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theses

This dissertation deals with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues, especially greenwashing (i.e., a firm’s use of information to appear more socially responsible than it actually is). It includes a literature review, an empirical study, and a case study, organized as three chapters. Chapter 1 is a comprehensive review of the literature. It first discusses what CSR is. Then it explores how CSR enhances firm value from the perspectives of different participants in CSR, including managers, consumers, investors, regulators and rating agencies. It also summarizes related theories on CSR, including legitimacy theory, shift of focus theory, resources-based perspective, stakeholder theory. Finally it reviews related theories and previous studies on greenwashing. Chapter 2 discusses the phenomenon of CSR report restatement. Many firms voluntarily issue CSR reports and restate them subsequently. The magnitude of restated changes is generally very small. Based on signaling theory, this study argues that CSR report restatement is a way for firms to signal that they are truly committed to CSR and not simply greenwashing. Thus, the symbolic meaning of a restatement is more important than its actual influence. CSR restatement is a voluntary choice of management rather than a forced choice due to outside pressure. Compliance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the reporting experience, previous CSR assurance, and membership in a sensitive industry are found to be determinants of CSR restatement. Chapter 3 is a case study of Chinese greenwashing firms. Previous empirical studies provide mixed results on the market reaction to greenwashing firms. This paper introduces the role of media to explain the motivation behind different market reactions. Applying the yearly list of greenwashing firms from South Weekend in China, this case study finds that the media not only disseminates secondary information, but also generates valuable information by issuing lists of firms that engage in greenwashing. The market reaction to greenwashing is associated with the extent of a firm’s greenwashing and whether that firm is on the list for the first time. Furthermore, the media is useful in detecting greenwashing, but fails to monitor whether greenwashing firms improve their corporate social performance in the future.

ETD_8986

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Yulin Sun

doi:10.7282/T3571GF2

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.