Purpose

This paper addresses the link between earnings management (EM) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 317 Spanish SMEs to perform: (1) bivariate analysis between EM, CSR and some firm-factors (i.e. size, sector, sector life cycle stage, corporate age, family ownership, profitability and financial risk); and (2) multiple regression analysis for a better understanding of EM behavior and test the influence of sector life cycle stage variable.

Findings

Results emphasize the relevance of the sector life cycle stage as an explanatory factor. Firms operating in sectors that are growing or declining in terms of sales are more proactive to EM than those with consolidated sales levels. Stratified regression analysis also confirms that the stage of the industry life cycle influences the EM-CSR relationship. Only for SMEs with stable sales in maturity sectors, lower interest in EM can be significantly explained by higher CSR performance. Firms with regular sales levels show a more outstanding socially responsible commitment and are less pressured to legitimize their operational decisions and therefore show lower levels of EM involvement.

Originality/value

This paper makes a twofold contribution. On the one hand, it examines the relationship between EM and CSR, focusing on SMEs' context, in which EM study could be considered incipient. On the other hand, the controversial empirical evidence on the significance and sign of EM and social responsibility link could be explained by the stage of the life cycle of the sector in which each company operates.

中文翻译：

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西班牙中小型企业盈余管理的决定因素及其与企业社会责任的关系：行业生命周期阶段的相关性

目的

本文探讨了中小型企业（SME）的收入管理（EM）与企业社会责任（CSR）之间的联系。

设计/方法/方法

收集了来自317家西班牙中小企业的数据，以执行：（1）新兴市场，企业社会责任与一些公司因素（即规模，部门，部门生命周期阶段，公司年龄，家庭所有权，盈利能力和财务风险）之间的双变量分析；（2）多元回归分析可以更好地了解EM行为并测试行业生命周期阶段变量的影响。

发现

结果强调了部门生命周期阶段的相关性作为一个解释性因素。与销售水平合并的公司相比，从事销售领域增长或下降的行业的公司对新兴市场的积极性更高。分层回归分析还证实，行业生命周期的阶段会影响EM-CSR关系。仅对于成熟行业中销售稳定的中小企业而言，较高的企业社会责任表现可以很好地解释对新兴市场的兴趣降低。具有正常销售水平的公司表现出更出色的社会责任感，使他们的经营决策合法化的压力较小，因此，新兴市场参与程度较低。

创意/价值

本文做出了双重贡献。一方面，它研究了新兴市场与企业社会责任之间的关系，并着眼于中小企业的背景，在该背景下，新兴市场研究被认为是初期的。另一方面，关于新兴市场和社会责任联系的重要性和标志的有争议的经验证据可以通过每家公司所在行业的生命周期阶段来解释。