CSR Reporting and Its Implication for Socially Responsible Investment in China

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting has grown significantly in China during the past decade. This chapter assesses the status of Chinese CSR reporting and its main drivers as well as firms’ subsequent social, environmental and financial performance. Employing data from 130 Chinese listed companies, we assessed the development trend of CSR reporting and suggest that such a growth is mainly driven by external pressure (e.g. regulations). Our statistical testing found positive associations between CSR reporting and firms’ subsequent social, environmental and financial performance. Our results have important implications for social responsible investors who focus on both financial and social returns. They, therefore, can leverage firms’ CSR reports as indicators for their investment decisions.