Timing effects of corporate social responsibility disclosure: an experimental study with investment professionals

Arnold, Markus Christopher; Bassen, Alexander; Frank, Ralf (2018). Timing effects of corporate social responsibility disclosure: an experimental study with investment professionals. Journal of sustainable finance & investment, 8(1), pp. 45-71. Taylor & Francis 10.1080/20430795.2017.1368229

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Companies disclose increasingly more corporate social responsibility (CSR) related information. However, CSR information is not always treated entirely rationally by capital market participants. In an experiment using experienced investment professionals, we investigate how the timing of CSR disclosure influences firm valuations by professional investors. The results suggest that CSR disclosure in a stand-alone report, temporally disconnected to firm’s financial disclosure, may lead to asymmetric anchoring, whereby simultaneous disclosure of CSR and financial information in an integrated report prevents anchoring in investors’ judgement. Investors’ asymmetric anchoring is induced by differences in cognitive effort invested in CSR information processing, which depends on whether CSR information signals future profits or losses. Our results contribute to the debate on disclosure standards for CSR information and the use of CSR information by professional investors.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Department of Business Management > Institute for Accounting and Controlling > Managerial Accounting
UniBE Contributor:	Arnold, Markus Christopher
Subjects:	300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 330 Economics 600 Technology > 650 Management & public relations
ISSN:	2043-0795
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Language:	English
Submitter:	Alexandra Neuenschwander
Date Deposited:	05 Apr 2018 14:08
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 15:08
Publisher DOI:	10.1080/20430795.2017.1368229
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/107443