We provide the first direct analysis of the magnitude of unreliable quantitative information disclosed in corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. CSR report reliability is of particular interest to fund managers for investment decisions as well as to policymakers for regulating and monitoring purposes. However, surprisingly little is known about CSR reporting reliability despite concerns raised in the prior literature. We examine how often CSR reports for the Global Fortune 250 (G250) are restated, the magnitude of restatements, and factors associated with restatements during the period 2006 to 2013. During this sample period, the occurrence of restatements increased monotonically, with 39% of G250 CSR reports including one or more line-item restatements. The magnitude of the line-item restatements is quite high, with a median restatement of about 10%. We also find evidence of bias in the revised items toward overstatement. We find that restatements occur more frequently in firms that have reported a high level of social performance and that have environmental targets. The occurrence of restatement is also positively associated with firms residing in strong law countries and having their CSR reports audited. Our analysis of reporting bias indicates a negative association between use of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting guidelines and the likelihood of an overstatement. We also find a positive association between having the CSR report audited and the likelihood of revisions associated with overstatements. Together, our exploratory results indicate that CSR information may be unreliable and firms that face pressure to perform well have more restatements. However, our evidence is consistent with the restatements resulting from improvements in information systems over time rather than intentional bias. Our findings will help investors and fund managers better judge the reliability of CSR disclosures, and inform regulators and standard setters on ways to enhance the reliability of CSR reporting. Finally, we contribute to the audit literature examining sustainability assurance.

中文翻译：

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企业社会责任报告的重述：频率、数量和决定因素*

我们首次对企业社会责任 (CSR) 报告中披露的不可靠定量信息的严重程度进行了直接分析。企业社会责任报告的可靠性对基金经理的投资决策以及政策制定者的监管和监控特别感兴趣。然而，尽管在先前的文献中提出了担忧，但令人惊讶的是，人们对 CSR 报告的可靠性知之甚少。我们研究了 2006 年至 2013 年期间全球财富 250 强 (G250) 的企业社会责任报告重述的频率、重述的幅度以及与重述相关的因素。在此样本期间，重述的发生率单调增加，39% G250 CSR 报告包括一个或多个项目重述。行项目重述的幅度相当高，重述中位数约为 10%。我们还发现修改后的项目存在夸大其词的证据。我们发现，在报告了高水平社会绩效和有环境目标的公司中，更频繁地重述。重述的发生也与居住在法律严格的国家并对其 CSR 报告进行审计的公司呈正相关。我们对报告偏差的分析表明，全球报告倡议组织 (GRI) 报告指南的使用与夸大的可能性之间存在负相关。我们还发现，企业社会责任报告的审计与因多报相关的修订可能性之间存在正相关关系。一起，我们的探索性结果表明，企业社会责任信息可能不可靠，面临良好业绩压力的公司有更多的重述。然而，我们的证据与随着时间的推移信息系统的改进而不是有意的偏见所导致的重述是一致的。我们的研究结果将帮助投资者和基金经理更好地判断企业社会责任披露的可靠性，并告知监管机构和标准制定者如何提高企业社会责任报告的可靠性。最后，我们为审查可持续性保证的审计文献做出了贡献。并告知监管机构和标准制定者如何提高企业社会责任报告的可靠性。最后，我们为审查可持续性保证的审计文献做出了贡献。并告知监管机构和标准制定者如何提高企业社会责任报告的可靠性。最后，我们为审查可持续性保证的审计文献做出了贡献。