ABSTRACT This study explores the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) report similarity on CSR performance. Using a dataset of Chinese companies, this research shows that CSR performance improves with an increasing degree of CSR report similarity. Specifically, this study reveals that this positive association is driven by reducing socially irresponsible activities and is driven by both improving external CSR and internal CSR. However, this research shows that when companies have more comparable reports, the effects of CSR practices on enhancing financial performance and decreasing the degree of stock return volatility are lower. The findings provide implications for policymakers that mandating a standardised CSR disclosure framework can harmonise reporting practices to enable stakeholders to benchmark firms effectively, thus fostering long‐term sustainability.
Yong Tan (Sun,) studied this question.