Does social responsibility begin at home? The relation between firms' pension policies and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Anantharaman, Divya; Gao, Feng; Manchiraju, Hariom
• 署名单位: Rutgers University System; Rutgers University New Brunswick; Rutgers University Newark; Rutgers University System; Rutgers University New Brunswick; Indian School of Business (ISB)
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ACCOUNTING STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1380-6653
• DOI: 10.1007/s11142-021-09615-7
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 76-121
• 关键词: performance; disclosure; governance; legitimacy; well

摘要

Pension freezes are highly visible corporate actions with the potential to hurt the firms' reputation as responsible employers. We document that firms sponsoring defined-benefit pensions step up CSR engagement following announcements of defined-benefit pension freezes. Freeze firms also increase their usage of CSR-related keywords in public disclosures following the freeze. We find a stronger CSR response to more severe freezes, to more controversial cash-balance conversions, and in larger sponsors. This is consistent with CSR increases being motivated by the need to repair one's reputation. We also find that CSR increases following an accounting rule change that makes pension deficits more visible. Collectively, our findings highlight an important driver of CSR: the need to restore or manage reputation, especially in the face of corporate actions that can hurt stakeholders.