Do Reporting Requirements Encourage Voluntary Activities or Do Voluntary Activities Lead to Reporting Requirements? Evidence from CSR

Abstract

Governments and regulators often impose reporting requirements for a specific class of activities, to encourage beneficial corporate behavior by increasing information quality through reporting standards. We find that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports tend to increase the prevalence of voluntary CSR reporting standards, but little evidence that the converse is true. Thus, at least in the short-run, reporting standards act as an ex-post certification rather than as an ex-ante incentive for corporate behavior.