IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/abacus/v56y2020i4p455-494.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Value Relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility Expenditure: Evidence from Regulatory Decisions

Author

Listed:
  • Sudipta Bose
  • Amitav Saha
  • Indra Abeysekera

Abstract

We examine the value relevance of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure of Bangladeshi banks from 2007–2014 in response to a regulatory directive on banking firms’ engagement in CSR activities. We find a positive association between CSR expenditure and a firm's market value. Evidence of an inverse U‐shaped curvilinear association between CSR expenditure and market value suggests that the impact of CSR expenditure on a firm's market value has a certain limit. We also document that unexpected or abnormal components of CSR expenditure comprise value‐relevant information. Our study provides empirical evidence to support the value relevance of CSR expenditure as an explanation for why firms should invest in CSR and why they should inform various stakeholders about their CSR activities.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:abacus:v:56:y:2020:i:4:p:455-494
    DOI: 10.1111/abac.12207
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/abac.12207
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/abac.12207?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. 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.
    3. Huang, Xiaobei “Beryl†& Watson, Luke, 2015. "Corporate social responsibility research in accounting," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-16.
    4. Larcker, David F. & Rusticus, Tjomme O., 2010. "On the use of instrumental variables in accounting research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 186-205, April.
    5. Ataur Rahman Belal & David L. Owen, 2007. "The views of corporate managers on the current state of, and future prospects for, social reporting in Bangladesh," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 472-494, June.
    6. Steven F. Cahan & Charl De Villiers & Debra C. Jeter & Vic Naiker & Chris J. Van Staden, 2016. "Are CSR Disclosures Value Relevant? Cross-Country Evidence," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 579-611, September.
    7. Feng, Zhi-Yuan & Wang, Ming-Long & Huang, Hua-Wei, 2015. "Equity Financing and Social Responsibility: Further International Evidence," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 247-280.
    8. 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.
    9. Abeysekera, Indra, 2014. "Why do firms disclose and not disclose structural intangibles?," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 381-393.
    10. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    11. Mary E. Barth & Greg Clinch, 2009. "Scale Effects in Capital Markets-Based Accounting Research," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3-4), pages 253-288.
    12. Barth, Mary E. & Beaver, William H. & Landsman, Wayne R., 2001. "The relevance of the value relevance literature for financial accounting standard setting: another view," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 77-104, September.
    13. Abagail McWilliams & Donald Siegel, 2000. "Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: correlation or misspecification?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(5), pages 603-609, May.
    14. Ingram, Rw & Frazier, Kb, 1980. "Environmental Performance And Corporate Disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 614-622.
    15. Deng, Xin & Kang, Jun-koo & Low, Buen Sin, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value maximization: Evidence from mergers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 87-109.
    16. Belal, Ataur Rahman & Cooper, Stuart, 2011. "The absence of corporate social responsibility reporting in Bangladesh," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(7), pages 654-667.
    17. Bose, Sudipta & Podder, Jyotirmoy & Biswas, Kumar, 2017. "Philanthropic giving, market-based performance and institutional ownership: Evidence from an emerging economy," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 429-444.
    18. Max Baker & John Roberts, 2011. "All in the Mind? Ethical Identity and the Allure of Corporate Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 5-15, March.
    19. Andrea Chegut & Hans Schenk & Bert Scholtens, 2011. "Assessing SRI fund performance research: Best practices in empirical analysis," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(2), pages 77-94, March/Apr.
    20. Barth, Me & Mcnichols, Mf, 1994. "Estimation And Market Valuation Of Environmental Liabilities Relating To Superfund Sites," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32, pages 177-209.
    21. Hariom Manchiraju & Shivaram Rajgopal, 2017. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Create Shareholder Value? Evidence from the Indian Companies Act 2013," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(5), pages 1257-1300, December.
    22. Heli Wang & Jaepil Choi & Jiatao Li, 2008. "Too Little or Too Much? Untangling the Relationship Between Corporate Philanthropy and Firm Financial Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 143-159, February.
    23. Gul, Ferdinand A. & Srinidhi, Bin & Ng, Anthony C., 2011. "Does board gender diversity improve the informativeness of stock prices?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 314-338, April.
    24. Campbell, Katherine & Sefcik, Stephan E & Soderstrom, Naomi S, 2003. "Disclosure of Private Information and Reduction of Uncertainty: Environmental Liabilities in the Chemical Industry," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 349-378, December.
    25. Renneboog, Luc & Ter Horst, Jenke & Zhang, Chendi, 2008. "Socially responsible investments: Institutional aspects, performance, and investor behavior," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1723-1742, September.
    26. Charles H. Cho & Martin Freedman & Dennis M. Patten, 2012. "Corporate disclosure of environmental capital expenditures," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(3), pages 486-507, March.
    27. Denise Baden & Ian Harwood, 2013. "Terminology Matters: A Critical Exploration of Corporate Social Responsibility Terms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(3), pages 615-627, September.
    28. Sangeeta Bansal & Madhu Khanna & Sonakshi Jain, 2017. "The Corporate Social Responsibility Act in India: An Early Assessment," Working Papers id:11922, eSocialSciences.
    29. Wiseman, Joanne, 1982. "An evaluation of environmental disclosures made in corporate annual reports," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 53-63, January.
    30. Mohammad Badrul Muttakin & Dessalegn Getie Mihret & Arifur Khan, 2018. "Corporate political connection and corporate social responsibility disclosures," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(2), pages 725-744, February.
    31. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    32. Johnston, Derek, 2005. "An investigation of regulatory and voluntary environmental capital expenditures," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 175-206.
    33. Belal, Ataur Rahman & Cooper, Stuart M. & Khan, Niaz Ahmed, 2015. "Corporate environmental responsibility and accountability: What chance in vulnerable Bangladesh?," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 44-58.
    34. Mary E. Barth & Greg Clinch, 2009. "Scale Effects in Capital Markets‐Based Accounting Research," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3‐4), pages 253-288, April.
    35. Concetta Carnevale & Maria Mazzuca & Sergio Venturini, 2012. "Corporate Social Reporting in European Banks: The Effects on a Firm's Market Value," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 159-177, May.
    36. Kathleen Herbohn & Julie Walker & Huay Yien Monica Loo, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility: The Link Between Sustainability Disclosure and Sustainability Performance," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 50(4), pages 422-459, December.
    37. Peter M. Clarkson & Michael B. Overell & Larelle Chapple, 2011. "Environmental Reporting and its Relation to Corporate Environmental Performance," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 47(1), pages 27-60, March.
    38. Graham, Roger C. & King, Raymond D., 2000. "Accounting Practices and the Market Valuation of Accounting Numbers: Evidence from Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 445-470, 010.
    39. Peter M. Clarkson & Yue Li & Matthew Pinnuck & Gordon D. Richardson, 2015. "The Valuation Relevance of Greenhouse Gas Emissions under the European Union Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 551-580, September.
    40. Jiraporn, P. & Chintrakarn, P., 2013. "How do powerful CEOs view corporate social responsibility (CSR)? An empirical note," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 119(3), pages 344-347.
    41. Muhammad Azizul Islam & Craig Deegan, 2008. "Motivations for an organisation within a developing country to report social responsibility information," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(6), pages 850-874, August.
    42. 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.
    43. Aaron K. Chatterji & Rodolphe Durand & David I. Levine & Samuel Touboul, 2016. "Do ratings of firms converge? Implications for managers, investors and strategy researchers," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(8), pages 1597-1614, August.
    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. Simon Döring & Wolfgang Drobetz & Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Henning Schröder, 2023. "Foreign Institutional Investors, Legal Origin, and Corporate Greenhouse Gas Emissions Disclosure," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(4), pages 903-932, February.
    2. 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).
    3. Fariha Jahan & Jungmu Kim, 2023. "Does the Shield Effect of CSR Work in Crises? Evidence in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Driss, Hamdi & Drobetz, Wolfgang & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane, 2024. "The Sustainability committee and environmental disclosure: International evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 602-625.
    5. Sudipta Bose & Chuan Yu, 2023. "Does Earnings Quality Influence Corporate Social Responsibility Performance? Empirical Evidence of the Causal Link," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 59(2), pages 493-540, June.
    6. Piotr Bolibok, 2021. "The Impact of Social Responsibility Performance on the Value Relevance of Financial Data in the Banking Sector: Evidence from Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-19, October.
    7. Jerry Cao & Robert Faff & Jing He & Yong Li, 2022. "Who's Greenwashing Via the Media and What are the Consequences? Evidence From China," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 58(4), pages 759-786, December.

    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. 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.
    2. Sudipta Bose & Habib Zaman Khan & Reza M. Monem, 2021. "Does green banking performance pay off? Evidence from a unique regulatory setting in Bangladesh," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 162-187, March.
    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. Jieun Chung & Charles H. Cho, 2018. "Current Trends within Social and Environmental Accounting Research: A Literature Review," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 207-239, June.
    5. Bose, Sudipta & Saha, Amitav & Khan, Habib Zaman & Islam, Shajul, 2017. "Non-financial disclosure and market-based firm performance: The initiation of financial inclusion," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 263-281.
    6. Moliterni, Fabio, 2018. "Do Global Financial Markets Capitalise Sustainability? Evidence of a Quick Reversal," SAS: Society and Sustainability 274853, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    7. 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.
    8. Fabio Moliterni, 2018. "Do Global Financial Markets Capitalise Sustainability? Evidence of a Quick Reversal," Working Papers 2018.25, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    9. Tsang, Albert & Frost, Tracie & Cao, Huijuan, 2023. "Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure: A literature review," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    10. Ntim, Collins G., 2016. "Corporate governance, corporate health accounting, and firm value: The case of HIV/AIDS disclosures in Sub-Saharan Africa," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 155-216.
    11. Sudipta Bose & Chuan Yu, 2023. "Does Earnings Quality Influence Corporate Social Responsibility Performance? Empirical Evidence of the Causal Link," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 59(2), pages 493-540, June.
    12. Eunice S. Khoo & Youngdeok Lim & Louise Y. Lu & Gary S. Monroe, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility performance and the reputational incentives of independent directors," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5-6), pages 841-881, May.
    13. Volkan Muslu & Sunay Mutlu & Suresh Radhakrishnan & Albert Tsang, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility Report Narratives and Analyst Forecast Accuracy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(4), pages 1119-1142, February.
    14. Khan, Habib Zaman & Bose, Sudipta & Johns, Raechel, 2020. "Regulatory influences on CSR practices within banks in an emerging economy: Do banks merely comply?," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    15. Fatemi, Ali & Glaum, Martin & Kaiser, Stefanie, 2018. "ESG performance and firm value: The moderating role of disclosure," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 45-64.
    16. Griffin, Paul A. & Lont, David, H. & Pomare, Carol, 2021. "The curious case of Canadian corporate emissions valuation," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    17. Ki‐Hoon Lee & Bum‐Jin Park & Hakjoon Song & Keun‐Hyo Yook, 2017. "The Value Relevance of Environmental Audits: Evidence from Japan," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 609-625, July.
    18. Chen, Wanyu (Tina) & Zhou, Gaoguang (Stephen) & Zhu, Xindong (Kevin), 2019. "CEO tenure and corporate social responsibility performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 292-302.
    19. Kim, Sooin & Yoo, Jungmin, 2022. "Corporate Opacity, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Financial Performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    20. Dong Ding & Bin Liu & Millicent Chang, 2023. "Carbon Emissions and TCFD Aligned Climate-Related Information Disclosures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(4), pages 967-1001, February.

    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:bla:abacus:v:56:y:2020:i:4:p:455-494. 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: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0001-3072 .

    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.