After the success of our very first GSOM Faculty Research Presentation with Professor Siti Parida we would like to invite you to a Research presentation by Professor Wang.
This series is intended to provide an opportunity for students to learn about GSOM faculty research, but all in the Clark community can attend!
“Corporate Social Responsibility Performance and the Readability of Corporate Responsibility Reports: Too Good to be True?” This study investigates the readability of corporate narrative disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Featuring Professor Rita Wang
Wednesday, April 16, 12 – 1 pm
Carlson 231
Lunch will be provided following the talk!
Research Abstract
“The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the CSR performance and the readability of CSR reports. Specifically, we investigate whether companies emphasize good CSR information by increasing information readability of CSR reports, and obfuscate negative or less strong CSR information by decreasing information readability of CSR reports. By adopting the Bloomberg ESG database and the KLD social rating database, We examine the impact of environmental and social CSR performance on three readability indices for 212 CSR reports of top U.S. public companies from 2009 through 2012. Results show a significant positive relationship between corporate CSR performance and the readability of CSR reports when controlling for company size, financial outcomes, and year and industry fixed effects. Results indicate that companies with stronger CSR performance are more likely to have CSR reports with higher readability, and vice versa. This study contributes to the CSR literature by examining the behavior of companies’ narrative disclosure of their CSR practices from environmental and social perspectives separately and jointly. This study also distinguishes the characteristics of corporate CSR narrative disclosure between true ‘doing-good’ companies and ‘window-dressing’ companies, thus, provides useful information for investors to understand the corporate CSR performance disclosed in their CSR reports, and for the regulators to regulate the voluntary CSR disclosure.”