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Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a strategic tool that firms use to gain competitive advantage and enhance profitability in the long run, yet its effect on dividend payout in extraordinary times is limited. Grounded in stakeholder and dual responsibility theories, this study examines the effect of CSR on the relationship between COVID‐19 and dividend payout. Data from the period 2015–2021 were obtained from 114 non‐financial listed firms on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, South Africa, and analyzed by multivariate and logit regression techniques. COVID‐19 has a negative effect on the amount and likelihood of dividend payment, while CSR performance has a positive effect on the likelihood and amount of dividend payment. However, the result of the negative effect of COVID‐19 on dividend payment does not differ between high and low CSR performing firms. Conversely, the impact of COVID‐19 and CSR on dividend payment differ between high and low financial constraint firms. Shareholders should learn to manage their expectations of dividends payment during times of crisis like COVID‐19, as firms tend to focus more on addressing the needs of stakeholders through CSR initiatives, which will enhance profit in the long term, rather than paying out dividend to shareholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid‐19 pandemic has caused a significant decline in stock markets worldwide, and organizations are experiencing serious financial problems. Protecting and preserving firm value are critical ways to help organizations survive the crisis. This study analyzes a sample of 45 firms listed on the Polish Stock Market in two periods to determine the relationship among green initiatives, the triple bottom line (TBL) perspective, and firm value in the periods before and during the crisis caused by the Covid‐19 pandemic. The results show that firms with higher green initiatives are more likely to obtain better TBL performance during the normal period. Economic and social dimensions of TBL positively influence firm value regardless of the period, but the same is not true of the ecological dimension. The Covid‐19 pandemic's negative impact on investors' perception does not translate to firm value. This study provides the first empirical evidence on the value of organizations affected by the Covid‐19 pandemic in the context of environmental management. By considering the TBL approach, this study provides a new boundary condition that explains the impact mechanism of green initiatives during a crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In periods of crisis, companies face a financial reality that forces them to decide whether to maintain their commitment to sustainability or prioritize their financial returns. The study of what happened during the COVID‐19 pandemic is vital, given the hard blow it has implied for business and, consequently, for employment. Thus, this paper seeks to determine whether the business commitment to sustainability policies focused on employment and gender diversity translates into concrete results. In a sample of 1761 multinationals (8963 observations) during the 2015–2020 period, we found that the pandemic has harmed employment at the microeconomic level. However, this impact is moderated by the level of responsibility that companies have with their workers. Therefore, the most sustainable companies have been more reluctant to reduce their workforce and even more so when they are women. These results help to position sustainability performance as a way to achieve gender equality at the business level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a business perspective, the health and socio‐economic effects of the COVID‐19 have affected a firm's stakeholders to a different extent, making it necessary for them to develop sustainable initiatives that allow them to meet their needs. Decisions must be made and implemented in a recessionary environment in which companies debate whether it is economically reasonable to promote them and whether they can afford not to do so. In this work, based on the theory of social identity, we argue that these business commitments will have been promoted in companies with boards of directors that have a greater female presence. The results obtained for a sample of 4821 multinationals confirm that the repercussion of incidental affect on the social identity of the in‐group of female directors has partially slowed the setback that business sustainability has suffered due to the pandemic, which is especially important with respect to good governance policies and practices and guaranteeing the social and environmental commitment of previous years. This evidence has important theoretical and practical implications, contributing the current debate on strategic decisions regarding sustainability and the benefits associated with board gender diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine a set of institutional isomorphic influences toward integrated reporting quality (IRQ) and the role of board independence in moderating such influences. The results from a cross‐sectional sample of 200 international companies indicated that both coercive (regulatory quality) and normative isomorphism (press freedom, CEO with accounting qualification, Dow Jones Sustainability Index listing, and winning an IR award) exert positive effects on IRQ. Moreover, board independence moderates positively for the effects of mimetic isomorphism (environmental sensitive industry) on IRQ. This study contributes to filling the gap in the literature by offering a multi‐theory approach to analyzing the antecedent of IRQ from the lenses of both institutional and agency theory. It also offers a practical contribution for corporate IR adopters, users, and regulatory authorities to improve corporate reporting. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that examines the moderating role of board independence on IRQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In particular, the results show that corporate social responsibility strengthens the relationship between corporations and employees due to employees' positive perception toward their organizations for the implementation of CSR initiatives. When corporate social responsibility (CSR) increases performance: Exploring the role of intrinsic and extrinsic CSR attribution. The results indicate that cross-cultural legitimacy is significantly associated with responsible innovation practices and firm performance within the Asia-Pacific CBM, while the cross-cultural legitimacy-firm performance association is partially mediated by the responsible innovation practice. This editorial of corporate social responsibility and environmental management summarizes the papers included in the Special Issue "The managerial implications of assessing corporate social performance.". [Extracted from the article]

Building a sustainable organization is one of the most important goals in business. To build sustainability, firms need to have strong social commitment to establish value‐creating stakeholder relationships. As boards of directors play a critical role in setting strategy, providing management oversight and monitoring, it is also their responsibility to ensure the firm's commitment to its social responsibilities. With the right composition, boards can be effective in driving long‐term vision and creating good stakeholder relationships, contributing to firms' social capital. In this paper, we analyze board characteristics of publicly listed US firms and find evidence that support the diversity theory. In particular, that board gender diversity (proportion of female directors) is positively associated with firms' social commitment to human rights, product responsibility, and their community and workforce, evidencing female directors' contribution to firms' sustainability. To ensure the robustness of our analysis, we conduct additional analyses including propensity score matching, entropy balancing, and instrumental‐variable analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates whether and how non‐pecuniary employee rewards based on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in association with human resource management (HRM) affect firm value. In the context of Japanese manufacturing firms for the 2006–2019 period, the regression results provide several important findings. Non‐pecuniary rewards work individually and synergistically with pecuniary rewards to enhance employee motivations for innovation, through which the CSR‐HRM nexus increases firm value. However, non‐employee perception of employee‐oriented CSR negatively moderates the relationship between innovation and firm market value. In the Japanese market, investors are fully aware about the CSR‐HRM effect on employee motivations and highly concerned with risk due to conflicts of interest between employees and non‐employee stakeholders. This suggests the importance of stakeholder engagement to link organizational innovation capability with firm value. These findings provide useful implications for the alignment of CSR strategies with HRM policies for optimizing innovation performance for corporate sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the effects of various internal (board independence, gender diversity, and specialized sustainability committee) and external (analysts' coverage and institutional ownership) corporate governance mechanisms on firms' decision to purchase external assurance for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) report. Using an international sample, we show that board diversity, the existence of a CSR committee, analysts' coverage, and institutional investors increase the probability of assuring a CSR report, while board independence decreases it. The findings further suggest that several configurations of these mechanisms complement each other in improving the credibility of nonfinancial disclosure through assurance. However, other configurations do not work in tandem, supporting the existence of substitution effects. Overall, bundling various governance mechanisms effectively could be more useful in formulating and implementing a corporate strategy than individual mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to study the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) over small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) innovation and the effect of two mediating variables, debt terms and human capital. Based on a sample of 2825 Spanish SMEs and applying a structural equations modeling, the results demonstrate that the effect of CSR on innovation is mediated by debt terms and by good human resource practices. Part of the positive effect of CSR on innovation occurs through these two variables, which, alone, positively and significantly affect innovation in SMEs. Consequently, the positive effect of CSR practices on debt terms through a decrease in asymmetric information goes further, also having repercussions on innovation. Additionally, the suitable development of human resource practices based on strategies oriented toward CSR allow companies to carry out greater and more efficient innovative activities. This paper contributes to the CSR literature considering the human resource management and the debt access in the relationship between CSR and innovation. The findings reveal important implications for policy makers and managers. For the former, the results show that it would be interesting to carry out actions aimed at assisting SMEs, especially those with fewer resources available, to implement a suitable CSR strategy, supporting sustainable development in SMEs. And, for the latter, CSR‐oriented innovation has proven to be a valuable strategy for more efficient SMEs management because of the multiple competitive advantages it generates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between corporate social responsibility, corporate innovation, and corporate performance in developing countries. Firm level governance and corporate social responsibility data for 150 companies from 12 developing countries were collected from Datastream and Bloomberg for 2014–2019. The results show that in the context of developing countries there is no significant relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate innovation. Our findings raise concerns about the level of R&D investments and commitment to corporate social responsibilities in developing economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate governance has long been the subject of interest for researchers in business administration. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices decided by boards of directors are now a key issue in the decision‐making process of companies. The relationship between the governance structure and CSR policies is crucial to defining the companies' strategic view. In this paper, we identify how the characteristics of corporate governance impact CSR disclosure. Our findings show that a large board of directors reduces the probability of adhering to practices that involve stakeholders more closely in company activity, while companies with more independent directors have a higher level of stakeholder protection almost by definition. Thus, there is a need for additional ways of involving stakeholders in company activity. Our results also reveal that an overlap between the roles of the CEO and the board chairman is an undesirable influence on a CSR report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) presents a valuable tool of a better management of enterprises for the benefit of the whole society. Small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) have been facing this challenge for a shorter time than large enterprises. The aim of the article is to evaluate the impact of the CSR indicators on the sustainability of SMEs in Central European (CE) countries. Factors of the sustainability of SMEs are innovative ways to win new markets and retain existing customers, the innovation of our products and services, and lower probability of SMEs' bankruptcy. Linear regression analysis was applied to verify causal relationships. The sample size was constructed of 1,585 SMEs on basis of the questionnaire's answers. The results show that the knowledge of the CSR concept and its assertion in business is the most important CSR indicator with a positive impact on each factor of SMEs' sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated reporting is a fairly recent phenomenon in the corporate reporting realm. Its dawn marks a new age of corporate reporting where financial and non‐financial information and their interrelation create an integrated and holistic approach for telling a value creation story. In tandem with this transformation, business sustainability in general and environmental performance, in particular, are also gaining prominence in the corporate landscape. This scholarly article investigates the relationship between integrated reporting and corporate environmental performance. A panel‐data is used to carry out the study using a sample of 110 firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock exchange for the years 2014–2018, where Integrated Reporting was first mandated. The empirical results are robust and consistent with our predictions in that integrated reporting is found positively associated with corporate environmental performance. Our findings pave the way for a new stream of literature on the transformation and the connectivity functions of integrated reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the debate on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the strategies implemented by organizations to disseminate their business actions, fuels the discussion on aspects that point to sustainable development. To show their CSR strategies, one of the mechanisms used by companies is the presentation of sustainability reports. In this work, we have modified the analysis approach traditionally used to demonstrate the characteristic factors of transparency in the field of CSR. Specifically, we focus on analyzing which indicators are the least disclosed by companies. Within this framework, the objective of this work is to analyse the practices of dissemination of environmental information based on the sustainability reports of the global reporting initiative produced by large companies, in order to establish differences and similarities in corporate social responsibility. The results obtained for a sample of 80 large companies and 67 multinational enterprises (MNEs) indicate a slight difference in the disclosure of environmental indicators. Concretely, the results reveal that 56.12% of environmental indicators are not disclosed by large companies; while, in MNEs, 51.23% of these indicators are not reported. In large companies, the greatest deficiencies in the disclosure of environmental information correspond to the categories of biodiversity, environmental grievance mechanisms, and effluents and waste. In the case of MNEs, the least disclosed categories are biodiversity, environmental grievance mechanisms, and environmental protection expenditures and investments (overall). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many European countries enacted laws to promote effective gender equality in management positions. Moreover, investors increasingly consider the sustainable valuation of companies in their portfolio selection. Previous research demonstrates the positive relationship between female directors and corporate social performance. The aim of this study is twofold: we examine the extent to which this relationship remains positive according to the level of gender diversity and compare the behaviour in American and European markets, considering that the US has no gender quota. We apply a panel data methodology, with fixed effects, to examine companies listed in the S&P 500 and Euro Stoxx 300 indices during 2015–2019. The results show the increasing influence of women directors up to a limit, both in the American and European markets, and this influence is higher in Europe. This result implies that gender‐diverse boards are favourable to the sustainable behaviour of companies. Therefore, policymakers should promote gender policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are integrated reports actually forward looking or do they disclose mainly the past? Stakeholders, particularly investors, increasingly call for more information on strategies, risks, and opportunities that companies face. Integrated Reporting, through its future‐oriented approach, represents a response to these corporate reporting challenges, by making companies disclose more about their future outlook, enabling investors and other stakeholders to take a much longer term view. In such a context, this study explore the extent and characteristics of forward‐looking information in reports that are recognized as best practices by a reputable awards process or through benchmarking in the International Integrated Reporting Council's database and proposes different dimensions of analysis. Overall, the results show that even among the best in class integrated reports, there are differences in the disclosure of forward‐looking information and that the information needs of stakeholders regarding future‐oriented disclosure do not seem to be fully met. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining the postulates of the upper echelons theory and the economic theories of information disclosure, one might expect that the effect of chief executive officers' (CEOs') managerial ability on their firms' disclosure policies has both a direct and indirect nature. The latter would be associated with the mediating role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance on the relationship between CEOs' ability and corporate transparency. Using a sample of 956 international firms over the period 2006–2014 (6,442 firm‐year observations), we examine the role that the CEO ability plays in determining the relevance of CSR disclosures and whether this role is mediated by CSR performance. By proposing several regression models, we document that more able CEOs are more willing to disclose comparable and useful CSR information that favours stakeholder engagement. This relationship is mediated by the impact that CEO's ability has over the implementation of sustainability strategies that improve CSR performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The information contained in corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports is a controversial issue, and it has generated an important debate among academics regarding company disclosure strategies. Environmental matters are especially relevant given their impact on sustainable development. The present study has two objectives. The first is to determine which Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) environmental indicators are reported less frequently. The second is to predict the evolution of these indicators in light of the institutional pressures that companies try to resist. Specifically, the study of the environmental dimension of the GRI focusses on an analysis of the following: materials, energy, water, biodiversity, emissions, effluents and waste, products and services, compliance, transport, environmental assessment, and environmental grievance mechanisms. A content analysis of CSR reports from some of the world's largest companies reveals that the indicators least disclosed by companies relate to the environmental aspects of biodiversity. The dissemination of environmental indicators is influenced by normative, mimetic, and (to a lesser extent) coercive pressures. In addition, we observe that mimetic institutional pressures under a national and industrial vision influence the dissemination of environmental information. In terms of cultural dimensions, companies located in long‐term, feminine, and collectivist countries tend to disseminate environmental information accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to reveal the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programming and communication strategies of companies from controversial versus noncontroversial industry sectors and stakeholders' responses to these online CSR communications. A content analysis of CSR videos from 58 companies among the Fortune 500 and user comments on YouTube found that controversial and noncontroversial industries tended to use different strategies in their online CSR communications. Videos that (a) used information strategies, (b) took a company‐dominant perspective, and (c) described high fit CSR programs received more negative and skeptical comments; CSR videos that (a) emphasized the companies' commitment to the programs, (b) demonstrated the impact of CSR programs with anecdotal evidences, and (c) balanced their stated CSR motives between social benefits and business interests received less negative and skeptical comments. Most importantly, stakeholders' responses towards these communication strategies differed by industry sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines if the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and innovation is homogeneous or depends on the type of CSR practice and/or the type of innovation. The paper focuses on the three dimensions of the "three bottom line" of CSR (economic, social, and environmental) and on the so‐called "fateful triangle" of innovation, which together with studied product and process innovation types also considers organizational innovation. The theoretical framework is based on the resource‐based view and the knowledge‐based view approaches. In analysing sustainable innovation in the Spanish context, we look at a set of firms taking data for the 2009–2014 Spanish Community Innovation Survey. The empirical study uses random effect probit panel data methodology. The results show that, although the positive effect of CSR on innovation is confirmed for the majority of the cases, there are differences depending on the innovation type and the CSR dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have investigated how women on boards impact corporate social responsibility reporting, a voluntary strategy clearly influenced by board composition in general and gender diversity in particular. However, this research goes further and proposes to provide evidence about how female directors influence gender issues reporting. Moreover, this research also examines the moderating effect between gender diversity on boards and country‐level factors related to stakeholder orientation. For an international sample of 8,609 firm‐year observations from 2007 to 2016 and by regressing several logit models for panel data, it was found that female directors increase the probability of voluntary reporting on gender issues. Moreover, the findings also suggest that institutional forces related to stakeholder pressures reinforce this effect; the greater reporting on gender issues that female directors achieve is even higher when firms are located in stakeholder‐oriented countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine two closely related issues: first, the effect of the presence of female directors on boards on corporate social responsibility disclosure, focusing on the necessary critical mass of this minority group, and, second, the moderation of the human capital of board members—their background, skills, and experience—that could favor the intrinsic female directors' characteristics through the cognitive effect of equal board members. For an international sample of 9,744 firm‐year observations from 2007 to 2016, different panel data regressions are proposed. The findings of this study reveal a positive impact of gender board diversity on voluntary socially responsible disclosure by examining the presence of at least three women on the board—the critical mass. Moreover, the paper reports a greater effect when the board's background, skills, and experience are greater. As a supplemental analysis, the evidence shows that the female role does not remain when women achieve the position of chairperson; that is, female directors adopt a male stereotype regarding voluntary information disclosure when they are also the chairperson of the firm, independently of the human capital of the board members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender policies concerning the composition of board of directors are included in the legislation of many countries, especially promoted by the European Commission to reach gender equality in the processes of decision making. On the other hand, in the last decades, sustainable development problems caused by economic progress have enhanced the interest in environmental policies. Using the data from top Spanish listed companies, from 2003 to 2017, we test if the higher number of women on their board influences corporate social responsibility (CSR), through the disclosure of reports following the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines and the inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. By using probit models and instrumental variable estimation to address endogeneity and reverse causality problems, we find that the female presence in management positions is positively linked to a voluntary disclosure of CSR reports and the inclusion in a sustainability index, which supports gender legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of the business world and current business models has motivated an increasing number of companies to disclose corporate information through sustainability reports. This reporting and stakeholders engagement may bring shared value to business and society in general although working towards sustainable development goals. This work adopts a new analytical approach by determining the global reporting initiative indicators related to labour practices and decent work, human rights, society, and product responsibility that are reported less frequently by companies. The final objective is to predict the influence that society's cultural values will play as a normative institutional pressure in their evolution. The results obtained for a sample comprising the 201 largest international companies that report in accordance with the recommendations of the G4 Guide in 2015 indicate that more than 50% of these large companies do not report specific mechanisms implemented to avoid violations of human rights and labour rights, or information on incidents related to production and commercial relations. Regulatory pressures associated with cultural values have limited effectiveness as drivers of greater corporate transparency in this area, as they are able to predict a favourable evolution for only 40% of companies that currently do not report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the new economic scenario, characterized by a rapidly changing environment, companies are pushed into seeking new responses in order to survive and succeed. Companies are looking for new activities to improve their economic performance. Furthermore, these activities have been focused on innovation and/or socially responsible aspects. This paper analyzes the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR), innovation and its effect on performance. Especially, it shows if innovation has a fundamental role in the development of socially responsible practices or if social issues are responsible for practices that lead to greater innovation and, consequently, to greater performance. Data were collected from a sample of 121 Spanish wineries. The results show that CSR and innovation act as a mediator depending on the measurement of performance used. CSR, specifically, acts as a mediator between innovation and objective performance. However, managers perceive that the relationship between CSR and performance improves through innovation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the role performed by representatives of institutional investors in environmental reporting in Spain, where the presence of this type of director is the highest among European countries. Additionally, we make a distinction between those representatives of institutional investors appointed by bank and insurance companies and those appointed by mutual funds, investment funds and pension funds, because they have different motivations, characteristics and incentives, and consequently their role on boards and their influence on environmental disclosure may be dissimilar, as our results suggest. Our research offers a deep analysis revealing the role played by representatives of institutional investors in Spanish listed firms' decisions to disclose environmental information. Thus, our findings show the engagement with the stakeholders of a particular type of director on boards regarding environmental disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper extends research on how the background of independent directors may affect the way in which their companies disclose information about corporate social responsibility (CSR). Using a sample of 83 Spanish‐listed firms over the period 2009–2014, the findings of a random effects probit model suggest that, in addition to board independence, having independent directors with political backgrounds and diverse education has a positive impact on their firm's probability of issuing a CSR report following the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adds clarity to inconclusive results in previous literature about the link between board characteristics and the level of social responsibility performance by using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis. Specifically, we propose a new holistic framework based on the complexity theory. From a sample of 471 non-financial companies from the USA for the period 2008-2010, our findings support the four tenets of complexity theory: equifinality, complexity, asymmetry, and causal asymmetry . More concretely, they suggest that CSR performance depends on a complex configuration of some board characteristics, such as size, independency, diversity and activity, and other corporate attributes (i.e., company size, leverage, and growth opportunities). These factors play a key role as the ingredients of the recipe and, in a proper combination, contribute to obtaining high levels of social responsibility performance. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyse the possible relationship between integrated information disclosure and the degree of information asymmetry. Additionally, we analyse this relationship in firms characterised by higher/lower financial reporting quality and those located in environments defined by strong/weak investor protection. The initial results obtained after applying the panel data methodology confirm that there is a negative relationship between information asymmetry and the disclosure of an integrated report, which indicates that using this tool to inform can help to mitigate agency problems, facilitate corporate decision-making and improve the information among investors. Further, our first complementary analysis shows that the integrated report effect is more statistically significant relative to information asymmetry in countries with strong investor protection. We can also observe in the second complementary analysis that companies that report a lower quality of financial information have a more important reduction effect on asymmetric information than firms with higher-quality annual accounts. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our main objective is to study whether banks that follow CSR practices enhance earnings quality. We also analyse whether differences in earnings quality that are driven by CSR engagement are affected in a complementary or substitutive manner by levels of investor protection and bank regulation for financial institutions across countries. To test our predictions, we use a sample of 877 observations, corresponding to 159 banks from 9 countries, for the period 2004-2010. Our results indicate that a bank's commitment to CSR practices enhances earnings persistence as well as cash flow predictability. The empirical evidence also shows that the effect of CSR on the quality of bank earnings is particularly high in countries with higher levels of investor protection and bank regulation, providing evidence that these institutional factors are complementary mechanisms for CSR activities in banks, and suggesting that more socially responsible banks have higher earnings quality in a stricter regulatory environment. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is two-fold: (i) to evidence if the role of independent directors regarding the disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information is determined by the aim of protecting shareholders' value; and (ii) to highlight whether non-executive directors only have incentives to disclose this information when it does not damage ownerships' interest, being a trade-off between the benefits of reducing the information asymmetry in capital markets and the cost of aiding competitors by revealing proprietary information. From an international sample from 2004 to 2010, we proposed several Tobit regressions for panel data. This research evidences that independent directors show an initial opposition to CSR disclosure practices except in firms with a higher yearly cost of equity capital and lower proprietary costs. Moreover, this opposition is avoiding if there is an assurance statement that reduces their reputation risks associated with potential misleading CSR information. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]