Who Are the Intended Users of CSR Reports? Insights from a Data-Driven Approach

Charlie Lindgren, Asif M. Huq and Kenneth Carling
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Charlie Lindgren: School of Technology and Business Studies, Dalarna University, Högskolegatan 2, 791 31 Dalarna, Sweden
Asif M. Huq: School of Technology and Business Studies, Dalarna University, Högskolegatan 2, 791 31 Dalarna, Sweden
Kenneth Carling: School of Technology and Business Studies, Dalarna University, Högskolegatan 2, 791 31 Dalarna, Sweden

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-20

Abstract: There is extant research on theorization, conceptualization, determinants, and consequences of corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, what firms include in their CSR or sustainability reports are much less covered and are predominantly covered in case studies of individual firms. In this paper, we instead take a holistic view and simultaneously explore what firms around the globe currently disclose in these reports, more specifically we investigate if firms are shareholder or stakeholder focused. In this investigation, we check the alignment of the reports to the materiality framework of Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) which was developed having shareholders as the intended user. To estimate what firms disclose in CSR reports we used the unsupervised Bayesian machine learning approach latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) developed by Blei et al. We conclude that firms target shareholders as the intended users of these reports, even in environments where stakeholder approach of management is argued to be more dominant. Methodologically, we contribute by demonstrating that topic modeling can enhance the objectivity in reviewing CSR-reports.

Keywords: CSR; sustainability; text mining; topic modeling; big data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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