Forcing responsibility? Examining earnings management induced by mandatory corporate social responsibility: evidence from India

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending legislation on the earnings management strategies of firms. Design/methodology/approach The authors use panel data regression models to analyze the data for this study. This study covers the post-legislation period, which spans over five years from the financial year ending March 2015 to the financial year ending March 2019. Findings The results show that firms manipulate accounting measures to avoid breaching the cut-off criteria for mandatory CSR. In particular, the results show that firms operating around the operating revenue threshold misclassify operating revenue as non-operating revenue. In contrast, firms operating around the net worth and net profit thresholds do downward real and accrual earnings management. These results are consistent with several robustness measures. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines the impact of mandatory CSR spending on earnings management.