Can Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility Reduce Firms’ Idiosyncratic Risk? Evidence From China

Abstract

Environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) can be a strategy to increase the transparency of investment information effectively to alleviate information asymmetry. The purpose of this article is to examine the impact of ECSR on firms’ idiosyncratic risk. Using the data of A-share listed firms in China and data of Rankins CSR Ratings by developing econometrics models, this study documents that ECSR can significantly reduce the firms’ idiosyncratic risk. This result perpetuates after a series of robustness checks. Besides, the results of conditional analyses reveal that the effect of ECSR is more pronounced for state-owned firms and firms with weaker external monitoring mechanisms and low internal control. Moreover, further evidence suggests that firms with high ECSR show a greater tendency to disclose more information, which reduces the information asymmetry and offers linkages from ESCR to firms’ idiosyncratic risk.