Do Bankers Use Managerial Discretion With Regard to CSR and Earnings Management to Rebuild Their Reputation in the Aftermath of the Financial Crisis?

Abstract

In this paper the authors examine the relationship between CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) performance and earning management in the banking industry from 2008 to 2012 having a specific focus on managerial behaviour and its impact on banks' reputation. They propose that when managers opportunistically engage in CSR, they will also engage in opportunistic earnings management but if they engage in CSR practices because it is the socially ‘right thing to do' then earnings will better reflect banks' true economic performance. Finally, they expect that when bank managers recognize the importance of societal trust they use their discretion to regain trust and to rebuild reputation. Their results show that in general, banks that perform high on CSR indicators behave more transparently with regard to the presentation of earnings. Banks that engage in CSR activities to improve their reputation, use managerial discretion to show socially desirable earnings numbers. For banks that value their reputation, pursuing societal trust is more important than the fulfilling of self-interest.

The Relation between Corporate Social Responsibility and Bank Reputation: A Review and Roadmap

“…The most-used methodology was quantitative, with five studies looking at the relations between CSR, reputation, and performance.According to the reputation-building hypothesis, good environmental management may provide firms with better reputations that subsequently help increase firm performance (Konar & Cohen, 2001). Dell'Atti et al (2017), adopting a multiple econometric approach, highlighted that bank reputation is positively related to accounting performance and is negatively related to leverage and riskiness.The authors show positive relationships between reputation and social performance and negative relationships between reputation, corporate governance, and environmental performance.This last result is due to the fact that in the banking sector there is still no strong focus on the environmental impacts of banking activity.On the other hand, Sneekes et al (2016) show that banks that perform highly on CSR indicators behave more transparently with regard to the presentation of earnings.Banks that engage in CSR activities to improve their reputation use managerial discretion to show socially desirable earnings numbers.For banks that value their reputation, pursuing societal trust is more important than the fulfilling of self-interest.In addition, bank managers should pursue CSR practice as a long-term survival strategy to enjoy different benefits, including enhanced reputation (Shen et al, 2016). Forcadell and Aracil (2017) show that banks' efforts to build a reputation for CSR benefits performance.Nevertheless, in periods of crisis, these efforts do not contribute to improved returns.According to the authors, investments in CSR can be justified as a way to boost both corporate reputation and firm performance, because CSR is a mechanism that contributes to restoring a tarnished reputation.In line with the reputation-building hypothesis, Jo et al (2015) highlight that good environmental management provides firms with a reputational advantage that leads to increased marketing and financial performance.A major contribution of these quantitative studies is empirically testing the relationship between CSR and reputation and its impact on economic performance in the banking sector.In addition, these studies look at managerial behavior and its impact on banks' reputation.…”