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Standalone CSR reporting by U.S. retail companies

Author

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  • Dennis M. Patten
  • Na Zhao

Abstract

•We examine standalone CSR reporting by U.S. retail companies.•Environmental issues receive more coverage, on average, than other social items.•The reports focus more on discussions of programs and initiatives than on providing actual performance data.•Reporting companies exhibit higher environmental reputation scores in spite of having worse environmental performance.•First-time issuance is followed by increases in the holdings of companies’ stocks by socially responsible mutual funds.We investigate first-time use of standalone CSR reporting in the U.S. retail industry. We find it is limited to publicly traded companies and that environmental rather than other social disclosures are most prominent. We document that firms focus on discussing CSR initiatives and programs as opposed to providing performance data, suggesting the reports are more about image enhancement than transparent accountability. We explore impacts of the choice to disclose, and our findings suggest that standalone CSR reporting by the retail companies appears to positively influence perceptions of company reputation, and may be leading to increased appeal to socially responsible investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Dennis M. Patten & Na Zhao, 2014. "Standalone CSR reporting by U.S. retail companies," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 132-144, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:accfor:v:38:y:2014:i:2:p:132-144
    DOI: 10.1016/j.accfor.2014.01.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Akrum Helfaya & Tantawy Moussa, 2017. "Do Board's Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy and Orientation Influence Environmental Sustainability Disclosure? UK Evidence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1061-1077, December.
    2. Pei‐Chi Kelly Hsiao & Charl de Villiers & Claire Horner & Hein Oosthuizen, 2022. "A review and synthesis of contemporary sustainability accounting research and the development of a research agenda," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(4), pages 4453-4483, December.
    3. Manvendra Pratap Singh & Arpita Chakraborty & Mousumi Roy & Avinash Tripathi, 2021. "Developing SME sustainability disclosure index for Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) listed manufacturing SMEs in India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 399-422, January.
    4. Fabio Caputo & Rossella Leopizzi & Simone Pizzi & Virginia Milone, 2019. "The Non-Financial Reporting Harmonization in Europe: Evolutionary Pathways Related to the Transposition of the Directive 95/2014/EU within the Italian Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Akrum Helfaya & Mark Whittington, 2019. "Does designing environmental sustainability disclosure quality measures make a difference?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 525-541, May.
    6. Rami Salem & Ernest Ezeani & Xi Song, 2023. "The relationship between religiosity and voluntary disclosure quality: a cross-country evidence from the banking sector," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 983-1023, April.
    7. Wullianallur Raghupathi & Sarah Jinhui Wu & Viju Raghupathi, 2023. "Understanding Corporate Sustainability Disclosures from the Securities Exchange Commission Filings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-32, February.
    8. Katharina Hetze, 2016. "Effects on the (CSR) Reputation: CSR Reporting Discussed in the Light of Signalling and Stakeholder Perception Theories," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 281-296, October.
    9. Ju Hyoung Park & Hyun-Young Park & Ho-Young Lee, 2018. "The Effect of Social Ties between Outside and Inside Directors on the Association between Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Value," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, October.
    10. Chantziaras, Antonios & Dedoulis, Emmanouil & Grougiou, Vassiliki & Leventis, Stergios, 2020. "The impact of religiosity and corruption on CSR reporting: The case of U.S. banks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 362-374.
    11. Claudia Gabriela Baicu & Olimpia State, & Daniel Adrian Gardan & Iuliana Petronela Gardan & Iulia Ruxandra Ticau, 2022. "Financial and Competitive Implications of the European Green Deal – Perceptions of Retail Managers," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 24(61), pages 683-683, August.
    12. Charles H. Cho & Michele Fabrizi & Silvia Pilonato & Federica Ricceri, 2024. "Not all bad news is harmful to a good reputation: evidence from the most visible companies in the US," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 28(1), pages 9-36, March.
    13. Sara Rajic & Vesna Đorđević & Igor Tomasevic & Ilija Djekic, 2022. "The role of food systems in achieving the sustainable development goals: Environmental perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 988-1001, March.
    14. Alexander Landau & Janina Rochell & Christian Klein & Bernhard Zwergel, 2020. "Integrated reporting of environmental, social, and governance and financial data: Does the market value integrated reports?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 1750-1763, May.

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