Analyst coverage and corporate social responsibility decoupling: Evidence from China

Abstract This study investigates the impact of analyst coverage on corporate social responsibility (CSR) decoupling using a sample of listed firms in China for 2010–2019. Results reveal that analyst coverage decreases CSR decoupling, and that the negative association is more pronounced for non‐state‐owned firms and for firms with high information asymmetry. The baseline results remain consistent after application of several robustness and endogeneity tests, including two‐stage least squares (2SLS) and Heckman two‐stage analysis. The results extend the literature on analyst coverage and scarce studies on determinants of CSR decoupling. Practitioners may alleviate CSR decoupling by properly using the monitoring role of financial analysts in corporate governance.