Speaker: Sistine (Aonan) Sun (Ph.D. candidate in Accounting, UWA)

Date & Time: Thur. 26 March 2026, from 10:00 to 11:30 AM (Beijing Time)

Zoom Meeting ID: 85722092988 (Password: 607772)

Join via the Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85722092988

ABSTRACT

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting reforms are increasingly adopted worldwide, yet their implications for firm value and externalities remain unclear. Using a novel hand-collected dataset of global CSR reporting reforms and a stacked difference-in-differences design, we find that treated firms experience a 9.25% decline in firm value, a 16.4% reduction in CO₂ and CO₂-equivalent emissions, and a 10.27% increase in CSR ratings. Effects are stronger under reforms that require greenhouse gas disclosures, lack safe harbor provisions, do not recommend a specific reporting framework, or do not mandate external assurance. Stronger changes also emerge in jurisdictions with weaker stakeholder orientation and more developed market institutions, and among firms without CSR-contingent executive compensation and those with weaker CSR transparency and performance. At the country-level, reform jurisdictions reduce emissions by 40.75 million metric tons, yielding societal savings of $7.5 billion. Overall, CSR reporting reforms reduce firm value but generate significant societal and environmental benefits.

Keywords: CSR reporting reform; Firm value; Externality; Institutional environment

GUEST BIO

Sistine Sun is a PhD candidate and casual academic at the UWA Business School, the University of Western Australia. Her research spans financial accounting, corporate governance, sustainability, corporate regulation, and disclosure. She specializes in board gender diversity and corporate innovation, with publications in Organization Science, Finance Research Letters, and International Review of Financial Analysis.