نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی

نویسندگان

• حیدر حسین نصر
• حمزه دیدار
• غلامرضا منصورفر

دانشکده اقتصاد و مدیریت، دانشگاه ارومیه، ارومیه، ایران.

چکیده

هدف این پژوهش بررسی وجود انگیزه‌های مرتبط با فرضیه‌های خیریه، علامت‌‌دهی و ‌سرمایه‌گذاریِ مسئولیت‌پذیری اجتماعی و همچنین نقش کیفیت گزارشگری مالی در ایجاد این انگیزه‌ها در صورت وجود است. این پژوهش از لحاظ هدف کاربردی بوده و از نظر اجرا و بررسی رابطه بین متغیرها در شاخه پژوهش‌های توصیفی-همبستگی قرار دارد. بر اساس شرایط و محدودیت‌های اعمال شده، نمونه آماری غربال شده متشکل از 101 شرکت پذیرفته شده در بورس تهران در طی سال‌های 1393 الی 1402 بوده و با استفاده از الگوهای رگرسیونی چند متغیره مورد آزمون قرار گرفته‌ است. نتایج بیانگر آن است که مشارکت شرکت‌ها در فعالیت‌های مسئولیت‌پذیری اجتماعی با انگیزه‌هایی به‌غیر از اهداف خیریه انجام شده و کیفیت گزارشگری مالی تأثیر مثبت و معناداری بر مسئولیت پذیری اجتماعی بهینه که انگیزه‌های سرمایه‌گذاری را در خود جای داده است داشته و تأثیر منفی و معناداری نیز بر انحراف از مسئولیت پذیری اجتماعی بهینه که انگیزه‌های علامت‌دهی را در خود جای داده است دارد. به طور کلی بر اساس نتایج می‌توان بیان نمود که شرکت‌های دارای کیفیت گزارشگری مالی بالاتر، کمتر احتمال دارد که از طریق مسئولیت پذیری اجتماعی علامت‌های فرصت‌طلبانه ارسال کنند و در نتیجه، مسئولیت پذیری اجتماعی در این شرکت‌ها بهینه‌تر و یا به عبارت دیگر به منظور اهداف سرمایه‌گذاری، کسب سود و افزایش ارزش شرکت انجام می‌شود.

کلیدواژه‌ها

• کیفیت گزارشگری مالی
• فرضیه‌ خیریه
• فرضیه‌ علامت‌‌دهی
• فرضیه‌ سرمایه‌گذاری
• مسئولیت‌پذیری اجتماعی

موضوعات

• حسابداری مالی

عنوان مقاله [English]

The Quality of Financial Reporting as a Driver of Charity, Signaling and Investment Activities of Social Responsibility

نویسندگان [English]

• Hayder Hussein Nassr
• Hamzeh Didar
• Gholamreza Mansourfar

Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Urmia, Urmia, Iran.

چکیده [English]

Several theoretical frameworks explain how financial reporting quality influences corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Legitimacy theory suggests that companies with agency problems may disclose CSR information to rebuild trust. Signaling theory argues that high-quality financial reporting uses CSR to signal transparency and financial health. Stakeholder theory emphasizes that high-quality financial reporting motivates companies to consider stakeholder interests. Agency theory suggests that low-quality reporting may lead companies to use CSR to hide weaknesses. Lys et al. (2015) propose three hypotheses: 1) the charity hypothesis (CSR for societal benefit), 2) the investment hypothesis (CSR to improve performance), and 3) the signaling hypothesis (CSR driven by future prospects or opportunism). This study aims to examine the impact of financial reporting quality on these hypotheses.

Research hypotheses

1. CSR activities do not have an impact on the company's financial performance.

2. Financial reporting quality positively impacts CSR activities motivated by investment purposes.

3. Financial reporting quality has a significant impact on CSR activities driven by signaling motives.

2. Literature Review

Financial reporting quality can create different incentives for companies to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, with varying motivations depending on the level of reporting quality. According to Lys et al. (2015), these motivations can be categorized into three hypotheses: charity, investment, and signaling.

Charity Hypothesis: High-quality financial reporting can lead to CSR activities driven by genuine philanthropic motivations, whereas companies with low-quality reporting might use CSR as a tool to mask managerial or informational weaknesses. The charitable motivation is typically seen as non-strategic in companies with high-quality reporting, but in companies with lower-quality reporting, CSR might be a means to manipulate stakeholders' perceptions without true commitment to society.

Investment Hypothesis: In this hypothesis, CSR activities are seen as an investment aimed at improving financial performance. Companies with high-quality financial reporting view CSR as a strategy to enhance performance, believing it will reduce capital costs, improve reputation, and strengthen relationships with stakeholders.

Signaling Hypothesis: CSR activities are used as signals to the market and stakeholders. Companies with high-quality financial reporting use CSR to send positive signals regarding their commitment to social and environmental causes, while companies with poor reporting may use CSR as a misleading signal to compensate for poor financial transparency.

3. Methodology

This applied, retrospective study focuses on analyzing relationships between various variables using past data. It is descriptive-correlational in nature. A library research method was used for developing the theoretical framework and reviewing the literature. Primary data was collected from sources such as the Rahavard Novin software database, financial statements, company notes, and board of directors' reports. The research population includes companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange, with data collected from 2014 to 2023. Based on specific criteria, 101 companies were selected for hypothesis testing during this period.

4. Results and Discussion

The results of the first hypothesis showed that CSR positively impacts company performance, indicating that motivations beyond charity should be explored in Iranian companies. Financial reporting quality was found to drive CSR activities, supporting the second and third hypotheses related to investment and signaling motives.

The second hypothesis confirmed that financial reporting quality positively impacts optimal CSR, with companies using CSR to increase value and profit. This is consistent with signaling and stakeholder theories, as companies with high-quality reporting are more motivated to engage in CSR for investment purposes.

The third hypothesis showed that financial reporting quality negatively impacts deviations from optimal CSR, suggesting that high-quality reporting reduces opportunistic motives and leads to more genuine CSR efforts. This confirms that financial reporting quality promotes investment motivations and reduces opportunistic behavior.

5. Conclusion

Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that companies can improve their performance by engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, and these activities are driven by motivations beyond philanthropic goals. In this context, financial reporting quality has a positive and significant impact on optimal CSR. This indicates that companies with higher financial reporting quality engage in CSR activities with investment and profit-seeking objectives. Additionally, financial reporting quality has a negative and significant impact on deviations from optimal CSR. This result suggests that companies with higher financial reporting quality are less likely to send opportunistic signals through CSR, and as a result, CSR in these companies is more optimal, or in other words, is conducted for investment purposes, profit generation, and enhancing company value.

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

• Financial reporting quality
• charity hypothesis
• signaling hypothesis
• investment hypothesis
• social responsibility