Does CFO accounting expertise matter to corporate social responsibility disclosure in 10-Ks?

Abstract

PurposeThe study aims to understand the role of accountant in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the authors examine whether and how chief financial officer (CFO) accounting expertise and previous work experience influence voluntary CSR disclosure, using textual analysis and natural language processing (NLP) techniques. The authors find that firms' CFOs with accounting expertise disclose more CSR issues in their 10-K reports. Overall, this study provides evidence of the impact of CFOs' professional and personal attributes on voluntary CSR disclosure in corporate annual reports. This study has important implications to investors and policy makers in the context of CSR disclosure regulations in annual reports.FindingsOverall, this study provides evidence of the impact of CFOs' professional and personal attributes on voluntary CSR disclosure in corporate annual reports. This study has important implications to practitioners and policy makers in the context of CSR disclosure regulations in annual reports.Research limitations/implicationsThere is an inherent limitation of textual analysis as the tool tries to read key words from the text.Practical implicationsThis finding is useful for policy maker and investors as CSR is known to have impact on the share price.Originality/valueThis paper is the first attempt to find out accountants' role in CSR activities, which has not been examined in the prior literature.