The role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information in supply-chain contracting: Evidence from the expansion of CSR rating coverage

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Darendeli, Alper; Fiechter, Peter; Hitz, Joerg-Markus; Lehmann, Nico
• 署名单位: Nanyang Technological University; University of Neuchatel; University of Gottingen; Erasmus University Rotterdam; Erasmus University Rotterdam - Excl Erasmus MC
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING & ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0165-4101
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2022.101525
• 发表日期: 2022
• 关键词: disclosure; CHALLENGES; CONFLICT

摘要

We examine the effect of CSR information on stakeholder decision-making, specifically on supply-chain contracting. To obtain plausibly exogenous variation in CSR information, we exploit the 2017 expansion of CSR rating coverage from Russell 1000 to Russell 2000 firms (hereafter, treated firms) by Thomson Reuters Asset4. Using a difference-in-differences design with the previously covered Russell 1000 supplier firms as the control group, we find a negative effect of the CSR information shock for treated suppliers with compara-tively low CSR ratings. On average, these suppliers experience reductions in their number of contracts and corporate customers. In cross-sectional analyses, we document variation in our treatment effects consistent with two underlying mechanisms: (i) benchmarking of suppliers' CSR by corporate customers and (ii) CSR-related public pressure on customer -supplier contracting. Collectively, our findings provide novel evidence on the causal ef-fect of CSR information on stakeholder decision-making.(c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).