This study examines the association between corporate social responsibility and management forecast accuracy. Using data from 1995 to 2009, we find that firms provide more accurate earnings forecasts in the face of CSR activities. We also find that the positive association between CSR and management forecast accuracy is only present for the post-regulation period of 2001–2009, after the introduction of disclosure regulations intended to mitigate managers’ opportunistic behavior. These findings are consistent with the notion that managers strive to improve the (...) quality of financial disclosure following superior CSR performance in the recent period. (shrink)

In a society where the ideology of shareholder value maximization prevails, how do evaluators make appraisal and bonus decisions when corporate social responsibility measures and financial measures in the balanced scorecard point in different directions? To explore this question, we conducted two studies to develop and test a conceptual framework. Participants were asked to evaluate the performance of two managers, using a case we wrote about a commercial bank. We found that evaluators are more willing to drop CSR performance measures (...) than financial measures from the evaluations; perceived CSR relevance is influenced by where evaluators stand in regard to CSR and also by where evaluators believe shareholders stand ; and there is a financial bias in appraisal and bonus decisions when CSR measures are used in the BSC, consistent with SVM ideology. We conclude by discussing the implications of the influence of SVM ideology on the use of CSR measures in terms of business research, practice, and education. (shrink)