The moderating effects of corporate social responsibility assurance in the relationship between corporate social responsibility disclosure and corporate performance

Abstract The aim of this research is to analyse the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure on corporate performance. It also analyses the moderating effect of CSR assurance on the association between CSR disclosure and corporate performance, contributing to knowledge in this area. The theoretical framework of the study is based on stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory. The sample used consists of 9861 international firm‐year observations collected from the Thomson Reuters database between 2009 and 2018. Our model has been estimated using the generalised method of moments (GMM) estimator. The findings show that CSR disclosure is positively associated with corporate performance, as proposed in our hypothesis. Additionally, our evidence shows that CSR assurance plays a positive moderating role between CSR disclosure and corporate performance.