Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
1-2026
Abstract
We investigate the relation between auditor quality and client firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure. Using an international sample of firms from 36 countries over the period 2009–2018 and a measure of the extent of CSR disclosure from Bloomberg, we find strong evidence that client firms with higher quality auditors provide more CSR disclosure. In cross-sectional analyses, we show that the relation between auditor quality and CSR disclosure is accentuated when the information environment is poorer and when the financial reporting environment and the legal institutions are weaker. Lastly, we document that firms with higher quality auditors also exhibit better CSR performance. Our study extends the literature by showing that engaging a higher quality auditor has positive benefits that enhance both CSR disclosure and CSR performance.
Keywords
auditor quality, corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure, financial reporting environment, information environment, legal institutions
Discipline
Accounting | Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics | Corporate Finance
Publication
Accounting and Business Research
Volume
56
Issue
1
First Page
1
Last Page
40
ISSN
0001-4788
Identifier
10.1080/00014788.2025.2450333
Publisher
Taylor and Francis Group
Citation
LEE, Jimmy; LIM, Chee Yeow; LOBO, Gerald J.; and XU, Yanping.
Does auditor quality enhance CSR disclosure?. (2026). Accounting and Business Research. 56, (1), 1-40.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soa_research/2122
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1080/00014788.2025.2450333
Included in
Accounting Commons, Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Corporate Finance Commons