analyst coverage. Moreover, present study contributes to the corporate social responsibility practices in China, it provides a sound base for policymakers for adopting corporate social responsibility performance activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Syeda Khiraza Naqvi & Faisal Shahzad & Ijaz Ur Rehman & Fiza Qureshi & Usama Laique, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility performance and information asymmetry: The moderating role of analyst coverage," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1549-1563, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:28:y:2021:i:6:p:1549-1563
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.2114
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2114
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.2114?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. Harrison Hong & Terence Lim & Jeremy C. Stein, 2000. "Bad News Travels Slowly: Size, Analyst Coverage, and the Profitability of Momentum Strategies," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 265-295, February.
    3. Xueming Luo & Heli Wang & Sascha Raithel & Qinqin Zheng, 2015. "Corporate social performance, analyst stock recommendations, and firm future returns," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 123-136, January.
    4. Rezaee, Zabihollah, 2016. "Business sustainability research: A theoretical and integrated perspective," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 48-64.
    5. Seyhun, H. Nejat, 1986. "Insiders' profits, costs of trading, and market efficiency," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 189-212, June.
    6. Faisal Shahzad & Ijaz Ur Rehman & Faisal Nawaz & Noman Nawab, 2018. "Does family control explain why corporate social responsibility affects investment efficiency?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(5), pages 880-888, September.
    7. Kathy Babiak & Sylvia Trendafilova, 2011. "CSR and environmental responsibility: motives and pressures to adopt green management practices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), pages 11-24, January.
    8. Derrien, François & Kecskés, Ambrus & Mansi, Sattar A., 2016. "Information asymmetry, the cost of debt, and credit events: Evidence from quasi-random analyst disappearances," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 295-311.
    9. Patten, Dennis M., 2002. "The relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: a research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(8), pages 763-773, November.
    10. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    11. Hoje Jo & Yongtae Kim, 2008. "Ethics and Disclosure: A Study of the Financial Performance of Firms in the Seasoned Equity Offerings Market," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 80(4), pages 855-878, July.
    12. 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.
    13. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "Government Ownership of Banks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 265-301, February.
    14. Najah Attig & Narjess Boubakri & Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami, 2016. "Firm Internationalization and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(2), pages 171-197, March.
    15. Jo, Hoje & Kim, Yongtae, 2007. "Disclosure frequency and earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 561-590, May.
    16. Mohammed Benlemlih & Mohammad Bitar, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Investment Efficiency," Post-Print halshs-01321227, HAL.
    17. To, Thomas Y. & Navone, Marco & Wu, Eliza, 2018. "Analyst coverage and the quality of corporate investment decisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 164-181.
    18. Cai, Weixing & Lee, Edward & Xu, Alice Liang & Zeng, Cheng (Colin), 2019. "Does corporate social responsibility disclosure reduce the information disadvantage of foreign investors?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 12-29.
    19. Roy Clemons, 2010. "Do external sources generate greater investor awareness that can affect a firm's value and cost of capital?," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 9(4), pages 382-394, November.
    20. Stephen J. Brammer & Stephen Pavelin, 2006. "Corporate Reputation and Social Performance: The Importance of Fit," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 435-455, May.
    21. Kiridaran Kanagaretnam & Gerald J. Lobo & Dennis J. Whalen, 2005. "Relationship Between Analyst Forecast Properties and Equity Bid-Ask Spreads and Depths Around Quarterly Earnings Announcements," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(9-10), pages 1773-1799.
    22. Samet, Marwa & Jarboui, Anis, 2017. "How does corporate social responsibility contribute to investment efficiency?," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 33-46.
    23. , Aisdl, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and firm financial performance: A literature review," OSF Preprints aymk7, Center for Open Science.
    24. Glosten, Lawrence R. & Milgrom, Paul R., 1985. "Bid, ask and transaction prices in a specialist market with heterogeneously informed traders," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 71-100, March.
    25. Cuili Qian & Louise Y. Lu & Yangxin Yu, 2019. "Financial analyst coverage and corporate social performance: Evidence from natural experiments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(13), pages 2271-2286, December.
    26. Chih-Wei Peng & Mei-Ling Yang, 2014. "The Effect of Corporate Social Performance on Financial Performance: The Moderating Effect of Ownership Concentration," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 171-182, August.
    27. He, Jie (Jack) & Tian, Xuan, 2013. "The dark side of analyst coverage: The case of innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 856-878.
    28. Thomas P. Lyon & John W. Maxwell, 2011. "Greenwash: Corporate Environmental Disclosure under Threat of Audit," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 3-41, March.
    29. Chen-Hsun Lee & Roger C. Y. Chen & Shih-Wei Hung & Cheng-Xing Yang, 2020. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Value: The Mediating Role of Investor Recognition," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(5), pages 1043-1054, April.
    30. Guochang Zhang, 2001. "Private Information Production, Public Disclosure, and the Cost of Capital: Theory and Implications," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(2), pages 363-384, June.
    31. Christopher S. Armstrong & John E. Core & Daniel J. Taylor & Robert E. Verrecchia, 2011. "When Does Information Asymmetry Affect the Cost of Capital?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 1-40, March.
    32. Jia, Ning, 2018. "Corporate innovation strategy and stock price crash risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 155-173.
    33. Van Ha Nguyen & Frank W Agbola & Bobae Choi, 2019. "Does corporate social responsibility reduce information asymmetry? Empirical evidence from Australia," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 44(2), pages 188-211, May.
    34. Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2013. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Firm Value: The Role of Customer Awareness," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(5), pages 1045-1061, May.
    35. Wu, Chia-Ming & Hu, Jin-Li, 2019. "Can CSR reduce stock price crash risk? Evidence from China's energy industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 505-518.
    36. Li, Keming, 2020. "Does Information Asymmetry Impede Market Efficiency? Evidence from Analyst Coverage," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    37. Lu & Chia-Wu & Chueh & Ting-Shu, 2015. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Information Asymmetry," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 5(3), pages 1-8.
    38. Nosakhare Peter Osazuwa & Ayoib Che-Ahmad, 2016. "The moderating effect of profitability and leverage on the relationship between eco-efficiency and firm value in publicly traded Malaysian firms," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(2), pages 295-306, June.
    39. Kiridaran Kanagaretnam & Gerald J. Lobo & Dennis J. Whalen, 2005. "Relationship Between Analyst Forecast Properties and Equity Bid‐Ask Spreads and Depths Around Quarterly Earnings Announcements," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(9‐10), pages 1773-1799, November.
    40. Jinhua Cui & Hoje Jo & Haejung Na, 2018. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility Affect Information Asymmetry?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 549-572, March.
    41. Muhammad Akram Naseem & Jun Lin & Ramiz ur Rehman & Muhammad Ishfaq Ahmad & Rizwan Ali, 2019. "Moderating role of financial ratios in corporate social responsibility disclosure and firm value," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-19, April.
    42. Tahira Naseem & Faisal Shahzad & Ghazanfar Ali Asim & Ijaz Ur Rehman & Faisal Nawaz, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility engagement and firm performance in Asia Pacific: The role of enterprise risk management," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 501-513, March.
    43. Clarkson, Peter M. & Li, Yue & Richardson, Gordon D. & Vasvari, Florin P., 2008. "Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 303-327.
    44. Irani, Rustom M. & Oesch, David, 2016. "Analyst Coverage and Real Earnings Management: Quasi-Experimental Evidence," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(2), pages 589-627, April.
    45. Muzhar Javed & Muhammad Amir Rashid & Ghulam Hussain & Hafiz Yasir Ali, 2020. "The effects of corporate social responsibility on corporate reputation and firm financial performance: Moderating role of responsible leadership," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1395-1409, May.
    46. Adhikari, Binay K., 2016. "Causal effect of analyst following on corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 201-216.
    47. Isabel María García‐Sánchez & María‐Elena Gómez‐Miranda & Fátima David & Lazaro Rodríguez‐Ariza, 2019. "Analyst coverage and forecast accuracy when CSR reports improve stakeholder engagement: The Global Reporting Initiative‐International Finance Corporation disclosure strategy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1392-1406, November.
    48. Yu, Fang (Frank), 2008. "Analyst coverage and earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 245-271, May.
    49. Mohammed Benlemlih & Mohammad Bitar, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Investment Efficiency," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 647-671, March.
    50. Zhang, Min & Tong, Lijing & Su, Jun & Cui, Zhipeng, 2015. "Analyst coverage and corporate social performance: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 76-94.
    51. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    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. Yi Zhang, 2022. "Analyst coverage and corporate social responsibility decoupling: Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 620-634, May.
    2. Shuxia Zhang & Xiangyang Yin & Liping Xu & Ziyu Li & Deyue Kong, 2022. "Effect of Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance on Corporate Financialization: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-20, August.
    3. Wei Wang & Ziyuan Sun & Weixing Zhu & Lin Ma & Yuting Dong & Xiao Sun & Fengzhi Wu, 2023. "How does multi‐agent govern corporate greenwashing? A stakeholder engagement perspective from “common” to “collaborative” governance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 291-307, January.
    4. Barros, Victor & Verga Matos, Pedro & Miranda Sarmento, Joaquim & Rino Vieira, Pedro, 2023. "High-tech firms: Dividend policy in a context of sustainability and technological change," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    5. Ajay Kumar & Jyotirani Gupta & Niladri Das, 2022. "Revisiting the influence of corporate sustainability practices on corporate financial performance: An evidence from the global energy sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3231-3253, November.
    6. Kyle D. Turner, 2022. "Actions in the spotlight: Differential effects of corporate social responsibility actions on organizational celebrity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 860-870, July.
    7. Peggy M. L. Ng & Tai Ming Wut & Kam Kong Lit & Cherry T. Y. Cheung, 2022. "Drivers of corporate social responsibility and firm performance for sustainable development—An institutional theory approach," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 871-886, July.
    8. Jyotirani Gupta & Niladri Das, 2022. "Multidimensional corporate social responsibility disclosure and financial performance: A meta‐analytical review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 731-748, July.
    9. Xiaodan Wu & Richard Amoasi, 2024. "The role of CSR in sustaining corporate brands in the global market: The perspective of telecommunication companies in Ghana," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 433-447, January.

    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. Al-Shaer, Habiba & Uyar, Ali & Kuzey, Cemil & Karaman, Abdullah S., 2023. "Do shareholders punish or reward excessive CSR engagement? Moderating effect of cash flow and firm growth," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Van Ha Nguyen & Frank W Agbola & Bobae Choi, 2019. "Does corporate social responsibility reduce information asymmetry? Empirical evidence from Australia," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 44(2), pages 188-211, May.
    3. 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.
    4. Cao Thi Mien Thuy & Trinh Quoc Trung & Nguyen Vinh Khuong & Nguyen Thanh Liem, 2021. "From Corporate Social Responsibility to Stock Price Crash Risk: Modelling the Mediating Role of Firm Performance in an Emerging Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-17, November.
    5. Hongwen Han & Jiali Jenna Tang & Qingquan Tang, 2021. "Goodwill Impairment, Securities Analysts, and Information Transparency," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 767-799, August.
    6. Yi Zhang, 2022. "Analyst coverage and corporate social responsibility decoupling: Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 620-634, May.
    7. Sualihu, Mohammed Aminu & Yawson, Alfred & Yusoff, Iliyas, 2021. "Do analysts’' forecast properties deter suboptimal labor investment decisions? Evidence from Regulation Fair Disclosure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. To, Thomas Y. & Navone, Marco & Wu, Eliza, 2018. "Analyst coverage and the quality of corporate investment decisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 164-181.
    9. Azmi, Wajahat & Hassan, M. Kabir & Houston, Reza & Karim, Mohammad Sydul, 2021. "ESG activities and banking performance: International evidence from emerging economies," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    10. Rehana Anwar & Jaleel A. Malik, 2020. "When Does Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure Affect Investment Efficiency? A New Answer to an Old Question," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, June.
    11. Xie, Lingmin & Chen, Zhian & Li, Donghui & Tan, Hongping, 2022. "Foreign analysts and managerial investment learning from stock markets," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    12. Vishnu K. Ramesh & A. Athira, 2023. "Real effects of social trust on firm performance during COVID‐19," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 671-693, January.
    13. Zhang, Ping & Wang, Yiru, 2023. "The bright side of analyst coverage on corporate innovation: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    14. Zhe Li & Ping Wang & Tianlong Wu, 2021. "Do foreign institutional investors drive corporate social responsibility? Evidence from listed firms in China," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 338-373, January.
    15. Zheng Lei & Guo Xuemeng & Fu Xiangfei, 2022. "How Does Analyst Coverage Affect Corporate Social Responsibility? Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(7), pages 2036-2049, May.
    16. Adhikari, Binay K., 2016. "Causal effect of analyst following on corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 201-216.
    17. Akyol, Ali C. & Qian, Yiming & Yu, Frank, 2023. "How do experienced analysts improve price efficiency?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    18. Lopin Kuo & Po-Wen Kuo & Chun-Chih Chen, 2021. "Mandatory CSR Disclosure, CSR Assurance, and the Cost of Debt Capital: Evidence from Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-19, February.
    19. Samet, Marwa & Jarboui, Anis, 2017. "How does corporate social responsibility contribute to investment efficiency?," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 33-46.
    20. Barka, Zeineb & Hamza, Taher & Mrad, Senda, 2023. "Corporate ESG scores and equity market misvaluation: Toward ethical investor behavior," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

    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:28:y:2021:i:6:p:1549-1563. 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.