Covid-19 and CSR Disclosure: Evidence From New Zealand

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aut.relation.endpage415
aut.relation.issue3en_NZ
aut.relation.journalChina Accounting and Finance Reviewen_NZ
aut.relation.startpage391
aut.relation.volume24en_NZ
aut.researcherBahadar, Stephen
dc.contributor.authorBahadar, Sen_NZ
dc.contributor.authorZaman, Ren_NZ
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-07T04:05:33Z
dc.date.available2022-09-07T04:05:33Z
dc.date.copyright2022-08-05en_NZ
dc.date.issued2022-08-05en_NZ
dc.description.abstractPurpose Stakeholders' uncertainty about firms' value drives their urge to get information, as well as managerial disclosure choices. In this study, the authors examine whether and how an important source of uncertainty – the recent COVID-19 pandemic's effect on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure – is beyond managerial and stakeholders' control. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop a novel construct for daily CSR disclosure by employing computer-aided text analysis (CATA) on the press releases issued by 125 New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) listed from 28 February 2020 to 31 December 2020. To capture COVID-19 intensity, the authors use the growth rate of the population-adjusted cumulative sum of confirmed cases in New Zealand on a specific day. To examine the association between the COVID-19 outbreak and companies' CSR disclosure, the authors employed ordinary least squares (OLS) regression by clustering standard error at the firm level. Findings The authors find a one standard deviation increase in the COVID-19 outbreak leads to a 28% increase in such disclosures. These results remained robust to a series of sensitivity tests and continue to hold after accounting for potential endogeneity concerns. In the channel analysis, the study demonstrates that the positive relationship between COVID-19 and CSR disclosure is more pronounced in the presence of a well-structured board (i.e. a large, more independent board and with a higher proportion of women on it). In further analysis, the authors find the documented relationship varies over the pandemic's life cycle and is moderated by government stringency response, peer CSR pressure and media coverage. Originality/value This paper is the first study that contributes to the scant literature examining the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on CSR disclosure. Prior research either investigates the relationship of the CSR-stock return during the COVID-19 market crisis or examines the relationship between corporate characteristics including the quality of financial information and the reactions of stock returns during COVID-19. The authors extend such studies by providing empirical evidence that managers respond to COVID-19 by increasing CSR disclosure.en_NZ
dc.identifier.citationChina Accounting and Finance Review, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 391-415. https://doi.org/10.1108/CAFR-03-2022-0017
dc.identifier.doi10.1108/cafr-03-2022-0017en_NZ
dc.identifier.issn1029-807Xen_NZ
dc.identifier.issn2307-3055en_NZ
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10292/15429
dc.languageenen_NZ
dc.publisherEmeralden_NZ
dc.relation.urihttps://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/CAFR-03-2022-0017/full/htmlen_NZ
dc.rights© Stephen Bahadar and Rashid Zaman. Published in China Accounting and Finance Review. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/ legalcode
dc.rights.accessrightsOpenAccessen_NZ
dc.subjectCSR disclosure; Novel coronavirus; COVID-19; SARS-COV-2; Information uncertainty; Stakeholder-agency theory; Corporate governance; Media coverage
dc.titleCovid-19 and CSR Disclosure: Evidence From New Zealanden_NZ
dc.typeJournal Article
pubs.elements-id475948
pubs.organisational-data/AUT
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Faculty of Business, Economics and Law
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Faculty of Business, Economics and Law/School of Business
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Faculty of Business, Economics and Law/School of Business/Finance Department
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