企業社會責任報告的可讀性與資本市場效益

Abstract

本研究主要探討企業社會責任報告之可讀性的資本市場效益，特別著重在對分析師追蹤數、分析師預測準確度及分析師預測離散程度的影響。本研究以Thomson Reuters ASSET4 ESG資料庫中標準普爾1500指數且曾發佈企業社會責任報告書之公司為樣本，樣本期間為2002年至2013年。研究結果顯示，企業社會責任報告可讀性愈高，分析師追縱數愈多、分析師預測離散程度愈低，然而實證結果並未發現可讀性會提高分析師預測的準確度。此外，本研究發現公司之企業社會責任績效或公司治理品質較產業平均優良，其企業社會責任報告之可讀性對分析師追蹤數的影響是較顯著的。

The objective of this research is to investigate whether the readability of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports has positive capital market benefits, measured by analyst coverage, analyst forecast accuracy, and analyst forecast dispersion. The sample includes S&P 1,500 index firms covered by ASSET4 database and issuing a standalone CSR report from years 2002 to 2013. The empirical results show that higher readability of CSR reports is associated with greater analyst coverage and lower degree of analyst forecast dispersion. However, the empirical results do not support that better readability of CSR reports improve analyst forecast accuracy. In addition, we also find that the effect of CSR report readability on analyst coverage is stronger when the firm has better corporate social performance and better corporate governance quality.