Nonfinancial Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting and Firm Value: International Evidence on the Role of Financial Analysts

Using a large international sample of 24,293 observations from 3,991 unique firms in 56 countries, we examine the role of financial analysts in the relationship between voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting and firm value. We find that after controlling for firms’ CSR performance ratings and other factors, voluntary CSR reporting increases firm value in countries worldwide, and analysts strengthen the positive relationship between CSR reporting and firm value. More importantly, our results show that the positive role of analysts in the relationship between CSR reporting and firm value varies with country-level institutional characteristics, such as the level of investor protection, the development of capital markets and the analyst profession, and stakeholder orientation. Furthermore, the positive role of financial analysts varies according to CSR reporting characteristics, including CSR reporting assurance, choice of assurer, CSR reporting coverage, CSR reporting quantity, and length of CSR report. We also find that financial analysts can strengthen the positive association between CSR reporting and firm value for CSR disclosures published in all types of media (standalone, annual report-based, and web-based CSR disclosures). Overall, our results present global evidence that shows the important role of financial analysts in improving the valuation implications of voluntary CSR reporting.