题目： Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting and Investment: Evidence from Mergers Acquisitions
时间：2023年11月28日（周二）10:00-12:00
地点： 浙江大学紫金港校区管理学院A423
主讲人：Tracy Wang副教授，澳大利亚国立大学
主持人：钱美芬副教授，浙江大学管理学院
主讲人简介：
Tracy Wang is an Associate Professor of Accounting and Convenor of Master of Commerce (Advanced) at Research School of Accounting, the Australian National University (ANU). Tracy has broad research interests in the areas of corporate governance, corporate information intermediaries, and the determinants and consequences of financial and non-financial reporting and regulations. Her research appeared in top-ranked journals including Contemporary Accounting Research, Review of Accounting Studies, Journal of Corporate Finance, European Accounting Review, Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, British Accounting Review, among many others. Her research has been featured in Institutional Investor.
Tracy has supervised 29 research students (10 PhD and 19 Honours/Masters students) and has been instrumental in helping her students embark on further prestigious research programs or successfully transition to careers in academia and industry. Her significant contribution to research supervision and training was recognised by the awarding of 2022 ANU College of Business and Economics Price for Excellence in Research Training.
Tracy is Deputy Editor at Accounting & Finance, and Guest Editor of The International Journal of Accounting Special Issue on ESG: Accounting and Reporting.
讲座摘要：
While corporate social responsibility (CSR) has played an increasingly important role in corporate decision-making, the role of CSR disclosure in a firm’s investment activities remains poorly understood. This study investigates the impact of CSR disclosure on mergers and acquisitions (M&As), which are pivotal investment activities. We find that firms disclosing voluntary CSR reports experience significantly stronger market reactions to M&A announcements than those that do not disclose such reports. Specifically, acquisitions by voluntary CSR disclosers achieve 1.2% higher returns upon acquisition announcements, leading to a substantial increase in shareholder value. Our findings are consistent across a series of robustness tests. Additional analyses suggest that the positive market reactions are especially tied to voluntary disclosures concerning the protection of employees and customers, and that the quality and financial materiality of voluntary CSR disclosures amplify positive market responses.
We also find that voluntary CSR disclosers exhibit better long-term post-acquisition market and operational performance. Collectively, our findings suggest that voluntary CSR disclosures bolster acquisition returns by mitigating stakeholder resistance. Additionally, by leveraging the unique conditional CSR disclosure regulation in China and using a staggered DID design, we observe a diminished market reaction for acquirers following mandatory CSR disclosures.
Overall, this research provides new insights into the contrasting effects of voluntary and
mandatory CSR disclosures, emphasizing the vital role of effective stakeholder CSR communication in the success of M&As.
