Does mandatory CSR disclosure affect enterprise total factor productivity?

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports are important carriers of enterprises non-financial information disclosure, which are inextricably related to the production efficiency and performance of enterprises. The objective of this paper is discovering the causal effect of the CSR mandatory disclosure policy and the total factor productivity (TFP) of enterprises. This paper uses the sharp regression discontinuity design based on the micro data of the enterprises to study the impact by taking China's mandatory disclosure policy in 2008 as a quasi-natural experiment. This paper makes some contribution to the impact of mandatory CSR disclosure on enterprise TFP and the mechanism and heterogeneity of this impact. The research draws the following conclusions: First, the CSR mandatory disclosure can significantly improve the TFP of enterprises on the whole, and this effect has the characteristics of long-term and dynamic decline. Second, the mechanism of mandatory disclosure of CSR on TFP is through the mediating effect of R&D and innovation expenditures. Third, the heterogeneity of the impact of CSR mandatory disclosure on TFP is reflected in two aspects: industry and equity nature differences. These conclusions are strongly correlated with the contingent decision-making behaviour of enterprises and give some ideas to the policy makers.

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