A research note on standalone corporate social responsibility reports: Signaling or greenwashing?

Critical Perspectives on Accounting

Volumn 24, Issue 4-5, 2013, Pages 350-359

  Mahoney, Lois S ^a   Thorne, Linda ^b   Cecil, Lianna ^a   LaGore, William ^a  

^a EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b YORK UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

Environmental; Social; Sustainability

Indexed keywords

EID: 84878107047     PISSN: 10452354     EISSN: 10959955     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2012.09.008     Document Type: Article

References (74)

1. Adams C.A. The ethical, social, and environmental reporting-performance portrayal gap. Accounting, Auditing, and Accountability Journal 2004, 17(5):731-757.
2. Adams C.A., Coutts A., Harte G. Corporate equal opportunities (non-) disclosures. British Accounting Review 1995, 27:87-108.
3. Albinger H.S., Freeman S.J. Corporate social performance and attractiveness as an employer to different job seeking populations. Journal of Business Ethics 2000, 28(3):243-253.
4. Al-Tuwaijri S., Christensen T., Hughes K. The relations among environmental disclosure, environmental performance, and economic performance: a simultaneous equations approach. Accounting, Organizations and Society 2004, 29(5-6):447-471.
5. Ballou B., Heitger D., Landes C.E. The future of corporate sustainability reporting. Journal of Accountancy 2006, 202(6):65-74.
6. Belal A.R., Cooper S. The absence of corporate social responsibility reporting in Bangladesh. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 2011, 22(7):654-667.
7. Berthelot S., Cormier D., Magnan M. Environmental disclosure research: review and synthesis. Journal of Accounting Literature 2003, 22:1-44.
8. Brammer S., Pavelin S. Voluntary social disclosures by large UK companies. Business Ethics: A European Review 2004, 13(2-3):86-99.
9. Branco M.C., Rodrigues L.L. Issues in corporate social and environmental reporting research: an overview. Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 2007, 1(1):72-90.
10. Burke L., Logsdon J.M., Mitchell W., Reiner M., Vogel D. Corporate community involvement in the San Francisco Bay area. California Management Review 1986, 18(3):122-141.
11. Buysse K., Verbeke A. Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective. Strategic Management Journal 2003, 24:453-470.
12. Chatterji A.K., Levine D. Breaking down the wall of codes: evaluating non-financial performance measurement. California Management Review 2006, 48(2):29-51.
13. Chatterji A.K., Levine D., Toffel M.W. How well do social scores actually measure corporate social responsibility?. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 2009, 18(1):125-169.
14. Cho C., Patten M. The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: a research note. Accounting, Organizations and Society 2007, 32(7-8):639-647.
15. Cho C., Roberts R., Patten D. The language of US corporate environmental disclosure. Accounting, Organizations and Society 2010, 35(4):431-443.
16. Clarkson P., Li Y., Richardson G., Vasvari F. Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: an empirical analysis. Accounting, Organizations and Society 2008, 33(4-5):303-327.
17. Clarkson P., Li Y., Richardson G., Vasvari F. Does it really pay to be green? Determinants and consequences of proactive environmental strategies. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 2011, 30(2):122-144.
18. Clarkson P., Overell M., Chapple L. Environmental reporting and its relation to corporate environmental performance. Abacus 2011, 47(1):27-60.
19. Cormier D., Gordon I., Magnan M. Corporate environmental disclosure: contrasting management's perceptions with reality. Journal of Business Ethics 2004, 49(2):143-165.
20. Cormier D., Magnan M. Environmental reporting management: a continental European perspective. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 2003, 2:43-62.
21. CorporateRegister.com, Which companies and reports feature in the GRI register? Retrieved Sept. 22, 2011 from; 2011. http://www.corporat3434eregister.com/aboutreports.html.
22. Dawkins C., Fraas J. Coming clean: the impact of environmental performance and visibility on corporate climate change disclosure. Journal of Business Ethics 2011, 100(2):303-322.
23. Deegan C. The legitimizing effect of social and environmental disclosures-a theoretical foundation. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 2002, 15(3):282-311.
24. Deegan C., Blomquist C. Stakeholder influence on corporate reporting: an exploration of the interaction between WWF-Australia and the Australian minerals industry. Accounting, Organizations, and Society 2006, 3(1):343-372.
25. Dilling P.F.A. Sustainability reporting in a global context: what are the characteristics of corporations that provide high quality sustainability reports-an empirical analysis. International Business & Economics Research Journal 2009, 9(1):19-30.
26. Dye R. Disclosure of non-proprietary information. Journal of Accounting Research 1985, 23(1):123-145.
27. Eesley C., Lenox M.J. Firms responses to secondary stakeholder action. Strategic Management Journal 2006, 27:765-781.
28. Global Reporting Initiative, About GRI. Retrieved on November 1, 2008 from; 2008. http://www.globalreporting.org/AboutGRI/WhatWeDo/.
29. Goll I., Rasheed A.A. The mode score effect of environmental munificence and dynamism on the relationship between discretionary social responsibility and firm performance. Journal of Business Ethics 2004, 49(1):41-54.
30. Graves S.B., Waddock S.A. Institutional owners and corporate social performance. Academy of Management Journal 1994, 37(4):1034-1046.
31. Gray R., Kouhy R., Lavers S. Corporate social and environmental reporting: a review of the literature and a longitudinal study of UK disclosure. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 1995, 8(2):47-77.
32. Greening D.W., Turban D.B. Corporate social performance as a competitive advantage in attracting a quality workforce. Business and Society 2000, 39(3):254-280.
33. Greer J., Bruno K. Greenwash the reality behind corporate environmentalism 1996, Third World Network and New York: the Apex Press, Penang, Malyasia.
34. Guidry R., Patten D. Market reactions to the first-time issuance of corporate sustainability reports: evidence that quality matters. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal 2010, 1(1):33-50.
35. Gugerty M.K. Signaling virtue, voluntary accountability programs among nonprofit organizations. Policy Sciences 2009, 42:243-273.
36. Healy P., Palepu K.G. Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: a review of the empirical disclosure literature. Journal of Accounting & Economics 2001, 31(1-3):405-440.
37. Hillman A.J., Keim G.D. Shareholder value, stakeholder management, and social issues: what's the bottom line?. Strategic Management Journal 2001, 22(2):125-139.
38. Holder-Webb L., Cohen J.R., Nath L., Wood D. The supply of corporate social responsibility disclosures among U.S. firms. Journal of Business Ethics 2009, 84:497-527.
39. Johnson R.A., Greening D.W. The effects of corporate governance and institutional ownership types on corporate social performance. Academy of Management Journal 1999, 42(5):564-576.
40. KPMG. KPMG International survey of corporate responsibility reporting; 2008.
41. KPMG Global Sustainability Services and University of Amsterdam: Amsterdam; 2008.
42. KPMG, KPMG International survey of corporate responsibility reporting; 2011.
43. KPMG International Cooperative, Switzerland; 2011.
44. Li Y., Richardson C., Thornton D. Corporate disclosure of environmental liability information: theory and evidence. Contemporary Accounting Research 1997, 14(3):435-473.
45. Lindblom C.K. The implications of organizational legitimacy for corporate social performance and disclosure. Paper presented at the Critical Perspectives on Accounting Conference 1994.
46. Lizzeri A. Information revelation and certification intermediaries. Journal of Economics 1999, 30(2):214-231.
47. Lyon T., Maxwell J. Greenwash Corporate environmental disclosure under threat of audit. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy 2011, 20(1):3-41.
48. Mahoney L., Roberts R. Corporate social performance, financial performance and institutional ownership in Canadian firms. Accounting Forum 2007, 31(3):233-253.
49. Marin L., Ruiz S., Rubio A. The role of identity salience in the effects of corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior. Journal of Business Ethics 2009, 84(1):65-78.
50. McGuire J.B., Dow S., Argheyd K. CEO incentives and corporate social performance. Journal of Business Ethics 2003, 45:341-359.
51. Milgrom P. Good news and bad news: representation theorems and applications. Bell Journal of Economics 1981, 12(2):380-391.
52. Murray S. Nike makes the step to transparency. Financial Times 2005; April 12.
53. Neu D., Warsame H., Pedwell K. Managing public impressions: environmental disclosures in Annual Reports. Accounting, Organizations and Society 1998, 23(3):265-282.
54. Nike-Kasky Case: 27. Cal 4th 939, 45 P.3d 243 119 Cal Pptr 2 296; 2002.
55. Orlitzky M. Corporate social performance and financial performance: a research synthesis. The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility 2008, 112-134. Oxford University Press, New York. A. Crane, A. McWilliams, D. Matten, J. Moon, D. Siegel (Eds.).
56. Patten D.M. The relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: a research note. Accounting, Organizations and Society 2002, 27(8):763-773.
57. Pinkston T.S., Carroll A.B. An investigation of the relationship between organizational size and corporate social performance. IABS Proceedings 1993, 109-114.
58. Prado-Lorenzo J., Garcia-Sanchez.I. The role of the board of directors in disseminating relevant information on greenhouse gases. Journal of Business Ethics 2010, 97(3):391-424.
59. Ramanathan K.V. Toward a theory of corporate social accounting. Accounting Review 1976, 51(3):516-528.
60. Roberts R.W. Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure: an application of stakeholder theory. Accounting, Organization and Society 1992, 17(6):595-612.
61. Ruf B., Muralidhar K., Brown R.M., Janney J., Paul K. An empirical investigation of the relationship between change in corporate social performance and financial performance: a stakeholder theory perspective. Journal of Business Ethics 2001, 32(2):143-156.
62. Sen S., Bhattacharya C.B., Korschun D. The role of corporate social responsibility in strengthening multiple stakeholder relationships: a field experiment. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 2006, 34(2):158-166.
63. Schreck P. Reviewing the business case for corporate social responsibility: new evidence and analysis. Journal of Business Ethics 2011, 103(2):167-188.
64. Sikka P. Accounting for human rights: the challenge of globalization and foreign investment agreements. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 2011, 22(8):811-827.
65. Sinclair-Desgagne B., Gozlan E. A theory of environmental risk disclosure. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 2003, 45:377-393.
66. Thorne L., Mahoney L., Bobek D. A comparison of the association between corporate social responsibility and executive compensation: U.S. versus Canada. Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting 2009, 14:26-36.
67. Turban D.B., Greening D.W. Corporate social performance and organizational attractiveness to prospective employees. Academy of Management Journal 1997, 40(3):658-672.
68. Ullmann A. Data in search of a theory: a critical examination of the relationships among social performance, social disclosure, and economic performance of U.S. firms. Academy of Management Review 1985, 10(3):540-557.
69. Verrecchia R. Discretionary Disclosure Journal of Accounting and Economics 1983, 5(3):179-194.
70. Waddock S.A., Graves S.B. Industry performance and investment in R&D and capital goods. Journal of High Technology Management Research 1994, 5(1):1-17.
71. Waddock S.A., Graves S.B. Attraction or repulsion: how institutional owners react to corporate social performance. Management Research News 1995, 18(2):20-24.
72. Waddock S.A., Graves S.B. The corporate social performance-financial performance link. Strategic Management Journal 1997, 18(4):303-319.
73. Williams S.M. Voluntary environmental and social accounting disclosure practices in the Asia-Pacific region: an international empirical test of political economy theory. The International Journal of Accounting 1999, 34(2):209-238.
74. Woods M. The global reporting initiative. The CPA Journal 2003, 73(6):60-65.