Corporate social responsibility and non-GAAP reporting

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and non-GAAP earnings disclosure. I find that firms with good CSR performance (i.e. CSR firms) are more likely to disclose non-GAAP earnings than firms with poor CSR performance (i.e. non-CSR firms). More importantly, I find that CSR firms provide more informative non-GAAP earnings than non-CSR firms. Furthermore, CSR firms’ decisions to disclose non-GAAP earnings are less affected by the incentives to meet earnings benchmarks or constraints on other earnings management tools. These findings are consistent with the notion that CSR firms communicate with stakeholders about their sustainable earnings through non-GAAP reporting.