Purpose

This paper aims to highlight the relationship between the attributes of external auditor companies and voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures of audited firms using a sample of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX)-listed companies.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a sample of 410 firm-year observations for the period 2010–2016, this study first computes an eight-item CSR disclosure index, then ran a multivariate regression analysis between CSR disclosure scores and external auditor attributes, along with client firm characteristics and additional control variables. Finally, this paper performs various additional robustness checks.

Findings

The results reveal that external auditor attributes have a significant impact on shaping the CSR disclosures of ADX-listed firms. Overall, auditor age, size, industry specialisation and portfolio diversification positively affect the level of customers’ CSR disclosures. By contrast, the magnitude of audit fees and auditor experience in the UAE has no impact on the CSR disclosures of ADX-listed firms. This study controls for client firm size, financial leverage, ownership concentration and the proportion of independent directors on companies’ board of directors. The results remain robust to additional sensitivity checks such as audit company CSR practices, extreme quartiles of CSR disclosures and the panel data estimation method.

Research limitations/implications

The research exhibits some limitations. First, this paper uses a simple index to measure CSR disclosures based on previous empirical studies, especially those related to emergent markets, which are not free from bias due to the lack of voluntary disclosure transparency for some companies listed on ADX. Second, although this study uses a seven-year observation period, the total number of observations remains limited due to ADX size. Third, other context-specific disclosures should be included such as cultural and governance variables (royal families ownership).

Practical implications

The study highlights the role of external attributes that can affect companies’ CSR disclosure policy, rather than firm-specific factors. The study also reshapes the concept of auditor quality beyond the dichotomy (“Big Four”/non-Big Four) used in the current literature.

Originality/value

The research adds to the current literature on CSR by revealing the impact of external auditor attributes on client firm CSR disclosure policy in an emerging market, the ADX.

中文翻译：

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外部审计师属性如何影响企业社会责任披露：来自 ADX 上市公司的经验证据

目的

本文旨在使用阿布扎比证券交易所 (ADX) 上市公司的样本，强调外部审计公司的属性与被审计公司的自愿企业社会责任 (CSR) 披露之间的关系。

设计/方法/方法

基于 2010-2016 年期间 410 个公司年度观察的样本，本研究首先计算了一个 8 项 CSR 披露指数，然后在 CSR 披露分数和外部审计师属性之间进行了多元回归分析，以及客户公司的特征和附加控制变量。最后，本文执行了各种额外的稳健性检查。

发现

结果表明，外部审计师属性对塑造 ADX 上市公司的 CSR 披露有重大影响。总体而言，审计师年龄、规模、行业专业化和投资组合多元化对客户的 CSR 披露水平有积极影响。相比之下，阿联酋的审计费用和审计经验对 ADX 上市公司的 CSR 披露没有影响。本研究控制了客户公司规模、财务杠杆、所有权集中度和独立董事在公司董事会中的比例。对于额外的敏感性检查，例如审计公司 CSR 实践、CSR 披露的极端四分位数和面板数据估计方法，结果仍然是稳健的。

研究限制/影响

该研究显示出一些局限性。首先，本文在以往实证研究的基础上，使用一个简单的指数来衡量企业社会责任的披露，尤其是那些与新兴市场相关的研究，由于一些在 ADX 上市的公司缺乏自愿披露透明度，这些研究也存在偏见。其次，虽然这项研究使用了七年的观察期，但由于 ADX 的大小，观察的总数仍然有限。第三，应包括其他特定背景的披露，例如文化和治理变量（皇室所有权）。

实际影响

该研究强调了可以影响公司 CSR 披露政策的外部属性的作用，而不是公司特定因素。该研究还重塑了审计师质量的概念，超越了当前文献中使用的二分法（“四大”/非四大）。

原创性/价值

该研究通过揭示外部审计师属性对新兴市场 ADX 中客户公司 CSR 披露政策的影响，增加了当前有关 CSR 的文献。